All The ‘Colores’ Of The Rainbow: Breaking Down The Color Themes Of J Balvin’s New Album

J Balvin could never be accused of resting on his laurels. For more than a decade, the Colombian superstar has helped usher in a new era of global pop informed by dembow rhythms and a wide swath of Latin culture. He’s worked with everyone from Anuel AA and Ozuna to Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams, crossing genre boundaries without ever compromising his dedication to música urbana.

After seeding a few tracks ahead of release over the past few months, Balvin recently pulled back the veil on Colores, his much-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Vibras and last year’s Oasis joint mini-album with Bad Bunny. The inspiration for these songs comes from an inventive studio experiment; Balvin and a handful of trusted creatives in his circle listened to the songs with eyes closed. Afterward, they each ascribed a specific color to what they had heard, the prevailing choice becoming the track’s title. These choices then informed all subsequent aspects of the works, including their thematic music videos.

As one of the strongest proponents of reggaetón as not just a genre but an art form, Balvin seems almost uniquely suited for a conceptual project like Colores. His preceding Arcoiris world tour didn’t just showcase his catalog of hits, but transformed each concert into a veritable fantasia populated by adorable mascots and ultrabright visuals in collaboration with the FriendsWithYou collective. From woodland critters to cookie gobblers, the characters that graced his stage were like an animated candyland come to life, building a bigger universe for his songs.

Following his spectacular world tour, Balvin tapped the legendary Takashi Murakami for the Colores album artwork and merchandise. Murakami is renowned in the art world for his spectacular “superflat” aesthetic, dazzling audiences globally with his traveling museum residencies. But the Japanese artist has an especially devoted fanbase in music thanks to his work with Kanye West, where he designed the covers for Graduation and Kids See Ghosts. For his partnership with Balvin, Murakami’s iconic floral smiley faces adopt Balvin’s lightning bolt totem, giving new energy to a familiar cartoon visage.

The rollout for Colores started last year with the surprise drop for “Blanco” (White in English), a melodically minimalist yet bass-heavy cut produced by longtime studio partner Sky Rompiendo that, oddly enough, closes out Colores rather than opens it:

Esto no es misa, pero vine de blanco (Ey, ey)
Hago solo éxitos a lo Benny Blanco (Ey, ey)
No puedo parar, si paro me estanco
Sobra prosperidad, eso lo sabe el banco

Though he lyrically evokes dark imagery, such as the panther-like blackness of night, the track’s austerity positions Balvin as something stark to behold against that obsidian background. He dons the titular color not to express some sacrosanct purity but as a clever callback to his bilingual 2019 hit “I Can’t Get Enough” with Selena Gomez, Tainy, and, yes, ​benny blanco. The music video for “I Can’t Get Enough” literally blanketed its stars in a bed of white.

Repeatedly throughout “Blanco,” Balvin brags of his success and his finances, but he also stands proudly behind his humble beginnings. He boasts of being from Medellín not only for what that city represents to him but as a reminder to remain true to himself even after logging massive international hits.

Balvin followed up “Blanco” with “Morado” (Purple in English), another Sky Rompiendo production that skews closer sonically and thematically to Balvin’s signature reggaetón work.

“I’d been wanting to release a classic reggaetón song for a long time, J Balvin-style,” he said, to Apple Music. “When we closed our eyes, we connected with the color purple.”

A great deal of what this genre has yielded over the years has been about perreo, about matching the hedonism of the urbano dancefloor with uninhibited sounds. “Morado” does just that, extolling the virtues of excess to get the party started and keep it going indefinitely:

Yo pedí un trago y ella la botella (Ah-ah)
Abusa siempre que estoy con ella (Yah, yah, yah); oh, yeah
Hazle caso, si no te estrellas (Oh-oh)
Cualquier problema, e' culpa de ella

This isn’t about grabbing a quick beer or wine after work with a friend, but about starting off with bottle service and going from there. In this celebratory scenario, whiskey flows like water and dancing becomes an expression of liberated sexuality, all to the beat of a thumping dembow.

Notably, Balvin’s character finds himself a passive protagonist on “Morado,” ceding control with varying amounts of comfort to someone who has little intention of slowing down. The club scene whiplashes to the bedroom, with the singer self-aware but definitely not in charge of the situation. Once he’s past that threshold, the only thing left to do is to do what comes natural.

While “Morado” features an explicit party vibe, songs like “Rojo” (Red in English) take a markedly different approach. The song explores a much more emotional narrative:

Tratan y se caen de la mata
Quieren comprarte siempre con plata
Pero ese tesoro tiene pirata (Wuh)
Yo doy la vida por ti (Yah)

Here, there is yearning and there is distance. Chilean producer Taiko joins Sky to craft an atmosphere evocative of those deep feelings, the hi-hats hit like scratches and scrapes as the singer pours his heart out. He cautions against falling for the trappings of moneyed suitors, likening them to literal pirates.

The corresponding music video for “Rojo” expands upon this further with a plot that unfolds over years. The aforementioned distance grows to existential lengths, with Balvin portraying a tragically departed husband and father made to witness—and supernaturally influence—the lives of his surviving loved ones. The lyrics now have faces attached to them, adding a newfound gravity to the narrative.

Finally, “Amarillo” (Yellow in English) comprises the last piece of the Colores puzzle, despite opening the album:

Saben quién es Balvin,
Les presento a José

In an interview with Apple Music, Balvin explained why he choose yellow for this song. “Yellow was what 80% of the people who listened to this one felt,” said Balvin. “It says that I don’t complicate my life. Many people know J Balvin, but few people know about José, and the thing is that I don’t complicate myself. Let’s enjoy it. That’s why it’s the first song of the album because as soon as people listen to it, I want them to feel connected with the color and with the song’s power.”

Unlike some of the other tracks, which feature a variety of characters, this one is unabashedly autobiographical. Over a limber beat by DJ Snake—who he previously worked with on “Loco Contigo”—and Afro Bros, he reveals himself as an uncomplicated man living in the shadow of the abbreviated moniker he’s become famous for. In the broad and beautiful palette of Colores, yellow looks, feels, and sounds the most like him, the real José Álvaro Osorio Balvín.

This may be why Colores is the ultimate look into Balvin’s true artistry. From party vibes to understated cuts to emotional ballads, Balvin throws everything we can handle at us. Just like how a rainbow shows off every color, this album offers us the entire spectrum of Balvin’s sound.