"Mi Gente" ( en, My People) is a song recorded by Colombian singer

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

and French singer and producer

Willy William Willy Fauade William (born 14 April 1981) is a French DJ, record producer and singer, famous for his club remixes and vocal collaborations with a number of dance music artists. He is most famous for his French hit " Ego" and his Latin hit " Mi Gen ...

. It was released on 30 June 2017 through

Scorpio Music Scorpio Music is a French music label headquartered in Paris. The company was founded by Henri Belolo in 1976,Scorpio Music

and

Universal Music Latin Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...

. It is a remake of Willy William's song "Voodoo Song" which is an original French song by Willy William that went viral on Facebook in 2016 and released one year after. The single was serviced to United States

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on 18 July 2017. A remix version with American singer

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

was released on 28 September 2017. J Balvin and Willy William released six more "Mi Gente" remixes on 20 October 2017 with Steve Aoki, Alesso,

Cedric Gervais Cédric DePasquale (, born 7 June 1979), better known by his stage name Cedric Gervais (), is a French DJ, record producer and actor residing in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2013, he produced a remix of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness", for whic ...

Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known by the stage name DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Francis was born in Los AngelesAhmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012Who Is Dillon Francis?Complex. Retri ...

Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano is a Dutch DJ and record production duo from Amsterdam, composed of Sunnery Gorré (Sunnery James) and Ryan de Lange (Ryan Marciano). Both DJs are of Surinamese descent. Accustomed to renowned labels, they released ...

, and Henry Fong.

Composition

"Mi Gente" is a reworking of Willy William's previous single "Voodoo Song". At 105 BPM, it is an uptempo

moombahton Moombahton (, ) is an electronic dance music genre, derived from house music and reggaeton, that was created by American DJ and producer Dave Nada in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Nada coined the name as a portmanteau of "Moombah" (a track by Su ...

song about ignoring barriers and just having fun while partying.

Commercial performance

The original version topped the charts in most Latin American countries. In the United States, the original version of the song peaked at number two on the Hot Latin Songs chart and at number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In Canada, the remix version of the song featuring Beyonce peaked at number 2 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

and number 3 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

and

dropped six additional "Mi Gente" remixes with Steve Aoki, Alesso,

, and Henry Fong.

Music video

Directed by 36 Grados, the accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

premiered on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

the same day of the single release.

Leila Cobo Leila Cobo is a Colombian journalist, writer, novelist, pianist and television show host. She is noted for her coverage of Latin music for ''Billboard'' where she is currently the Chief Content Officer for Latin Music and Español, overseeing the ...

from '' Billboard'' magazine described the video as "an explosion of color and dance" which features people from around the globe and that is all about unifying through music. It has many cameo appearances, including Italian millionaire Gianluca Vacchi. The music video has over 3 billion views on YouTube as of April 2022, making it the 30th most viewed video on the site. The video won an MTV VMA

Controversy

Shortly after the song's release, many listeners noticed a very similar resemblance to

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

grito A ''grito'' or ''grito mexicano'' (, Spanish for "shout") is a common Mexican interjection, used as an expression. Characteristics This interjection is similar to the ''yahoo'' or '' yeehaw'' of the American cowboy during a hoedown, with added ...

, first appearing at 0:52 on the record, and twice more throughout the duration of the 3:09 track. The issue became very mainstream, with many reporters falsely believing that the grito was of Pitbull, which it was not. Pitbull's first action was releasing an illegal remix to the record, including his own grito, titling the track "Mi Gente orldwide Remix After being released, many fans saw the striking resemblance between the two gritos being used. The Pitbull remix intentionally used both Pitbull's and that of the original track to show the similarity. On 8 October 2019, Pitbull's legal team applied for a trademark on the popular "EEEEEEYOOOOOO!" grito, most popularly brought to market by Pitbull. On 17 April 2020, Pitbull was able to acquire a full trademark to the grito, thus becoming one of the less than 250 owners of a trademark for solely a sound.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

, - !colspan="4", Steve Aoki Remix only , -

Release history

Beyoncé remix

On 28 September 2017, a remix version featuring vocals by American singer

was released on digital stores and streaming services. The remix was released as a single by Universal Music Latin,

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, and

Parkwood Entertainment Parkwood Entertainment, LLC is an American management, production, entertainment company and record label founded by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter in 2010. The company began as a production unit for films and videos in 2008. It has offices located i ...

. Beyoncé donated all proceeds from the song to hurricane relief charities in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean islands. Balvin and William stated Beyoncé was the "top choice" for the remix, and had no expectation of her agreeing to the song when they reached out to her. Beyoncé would later perform the song in her

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

in 2018. For the second weekend, Balvin joined her on stage and sung the remix with Beyoncé. In 2019, the audiovisual recording was included in both the singer's live album '' Homecoming: The Live Album'' and the related film ''Homecoming''. This song is also part of the set list for the

OTR II The On the Run II Tour was the second co-headlining stadium tour by American singer Beyoncé and rapper Jay-Z. The tour began on June 6, 2018, in Cardiff and ended on October 4, 2018, in Seattle. This is their first tour together since On the R ...

tour. The song was added to the set list at the show in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

on 13 June 2018, at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

Commercial performance

Upon the release of the remixed version of the song featuring

, the song reached number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart, ending the 35-week reign led by "

Despacito "Despacito" (; "Slowly") is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Daddy Yankee as the lead single from Fonsi's 2019 studio album '' Vida''. Released on January 12, 2017, the song was written by Fonsi ...

", becoming Balvin's fourth number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart, as well as Beyoncé's highest-charting song on the chart after "

Irreplaceable "Irreplaceable" is a song by American singer Beyoncé for her second studio album, ''B'Day'' (2006). The song was written by Shaffer "Ne-Yo" Smith, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjørklund, Beyoncé and produced by ...

" peaked at number four and "

Beautiful Liar "Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé for th ...

" peaked at number 10 in 2007. On the Hot 100, the remix moved from number 21 to number three after a full tracking week, giving both Balvin and William their first top 10 single and Beyoncé her 17th top 10 single (27th with Destiny's Child) on the chart. The remix also reached number one in the US Digital Songs chart with 79,000 copies sold during that week (combined sales with the original version), becoming both Balvin and William's first number one song on that respective chart, and Beyoncé's sixth, as well as just the second mostly-Spanish sung song to top the chart after "Despacito". This made "Mi Gente", alongside "Despacito", as the first time in the Hot 100 chart history for two non-English singles to appear in the top 10 simultaneously. In Canada, the remix reached a new peak of number two on the Canadian Hot 100, behind

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

and

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

's "

Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...

", becoming both Balvin and William's highest-charting single at the time, and Beyoncé's 13th top 10 single. It also moved from number 17 to number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart. The remix also peaked at number one in many European and Latin American countries, including Argentina, Hungary, Mexico, the Netherlands, Bolivia, Panama, Paraguay, Costa Rica, and peaking at number 11 in Australia.

Music video

A music video was also released on YouTube featuring American producer

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...

, French DJ

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...

, Dutch DJ

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...

, Dutch DJ

Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was ...

, Venezuelan YouTuber

Lele Pons Eleonora Pons Maronese (born June 25, 1996), better known as Lele Pons, is a Venezuelan YouTuber, actress, and singer who holds both Venezuelan and American citizenship. Pons came to prominence on Vine before the platform shut down in 2017 w ...

, Brazilian soccer player

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned ...

, Brazilian singer

Anitta Anitta may refer to: * Anitta (king), Hittite king *Anitta (singer) Larissa de Macedo Machado (born March 30, 1993), known professionally as Anitta, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter and television host. She is regarded as one of biggest Brazi ...

, Colombian singer El Llane,

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

footballer

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and several fan made videos.

Critical reception

The version featuring Beyoncé was named "Best New Track" by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' with Matthew Ismael Ruiz stating that the song "is about a shared cultural pride, one that transcends borders and race, from J Balvin's native Colombia to Puerto Rico and across all of Latinidad. It's a declaration that "El mundo nos quiere" (The world wants us) set to a head-nod bop. Beyoncé gets this, and with this remix, she backs up her words with action. This is what solidarity sounds like." Randall Roberts from ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that: "To say Beyoncé lends a hand in the remix is an understatement. Unlike guests who limit their contributions to a single late-track verse or hook, Beyoncé upends "Mi Gente" from the first verse and proceeds to bilingually maneuver through the rhythmic, up-tempo jam like the queen she is." In 2019, ''

'' listed ''Mi Gente (Remix)'' at number 189 on their greatest songs of the decade (2010s) list.

Awards and nominations