J Balvin Reveals Why He Didn't Have Any Nerves for the 2025 Grammys: ‘I Wasn’t Even Expecting to Be Nominated’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

J Balvinhad everything but nerves at the2025 Grammys.

PEOPLE caught up with the Columbian star ahead of the annual award show on Sunday, Feb. 2, which he attended as a nominee in the best musicá Urbana category.

The musician’s albumRayowas up for the award, which ultimately went toResidente’sLas Letras Ya No Importan.Other contenders includedNadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana(Bad Bunny),att.(Young Miko), andFERXXOCALIPSIS(Feid).

Earlier in the night, he revealed why he didn’t necessarily have “nerves” for the event.

Check out all of PEOPLE’s full Grammys coveragehere.

J Balvin attends the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

“I wasn’t even expecting to be nominated,” he says. “You know, if we’re gonna be honest. So just the fact that I’m here is such a blessing.”

Speaking about the mainstream success of Latin music, he says: “People used to hear us… Now, they see us.”

Valentina Ferrer and J Balvin attend the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty

“We have a lot of parties representing what we do,” continues Balvin. “We haveKarol G. We haveBad Bunny. We haveFeid. We have a lot of people doing great things for the culture.”

“But it’s not just music, you know, it’s a lot of people out there that people don’t know. Hardworking people, Latinos, you know, doing, you know, their jobs that normally, some people don’t do it. So I just think about culture in general,” he adds.

He shared what he was most looking for at the 2025 Grammys and why, at the root of it, he’s just like any fan.

“I’m still a kid inside myself, so I come here as a fan,” he says. “It’s funny because people might think, like, ‘Oh, he’s an artist. He is already used to it.’ And I’m not.”

The Grammys are broadcasting live fromCrypto.comArena in Los Angeles on CBS or stream them live and on-demand on Paramount+.

source: people.com