MALUMA WORLD

Colombian-born Latin-music sensation Maluma is leaning into being the biggest pop star imaginable. And wow, is it working

- Julyssa Lopez

SURE, IN THE DIGITAL AGE, there’re ways to quantify the fame of pop singer Maluma: he has 49.3 million followers on Instagram, for example. (Harry Styles has 26.3 million; John Legend has 11.8 million.) And on YouTube, his videos have been viewed 13 billion times. But his stardom – the pure global reach of it – still has a way of beguiling him.

The 26-year-old’s telling me this while perched in a makeup chair in Toronto, where he’s in town for yet another sold-out show. A few days before, he was playing at Madison Square Garden in New York. He stepped out of his hotel and found a throng waiting for him. That part didn’t shock him; he’s gotten used to the crowds. But this particular group told him they’d flown in from China – a place Maluma didn’t even realise his music had reached. They’d come just to see him.

‘They were like, “We’re huge fans!”’ Maluma recalls, ‘and I was like, “What the fuck?” And they said, “Yeah, you have a huge fan base in China.” They were telling me, “You have to come. It’s a big deal. We came to New York for your show because you never come,”’ Maluma remembers, seeming genuinely thankful for the heads-up about his rockstar status in the world’s most populous country. ‘I said, “Oh, fuck – sorry! I’m coming soon.”’