Maluma Fronts L'OFFICIEL Hommes' 100th Anniversary Issue

Photography Pamela Hanson
Styled by Ryan Young

Hardly anyone has taken more advantage of pop music’s march toward globalization than Maluma. Born Juan Luis Londoño in Medellín, Colombia, the singer and rapper came up in the worlds of reggaeton and Latin trap, making music that was thunderous and sexy—equal parts romantic and dirty, swaggering and sensitive. As the Latin crossover wave swept the world, Maluma continued to find bigger and bigger platforms by going pop and cleaning up his lyrics, culminating with his breakout smash albums F.A.M.E. and 11:11, from 2018 and 2019, respectively. By the time the pandemic hit in early 2020, Maluma—a portmanteau of his mother’s, father’s, and sister’s names—had scored multiple billion-view songs on YouTube, VMA and Latin Grammy nominations, collaborations with bold-faced names like The Weeknd and Madonna, and non-stop sold-out shows in arenas across the globe. His rugged good looks and smoldering cool made him a favorite in the high fashion world, and his charisma caught Hollywood’s attention, too—he plays Jennifer Lopez’s lover boy in the upcoming romcom Marry Me. The singer is captivating and enigmatic enough that his name was thrown around by the tabloids as a potential romantic interest of Kim Kardashan in the post-Kimye divorce rumor mill. He has the kind of effortless magnetism—plus a chiseled jawline and a smattering of tattoos that adds a Bieberian bad-boy edge to his image—that translates globally. By every metric imaginable, Maluma has transcended the label of Latin pop star—and even transcended what it means to be a pop star, full stop. He’s simply a star.

To hear Maluma tell it, his rise was not purely a product of hard work, talent, or good timing. There’s also something much more intangible at play: “I just try to keep it real— to explode my essence,” he tells me repeatedly over Zoom, dialing in from his newly remodeled home in Medellín. Even over a video call, this essence is palpable: Maluma, sporting a casual denim jacket, lights up the computer screen, chatting with enthusiasm and candor, grinning often and easily slipping into a more reflective mode. At one point the artist explains that entertainment—fashion, acting, music—is simply in his nature. “I just have it in my DNA,” he says.

L’OFFICIEL: Your Zoom name says “Hercules.”

MALUMA: [Laughs] I like Hercules.

L’O: You split your time between your native Colombia and Miami. Where are you now?

M: I’m in my hometown right now, sharing some time with my family and my animals. Everything is good over here. I rebuilt my house. What matters is what we have outside—the trees, nature, the mountains. I love Miami, but sometimes it’s too much for me. I prefer being more chill, and here in my house, there’s not even a little noise. I really love being at home. Of course Miami’s nice when I have to work. I just got a new place there, a beautiful place, but Colombia is better.

L’O: So much of the music industry came to a standstill during the pandemic, but you released two albums. Can you talk about how you spent your time during lockdown?

M: It was hard, because I spent three or four months at home [in Colombia]. That had never happened to me before—I was on tour for like eight years, nonstop. And then when everything happened, well, to be honest I was happy to be back at home. I built this house four years ago and never had time to enjoy it. But after three months, I was like, No, I need to work. I’m pretty much a workaholic.

L’O: How did you find the motivation to record while alone in your home during a pandemic?

M: It was nice, because no one could come to my house—not an engineer, not the producers. So I had to record by myself again, the way I used to do it 10 years ago. I had no one next to me trying to tell me what to do. I was recording the kind of music that I love. It was very inspiring to go back to my roots and to the kind of music that I used to love making.

L’O: Did you have any rituals to keep you centered?

M: To be honest, I was drinking wine every day. I know everyone did, right? So every morning I was kind of, oh, feeling the headache. I would go to the pool and try to work out a little bit later, at 12 or 1 p.m., and then have some time with my mom. Before bed, I love praying. That was the best ritual. I knew that there were so many people dying, and I was here, enjoying my house and just being able to share that time with my family. I felt pretty grateful because of that.

L’O: You’ve really crossed over from the Latin world to become a global pop superstar. With Papi Juancho, the album from last year, you went back to your roots a bit. How do you juggle your Latin American audience with your global audience?

M: It is very difficult, to be honest. But I just try to keep it real—to explode my essence, you know? I always talk about this. I don’t feel that I have to sing in English to go to different markets. I just want to be me and enjoy the music that I really love doing. If people want to listen to it, I’m very grateful. But if not, there are a lot of artists out there, and if they want to listen to songs in English, it’s fine too. Right now I feel like my essence is working. What I’m doing is working. And hopefully people can enjoy it as much as I do. When I’m straight to my roots, I feel people can feel it too.

L’O: Coming up, did you always imagine you’d go global?

M: I always wanted to be a global star. People in high school used to laugh at me. And of course my family, I don’t know. They were kind of afraid I wouldn’t make it. Then I started working, and I had a lot of discipline. I feel like I had the keys to make it happen. I’m in the middle of the route, but it’s going to happen.

L’O: Did you succumb to sweatpants like everyone else did during the pandemic?

M: I was wearing sweatpants every day. Just chilling, slippers. I had been dressing up every day of my life before. I needed to enjoy my house. It’s not a bad way to enjoy your house, wearing sweatpants and a sweater.

L’O: You’re going to be in the upcoming J.Lo movie, Marry Me. What was your mindset like when you were on set, trying to learn a new art form?

M: I got nervous. I was there with Owen Wilson, too. That was my first movie, and it was a Hollywood movie, you know? When I went to the set for the first time, I felt that I was made for it. And well, working with Owen Wilson was difficult because he’s a big, big actor. But the first scene when we saw each other he was like, Wow, man, you’re doing amazing. For me, that was everything to calm my nerves. It was a beautiful experience working with Jennifer Lopez—she’s such a master. She’s got a lot of discipline. She loves having everything on point. I learned a lot about her. I’m not tired of talking about Marry Me, because it’s one of the biggest dreams I’ve had in my life.

L’O: I have to ask: Where did the rumor that you’re dating Kim Kardashian come from?

M: I don’t even know! Right? We were together at the Dior show. I met her for the first time there. I was also there with Kourtney. People just started talking about it. I don’t know why they started asking her that. Maybe because she was getting her divorce and everything, you know? But no, we are good friends. We don’t talk that often, but yeah, we are good friends and we always wish the best for each other.

L'OFFICIEL Hommes' Centennial Issue is now available to pre-order online here and will be hitting newstands on October 19, 2021.