Only without a deadline could J Balvin carve out the time and mental space to create his latest album, the 15-track “Rayo.” A collection of reggaeton, pop and EDM, it’s the Colombian rapper’s first original offering since 2021, after which he shortly thereafter retired from the entertainment industry and social media to focus on his firstborn child.

After a smashing debut in 2014 with the single “6 AM” and building up to his breakthrough, Balvin became a leader in Latin music with major collaborations and partnerships with other global stars, brands, and music companies. Ten years later, it’s clear that Balvin’s priorities have more than shifted: he recently signed a record deal with Interscope, ending his 10-year contract with Universal Music Latino, and joined Roc Nation as a management client. He’s been on the road for his “Que Bueno Volver a Verte” tour in Europe, delivering pulse-pounding reggaeton to audiences in unlikely locations from Belgium to Copenhagen.

“I didn’t think about making an album, but I never stopped making music,” Balvin tells Variety of “Rayo.” “Whenever I had free time, after I finished everything that day, I would record music — no compromises with labels, nothing like that — for fun. I started to feel the nostalgia I had when I was a kid, dreaming of being where I am now, without any real expectation of what could come next.”

Conceptualized in Miami and recorded everywhere from Sweden, Puerto Rico, New York and London to Balvin’s native Colombia, “Rayo” honors the new wave of reggaeton artists, including star Feid, with verses from Bad Gyal, Saiko, Ryan Castro, Blessd and more. Two of the genre’s earliest pioneers from the 2000s, Zion and Chencho Corleone, also appear on the album’s more straightforward, club-ready tracks.