J Balvin set to perform at Don Haskins

Alejandra Molina, Contributor • September 17, 2019

Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 at UTEP Don Haskins Center.

This performance is part of his fall North American tour “Arcoiris,” with special guests Lyanno and Eladio Carrion. The tour kicked off Friday, Aug. 30 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The tour will conclude Oct. 26 at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.

Born as José Álvaro Osorio Balvín in Medellín, Colombia, he moved to the United States when he was 17. Two years later at the age of 19, he began to pursue a music career.

Balvin did not gain recognition until 2014, when he released his first single “6 AM” featuring Puerto Rican singer Farruko. He later released a second single called “Ay Vamos”, which won a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Song.

He has released five albums, “La Familia” being one of the most popular ones. He also released a collaborative album this year with Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny called “Oasis.”

Balvin previously performed in El Paso Sept. 30, 2018 at the Don Haskins Center, as well as in 2017 at Neon Desert Music Festival.

The UTEP Student Engagement and Leadership Center did a giveaway for Balvin’s upcoming concert where contestants had to post a 15-20 second TikTok video with their favorite J Balvin song on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #UTEParcoiris. Three winners were chosen a few weeks ago.

“The SELC used TikTok in our J Balvin giveaway so students could use a fun platform to express themselves and create their own submissions,” said Eliana Grijalva, campus engagement coordinator. “We wanted to try to reach a new audience, but still accepted traditional social media submissions through Facebook and Instagram to make sure we reached the audience that already follows our platforms.”

TikTok is a video sharing app where users create and share short videos of lip-syncing, acting silly and dancing. The app was released in 2017 by ByteDance, and has gained substantial popularity amongst teenagers and young adults ever since.