New artist Rosalía and last year’s “Best Latin” winner J Balvin grabbed “Best Latin” award in the Video Music Awards 2019. The duo left a powerful message on being part of the Latin community amid an immigration crisis in the country.
Rosalía and J Balvin came up to the stage to receive their award for "Con Altura", a mix of reggaeton and Latin R&B.
"Wow. I wasn't expecting this, honestly," said Rosalia in her acceptance speech as quoted by MTV. "Thank you, because it's such an incredible honor. I come from Barcelona. I'm so happy to be here representing where I come from and representing my culture. ... Thank you for allowing me to perform tonight singing in Spanish."
The Colombian singer J Balvin also held the microphone. The reggaeton artist took home the award for “Mi Gente” with Willy William last year.
"I'm super proud of being Latino right now," he said as he accepted his second “Best Latin” award since 2018.
The two artists bested popular nominees such as Maluma, Bad Bunny and Drake, Anuel AA and Karol G and Daddy Yankee and Snow. J Balvin was also nominated for the same category for another song with Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco and Tainy.
Alison Brie and French Montana presented the award.
Major award winners of the VMAs 2019 include Taylor Swift for “Best Video of the Year” with “You Need to Calm Down”, Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus for “Song of the Year” with “Old Town Road (Remix)” and Ariana Grande for “Artist of the Year”.
Rosalía was also nominated for “Best New Artist” but Billie Eilish beat her to the trophy. Latin artists Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello won "Best Collaboration" for the popular catchy tune "Señorita".
J Balvin also shared his thoughts on breaking through music awards as a Latin artist in an interview with MTV News.
“It’s a beautiful moment for the culture, for Latinos, being here - singing and performing in Spanish,” he said.
He talked about breaking barriers that Latin artists have not been able to explore before including being the first Latin artist to perform on Saturday Night Live. Even when he only performs in Spanish Language, J Balvin considers himself a global artist.
“I just wanna make a new story worldwide with Spanish music, you know, Latin music,” he added.
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