J Balvin Teared Up When Daddy Yankee Gave Him a Premio Lo Nuestro, and I Want All My Friendships to Be Like Theirs

Last night was very emotional for J Balvin, who was awarded with the global icon award at Premio Lo Nuestro. With more than 35 million singles sold worldwide, billions of video views across all digital platforms, numerous collaborations with international artists, and as the winner of 11 previous Premio Lo Nuestro awards (including three PLN artist of the year awards in 2016, 2017, and 2019), J Balvin is beyond qualified to represent the fundamental theme of PLN 2020: the Globalization of Latin Music.

Before accepting the award, J Balvin took the stage to delight everyone with his most recent hits like "Blanco," "Morado," "Loco Contigo," and "No Me Conoce," with Jhay Cortez joining him to hype up the crowd even more. After the song was over, Daddy Yankee surprised everyone — especially J Balvin — by standing up from his seat and walking to the stage.

"Good evening, it's my turn to take control of the night now," he said as he stood next to J Balvin. "Last year you had the honor of giving me an award with all your respect, and I want the world to know I feel the same amount of respect for you."

Daddy Yankee continued by calling J Balvin a "hard-working, disciplined kid who's devoted to his career," to later add he was so proud of him and happy to see all the hard work his generation put into the genre has not been in vain, and this new generation of urbano performers hasn't taken it for granted.

"Keep killing it brother, I'm so proud of you," Daddy Yankee added. "And from icon to icon, a lot of respect papito, a lot of love."

J Balvin was so shocked he could only mutter "Wow!" He went on to say how Daddy Yankee has been one of the people who have inspired him the most to be who he is today. He also gave a shout out to his colleagues and artists who have also contributed to his career and inspired him one way or another: Nicky Jam, Tego Calderón, Wisin y Yandel, Don Omar, Bad Bunny, and Arcángel.

He added that he didn't feel like an icon, but more like a dreamer, and he encouraged his fans to keep on dreaming as well.

It was so sweet to see J Balvin being so real and humble about the recognition he just got, and I personally loved the way he embraced his feelings and didn't try to hide them, once again showing it's OK for men to express their emotions and that it doesn't make them less of a person. He has been a huge advocate of mental health and breaking gender stereotypes, and this just goes on to prove that he really practices what he preaches, making him even more approachable as an artist and as a human.

Keep scrolling to see photos and videos from his memorable performance and the moment he accepted the global icon award from Daddy Yankee.