We all know that some urbano artists love to pick on Maluma. Whether we’re talking Anuel AA’s “Nunca flow Maluma, siempre real G” diss, or Bad Bunny’s decision to jump on the Twitter hate bandwagon, it’s clear that Maluma’s name can’t stay out of people’s mouths. Colombia’s pretty boy even had a rumored beef with his fellow Medellín reggaetonero, J Balvin, some time ago. But in a new interview with GQ, Maluma is setting the record straight: There was never any real rivalry between these parceros. According to Maluma, it was the media that created a conflict where there wasn’t even one to begin with.
“I never felt anything bad toward him,” Maluma explained to GQ, “But all the attention on the genre and people created this tension between us.” Being that both artists grew up in the same city and work within a similar sound, Maluma suggested that the industry had a tendency to constantly compare him and Balvin — often at the other’s expense. It created a sense of conflict, yet not for long before Maluma reached out to J Balvin himself to make things right.
“I said to him, ‘Yo, bro, come on, I used to listen to your music when I was 14 years old,” he recalled. “‘I used to go to quinceañeras, if you were performing there. I used to see you performing, I was your fan, cabrón.’” Welp, that’s one way to fix a relationship!
Clearly, it worked. Since then, the pair have worked on a joint single, “Qué Pena,” and released its music video together. At the start of the video, they do a tongue-in-cheek reenactment of each other’s catchphrases. J Balvin jokes about “Maluma baby,” while Maluma imitates Balvin’s daily “Buenos Días, buenos días, buenos días!” greeting. They’re so chill, they can even poke fun at each other now.
Catch us yelling, “I was your fan, cabrón!” to all our estranged friends. Maybe one day, we’ll be roasting each other for fun, too.