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Colombian artist J Balvin shared a shocking story from his youth on the podcast of actor Juan Pablo Raba “Los hombres sí lloran” (Men do Cry). The artist revealed he was kidnapped in Oklahoma during his time as an exchange student.
The incident occurred when Balvin was 17 and had traveled to the United States to learn English. Initially he was welcomed into the home of the school principal, but the situation soon took a dark turn.
An ominous start
“I was living with the school principal,” Balvin explained. “One day, she told me, ‘If you speak to your family in Spanish on Messenger, you’ll forget English. So, you can’t use the internet anymore.'” Things became increasingly suspicious when Balvin stopped receiving calls from his family.
“Two months passed, and my parents hadn’t seen or heard from me. I had no way to contact anyone,” he said. The situation worsened when he tried to retrieve his passport to escape. “I went to look for my passport, but it was gone. I asked the woman, and she said, ‘I have it, and I’m not giving it back to you.'”
Desperate, Balvin sought help using a radio scanner to contact the local sheriff. However, his pleas were dismissed. “The sheriff said, ‘I know things are hard in Colombia, and that’s why you haven’t adjusted,'” Balvin recalled.
The onset of anxiety and depression
During this harrowing time, Balvin experienced his first anxiety and depression crisis, though he didn’t recognize it until years later. “It was during those two months that I had my first anxiety and depression attack. But I didn’t know what it was back then,” he revealed.
This marked a pivotal moment in his life, laying the groundwork for his later advocacy for mental health awareness in the music industry.
His escape and rescue
The opportunity to escape came when Balvin competed in the Oklahoma Olympics at a university. There, he managed to contact his father and a friend, Diego Botero, who ultimately rescued him.
“I went through the woods and walked until Diego found me. We moved in with his family in Oklahoma City,” he shared.
A rebirth in New York
Following this traumatic ordeal, Balvin relocated to New York, where he found the inspiration that would shape his career. “When I arrived in New York and saw Times Square, I started crying. I saw all my favorite rappers and thought, ‘This is what I want,'” he said.
Balvin credits New York as the city that reignited his dreams and gave him hope. “New York pulled me out of a dark time and made me believe that anything is possible,” the singer added.
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