J Balvin has issued an apology over the video for his Tokischa collaboration “Perra,” as Billboard experiences. The singer confirmed that he eliminated the clip from YouTube earlier this month following criticism for its demeaning portrayal of Black ladies. “I wish to apologize to whomever felt offended, particularly to the Black group. That is not who I’m. I am about tolerance, love and inclusivity,” he mentioned in an Instagram story.

“Perra” seems on J Balvin’s latest album Jose, launched in September. The video, whereby Black ladies had been portrayed as canine, premiered in mid-October and drew quick condemnation for its imagery, together with from the singer’s mom. In his apology, Balvin mentioned he deleted the video “as a type of respect.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Tokischa mentioned that the video aimed to emphasise the wordplay of the monitor. “It was very conceptual. In the event you, as a artistic, have a music that’s speaking about canine, you’re going to create that world,” she mentioned. She additionally informed the outlet that she was not concerned within the choice to take away the video. 

Raymi Paulus, who directed the video, additionally provided Rolling Stone a proof for the manufacturing’s selection of actors:

The Dominican Republic is a rustic the place a lot of the inhabitants is Black and our Blackness is predominant in underground scenes, the place the filming happened, and which was the topic of the video’s inspiration. “Perra” was a video filmed within the neighborhood, with folks from the neighborhood, and using folks of shade in “Perra” was nothing greater than the participation of our folks in it.