The two reggaeton giants announced they are preparing an album together. This is all we know so far

When the radio presenter and businessman Ebro Darden asked J Balvin about the possibility of collaborating on a project with Bad Bunny, in May of this year, the Colombian artist told him "I love him, he likes the same I do, he represents culture and he is super humble … I simply want him, I love what he does and I will support him and of course I would like it to happen”.

Leer en español: Oasis: Lo que debes saber del álbum de J Balvin y Bad Bunny

Now, the two artists cover the October issue of Complex magazine and are the first Latinos to be. In an interview with the magazine, they announced that they are working on Oasis, the collaborative album that will finally come true. J Balvin and Bad Bunny shared with the magazine their greatest musical influences, their exploration with fashion, their reflections on fame and urban music.

What do we know about Oasis?

Later, in the conversation with Darden, J Balvin confessed that he has six or seven tracks in collaboration with Bad Bunny that we, his audience, do not know. He also told the radio producer that oases are precisely "those places in the midst of drought and that can be perceived as different and special."

At the time of this interview, Oasis was only a remote possibility, "an oasis in the middle of the Latin American Caribbean to which all the Caribbean islands could go", in the words of his interviewer. Now, however, it is a reality and is officially announced.

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Although the album still has no release date and the artists are reserved about it, what we know is that before its release another album will come from one of the two singers. In Complex’s interview, they gave some clues about the title, because they expect music and vibes to reflect what an oasis is.

J Balvin had already said for Darden that he liked the album’s title to be the same in English and Spanish. Now he says that the "vibes" of the album will be to refresh, which is what an oasis is for. Bad Bunny says that "it is a rescue, a relief, a refresher, when you go to an oasis, you will supply what you do not have, what you need, what is vital and you need, that's why it's water, the human cannot live without water".

Other collaborations

J Balvin defines himself as "half" reggaeton, since he does not belong to the old school of Daddy Yankee nor does he belong to the new one, to which Bad Bunny does. The Colombian has already five albums, while the Puerto Rican has just two years of career and has not released his first solo album.

Thus, Oasis will be the union of two reggaeton generations. We already know, however, how this union between the two artists sounds, because they already have some collaborations that have put the world to dance.

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In February 2017, both artists announced with surprise the release of "If your boyfriend leaves you alone" and according to the website Genius reached millions of views in a few hours. This song was the first Latin trap to win a Latin Grammy. Bad Bunny claims to have had the choir before he meeting J Balvin and since then he want to record it with Balvin.

At the end of the same year, the two friends came together again and this time with the bachata artist Prince Royce to release "Sensualidad", a song now nominated for Best Urban Song at the Latin Grammy this year. In this success, bachata, reggaeton and trap come together. A similar mixture is what is expected from Oasis.

Finally, the summer song according to the MTV Video Music Awards is "I like it", in which J Balvin and Bad Bunny sing with Cardi B. The two Latinos sing in Spanish and the rapper in English, so the song was an international success.

In addition, he has samples of 'I like it like2 by Pete Rodríguez, so it is a mixture of the Puerto Rican trap and the rapper of Dominican and Trinidadian origin and the Caribbean rhythms of salsa and boogaloo. As you can see, these artists are specialists in honoring and mixing Latin American rhythms. We cannot wait to hear Oasis!

LatinAmerican Post | Juliana Rodríguez
Translated from “Oasis: Lo que debes saber del álbum de J Balvin y Bad Bunny”

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