Creativity Quote by J Balvin

Balvin’s line lands like a love letter to authenticity, but it’s really a status report from inside the fame machine. Coming from a musician who built a global brand in the age of Instagram, “we’ve been able to show ourselves as we are” isn’t naïve optimism; it’s a claim about power. Social media collapses the old gatekeepers - labels, TV, glossy interviews - and lets artists (and everyone else) publish the “real” version directly. The intent is both personal and strategic: don’t over-polish, don’t over-perform. The algorithm rewards what feels unfiltered.

The subtext is darker: the mask isn’t just “us being fake,” it’s the exhausting maintenance of an image that can’t survive a 24/7 feedback loop. In a world where every slip becomes a screenshot, the traditional celebrity façade is brittle. “Masks are useless” reads less like moral advice and more like risk management. If the audience is going to see behind the curtain anyway, you might as well curate the vulnerability yourself.

Context matters, too. Latin pop’s crossover era has been fueled by parasocial intimacy: fans want the song and the person, the stadium anthem and the story. Balvin has also spoken publicly about mental health, which gives “You have to be real” a second register - not just branding, but survival. The line sells a simple ethic, but it’s shaped by a culture where authenticity is both a genuine need and a marketable aesthetic.