Monday, October 25, 2021
Black women on dog leashes
Singer J Balvin apologizes for video
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Black women masked like dogs and kept on a leash – there has been great outrage over the music video for J Balvin’s hit “Perra” in recent weeks. Youtube has now blocked it. Now the Colombian reggaeton star apologizes.
His song “Perra” (“bitch”) and the accompanying music video have been criticized for several weeks, and now the Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin has apologized for the sexist and racist content for the first time. “I would like to apologize to all people who have felt attacked, especially women and the black community,” said the singer in an Instagram story.
He always promoted tolerance, love and integration. He also tried to support his duet partner in the song, the Dominican rapper Tokischa. The 36-year-old also turned to his mother directly. This had surprised the Colombian media and reacted with concern to the “Perra” clip. “Forgive me and I promise to get better every day.”
The song “Perra” is about the fact that Tokischa, who is herself of African descent, is a bitch in heat and is therefore looking for a male. Among other things, the rapper can be seen eating from a bowl in a dog house on all fours. Other African American women are sometimes made up and masked as dogs and are shown in cages or on all fours on a leash by J Balvin.
Music video blocked on Youtube
The song had caused great outrage in Colombia, including in government circles. Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez described the lyrics as “sexist, macho and racist”. The song contains expressions that violate women’s rights by comparing them to an animal that should be controlled and mistreated. The music video was blocked on YouTube a few days ago, but the audio file can still be heard.
Shortly after the song was published, J Balvin, whose real name is José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, had already commented on the criticism. At that time he wanted to know his song understood differently. It is much more about “that women as well as men can be rioters. If you are a player as a man, a woman can ‘bite’ you because she may be just like you,” the singer had said. His music is “just sexy”.
Reggaeton is a Latin American mix of rap, reggae and Caribbean sounds. The genre has been criticized for its often explosive texts and sexist representations. J Balvin has made a name for himself around the world over the past few years. Hits like “Mi Gente” or “I Like It” with rapper Cardi B.
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