September 30, 2021

Residente Responds To J Balvin’s Latin Grammys Boycott, Compares His Music To A Hot Dog Cart

Shortly after the nominations for the 2021 Latin Grammy Awards were announced on Tuesday, Colombian superstar J Balvin took to Twitter to express his frustrations with the awards show, despite being nominated three times this year. “The Grammys don’t value us, but they need us,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet, per Remezcla. “We give them ratings, but they don’t give us respect.” J Balvin encouraged nominated artists to not attend the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony in November.

His declaration was met with some consternation. Puerto Rican artist Residente responded the following day with a video on Instagram in which he asked: “If they don’t value us, then why do I have 31 Grammys?” and pointed out that this year’s ceremony will include a tribute to Panamanian musician Rubén Blades, who in Residente’s words is “a guy who marked the history of Latin American music; a guy who, unlike you, writes his songs and feels them.”

He then went on to say: “Don’t get me wrong, José, everyone likes hot dogs. Understand [that] your music is like a hot dog cart, which many people or almost everyone may like. But when those people want to eat well, they go to a restaurant that… earns Michelin stars.”

J Balvin deleted his tweets about the Grammys, and he clearly heard Residente. Earlier today, he posted a photo of himself with a hot dog cart.