J Balvin Apologizes For Music Video Depicting Black Women As Dogs
J Balvin dropped a music video for his single “Perra” which depicted Black women as dogs … and now he’s the one in the dog house.
On October 16 the Colombian superstar pulled the controversial video from YouTube but didn’t address the backlash.
The video featured 25-year-old Dominican rap star Tokischa, and others leashed on all fours against lyrics depicting them as dogs in heat. Tokishca was also seen eating fried chicken and cereal from a dog bowl while on all fours in an actual doghouse.
As to be expected criticism on Twitter was swift.
J-Balvin depicting black women as dogs in his new video speaks to the deeper rooted issues of anti-blackness in Hispanic and Latino culture. This reflects poorly on him, & his parents who most likely have a black abuela hiding somewhere in his home country. pic.twitter.com/mv43QVEP9t
— Mike Baggz (@MikeBaggz) October 25, 2021
Finally after constant calls for him to apologize, Balvin issued a statement.
.@JBALVIN apologizes for the video of “Perra” with #Tokischa. “My message has always been tolerance, love and integration,” he adds. pic.twitter.com/bXOzXv9MVf
— billboard latin (@billboardlatin) October 24, 2021
“I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black women community That’s not who I am. I have always expressed tolerance, love and inclusivity. I also like to support new artists, in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and also empowers women.”
“As a form of respect, I removed the video eight days ago,” said Balvin. “But because the criticism continued, I’m here making a statement.”
Tokischa who is of African descent also expressed regret for how the video had been interpreted in a statement to Rolling Stone. She too faced harsh criticism on social media.
Any Black woman (hello Tokischa) who decided to join hands with a macho white Latino racist (hello JBalvin) to make this pos needs to be castigated – openly. Perhaps the time has come to take a deeper look at what certain “music” is doing to push us backwards in the struggle https://t.co/ELEuf8oD46 pic.twitter.com/EfdpNf49gR
— Denise Oliver-Velez (@Deoliver47) October 21, 2021
The removal of the music video came after Colombia’s vice president and chancellor, Marta Lucía Ramírez, called the visual “sexist, racist, machista, and misogynistic” in an open letter published on Oct. 11.
The music video dropped in mid-October, following the release of Balvin’s sixth album, Jose, which came out last month.
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