24 year-old Colombian singer/songwriter Maluma signed to Sony Music at a mere 16 years-old, but has really been making major waves in the reggaetón scene for the last couple of years.
Since 2015 he has reached the top spot in singles charts across both South America and Europe over a dozen times, including in his home country, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela and Spain. His two studio albums released in 2012 and 2015 prior to the most successful period of his career have still sold over 400,000 units.
Born Juan Luis Londoño Arias in Medellín, Colombia, the name Maluma comes from a combination of the first two letters of his mother, father and sister, MA-LU-MA. It's a tattoo that he has sported since he was 14, and he says the choice was natural, "I’m a family person, and when I had to choose a name for my career, I chose Maluma, because I wanted to have my family with me forever."
Until he moved into music Arias was training with Atlético Nacional, one of the two major football teams in Medellin in a city where football and music rule. It's a choice he doesn't regret, "It was hard not for me, but for my dad. He thought I was going to be a soccer player."
His YouTube channel has over 12 million subscribers, and has racked up an incredible 7.7 billion views in just 6.5 years. He was part of the Coca Cola single for the World Cup in 2018, and recently won a Latin Grammy for his album F.A.M.E. Oh, and he’s also the most followed male Latin artist on Spotify. To say his star is on the rise, would probably at this point be somewhat of an understatement.
Links:
https://instagram.com/maluma https://twitter.com/maluma https://www.youtube.com/user/MalumaVEVO https://www.facebook.com/MALUMAMUSIK http://www.vevo.com/artist/maluma
Bibliography:
Maluma Info, Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluma_(singer) Maluma Discography, Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluma_discography YouTube, About - https://www.youtube.com/user/MalumaVEVO/about He was going to be a soccer player. Now he’s the latest Latin pop star.
Miami.com - Jordan Levin - http://www.miami.com/things-to-do-in-miami/latin-reggaeton-star-maluma-…
