J Balvin Issues Apology for Controversial 'Perra' Music Video

J Balvin is apologizing.

Last week, the music video for his collaboration with Tokischa, “Perra,” was removed from YouTube amid backlash for it’s portrayal of Black women.

The Raymi Paulus-directed video features the 36-year-old Colombian rapper walking two Black women on leashes, and their faces are made to look like dogs.

On Sunday (October 24), J Balvin took to social media to respond to the controversy surrounding the video.

Click inside to read J Balvin’s response…

“I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black community. That’s not who I am,” he said in a clip on his Instagram Story, according to Pitchfork.

He also apologized directly to his mother and went on to say he has “always been about tolerance, love, and integration, just as I’ve always liked to support new talent — in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and empowers women,” per Rolling Stone.

Tokischa told the outlet that she’s sorry for the way the video has been interpreted and that the song was meant to be a play on the phrase “perra en calor.”

“I said that if I’m going to talk about ‘perra en calor,’ I’m going use all the language associated with dogs: ‘perro de raza’ [purebred], ‘Purina’—which is a word with a double meaning because here, that’s what you call a product that’s really pure… ‘la perrera’ [the pound]. It was very conceptual,” she explained. “If you, as a creative, have a song that’s talking about dogs, you’re going to create that world.”

“I understand the interpretation people had and I’m truly sorry that people felt offended. But at the same time, art is expression,” she continued. She also added that she’s supporting J Balvin through this “difficult moment.”

J Balvin recently reacted to another star comparing his music to a hotdog cart.