J Balvin and his longtime manager Rebeca León have “amicably” parted ways, reps for the singer and León confirmed to Variety. The news was first reported by Billboard.
León — who also oversees the careers of fast-rising Spanish singer Rosalia as well as Colombian superstar Juanes, with whom she founded Lionfish Entertainment — began managing Balvin early in his career and has turned him into one of the world’s biggest Latin artists, largely via his global smash “Mi Gente” (which he performed with Beyonce as part of her blockbuster Coachella set last year) and his own career-defining headlining set at Coachella, which made him the first reggaeton artist to perform at the festival, this year.
León was recently featured in Variety’s International Music Impact list.
No reason was given for the split beyond “we’ve decided unanimously to take different paths,” and no new manager has been revealed yet. However, with Rosalia’s career quickly taking off, Juanes one of the world’s biggest Latin artists and several more projects that will be announced in the coming months, Lionfish has plenty on the boil — as does Balvin, whose star has risen dramatically in the past three years.
“We started a dream to make it a reality and next to her we made my reality a dream today,” Balvin said. “Now we are starting a new cycle where brotherhood and respect remains intact and where we’ve decided unanimously to take different paths headed in the same direction. Only love, respect and admiration for my sister Rebeca León.”
León said, “When José [Balvin] and I first started we made a list of dreams that we wanted to achieve together. We were able to accomplish everything we dreamed of and more. I have nothing but love, appreciation and gratitude for our years together. We are both committed to our friendship and to finding ways to keep working together. He will always be my little brother. I wish him even more success on this new chapter in his life.”