Maluma , one of the most recognized Colombian reggaeton and Latin trap singers worldwide, has just turned 27.His real name is Juan Luis Londono Arias and he was born in Medellin in 1994. What better way to celebrate his birthday than with the release of a surprise mini-disc titled #7DJ (7 days in Jamaica) , accompanied by a short film filmed on the Caribbean island. .
Maluma presented his production at a party in Miami during which he explained how the idea of his album with ecological touches was born, which includes, in addition to music and the short film, an exhibition of plastic art for charity. “I’m 27 years old now. I’m cucho (old) but I’m still very happy,” said the artist, saying that he was launching his “fifth child.”“It is a project that I have been working on for a long time. It is an album that was going to come out before Papi Juancho (his previous album), but the covid arrived and I could not make the videos; that is why we decided to delay it,” he explained.
The idea of #7DJ was born during a week-long trip to Jamaica that Maluma made with a group of friends more than a year ago, although the artist had been using the networks for several days to create expectation among his followers by publishing photos with the name of the disc in the womb of a woman.Many came to think that it was a pregnancy.“Those seven days in Jamaica came at a time when I needed to escape and decompress, as I had been working non-stop on my career for seven years and was wondering if I should continue making music,” he revealed. “I thought a lot and came back transformed, completely inspired and convinced that music is not only what I do, but that it is part of me, how I live and how I interpret my experiences.”
Although today he is an icon of urban music , when he was a child his passion was different. During his childhood he was very fond of soccer, and even played eight years in the children’s categories of the Atletico Nacional and Equidad Club Deportivo teams. Little by little, music was gaining interest in him, especially after winning a singing contest interpreting the song Tengo Ganas, by Andres Cepeda.
At the age of 15 , he composed a song titled I don’t want to, and a year later, his uncle Juan Parra offered him to record it in a studio. Although he was not entirely convinced of dedicating himself to music, a group of producers became interested in him and offered him to make an album.
Since the successful launch of hisdebut album, Magia , for which he was nominated for a Latin Grammy for ‘Best New Artist’ in 2012 , Maluma’s career has skyrocketed. In his ten years of work, he has not only collaborated with urban singers, but also with pop stars like Madonna and The Weeknd.
His fame was triggered by serving as a jury in television shows such as La Voz Kids in 2014 and 2015 , and it was also in the Vina del Mar Festival in 2017. He has his own clothing line and is one of the most relevant celebrities in social networks.
