Sebastián Obando Giraldo (born 15 October 1994), known professionally as Sebastián Yatra, is a Colombian

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

. He began as a

Latin pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin ...

artist and has recorded many

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, but has released several successful reggaeton singles. Yatra is noted for his romantic lyrics, melding traditional lyricism with modern reggaeton influences. He rose to prominence in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

in 2016 when he released the hit "Traicionera". He has released three studio albums and recorded with artists from a diverse range of musical genres throughout his career. Born in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

and raised primarily in Miami, Yatra began singing at a young age and returned to Colombia to begin his musical career. He achieved breakout success with "Traicionera" followed by "

Robarte un Beso "Robarte un Beso" is a song by Colombian singers Carlos Vives and Sebastián Yatra from Vives' fifteenth studio album, ''Vives'' (2017). It was written by the two singers, and producers Mauricio Rengifo and Andres Torres. Regarding the track, Yatr ...

" featuring

Carlos Vives Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo (born 7 August 1961) is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his interpretation of traditional music styles of Colombia such as vallenato, cumbia, champeta, bambuco and porro as well as ge ...

. "Traicionera" served as the lead single for his

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

debut album, ''Mantra'', which also featured the single "Sutra", featuring Puerto Rican rapper Dalmata. He then released the album '' Fantasía'' including the lead single "Un Año" featuring Mexican band Reik. He received continued success collaborating with

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, composer, and actor. Known as the " King of Reggaetón" by music critics and fans alike, he is the artist who coined ...

Natti Natasha Natalia Alexandra Gutiérrez Batista (born December 10, 1986), better known by her stage name Natti Natasha, is a Dominican singer. She was signed to Don Omar's label Orfanato Music Group. Her debut EP, ''All About Me'', was released on Marc ...

, and the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised i ...

on the bilingual single "

Runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

Early life

Born in

, Yatra lived briefly in Cartagena before moving with his mother to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

at age five. At the same time, his father stayed in Colombia to work in real estate. Discussing the experience, Yatra explained, “It was a big sacrifice. Since my dad stayed working in Colombia, y parentshad a long-distance relationship for like 12 years.” He studied piano, guitar, and vocal technique, and was an avid football player before deciding to concentrate on his music, although he continues to practice football as a hobby. The first concert he attended was that of Colombian pop singer

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. He decided to become a singer at age twelve after landing the role of Troy Bolton in his school production of ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, ...

''. In high school, Yatra played the position of the central defensive midfielder on his school's football team and often wore a scarf over his mouth during practice to protect his voice. He practiced performing for his teammates on the bus to and from games, performing songs by his favorite artists as well as his own original songs. He attended vocal lessons every day after school. After graduating from the Sagemont School in Weston, Florida in 2012, Yatra attended

Babson College Babson College is a private business school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Established in 1919, its central focus is on entrepreneurship education. It was founded by Roger W. Babson as an all-male business institute, but became coeducational ...

to study business administration. However, Yatra dropped out of school to focus on music and at age 20, Yatra returned to Colombia to begin his musical career.

Career

2013–2017: Early career and "Traicionera"

In September 2013, Yatra had his first minor hit single, "El psicólogo", which charted in his home country Colombia, as well as Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico and the United States. "El Psicólogo", a pop ballad with reggae influences was recorded in the United States, and produced by well-known Latin producers Yhonny Atella and Ender Thomas, mastered by Tom Coynequien and music video shot by Colombian director Simón Brand. Yatra toured with Paty Cantú in her Drama Queen Tour and with Sandoval Sandoval in her Deja Que La Vida Te Sorprenda Tour gaining more fame. His follow-up single "Todo Lo Que Siento" was mildly successful, but the ensuing "Para olvidar" became a big hit in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and yet again in the States. 2015 saw launching of two successful singles, "No me llames" featuring Alkilados and "Cómo Mirarte", a repeat hit first as solo and again in a collaboration featuring Kenai and remixed by producers like Kevin ADG, Chan El Genio and Dandee. Yatra first received international success with the single "Traicionera" a Reggaeton, trap and EDM-influenced hit that solidified his status as a favorite international artist in Latin America, in the Latin market in the States also charting in Spain and finding success all over Europe. The single was classified double platinum in Colombia and platinum in Ecuador. It peaked at number twelve on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Yatra's collaboration with Colombian

vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing ...

singer

entitled "Robarte Un Beso" won an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

award. The single's accompanying music video, directed by Venezuelan filmmaker Daniel Duran and released on July 28, 2017, features four love stories that all center around partners serenading each other.

2018–2019: ''Mantra'' and ''Fantasia''

Yatra released the album ''Mantra'' on May 18, 2018. On the album's title, he explained, “My mantra are my songs. It takes you to that good energy with whatever you’re listening to. All these songs have these positive vibes, especially in the lyrics. They’re just sharing love." In 2018, Yatra voiced the character Migo in the Spanish language version of the computer-animated film '' Smallfoot''. He released the single "Sutra" featuring Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Dalmata in March 2018, which also peaked at number 26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs. In December 2018, Yatra's single "Ya No Tiene Novio" featuring Mau y Ricky reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Latin Airplay chart. To promote the song, Yatra and Mau y Ricky publicized a "feud" between them to create attention around the track, with Yatra explaining, “It’s pretty crazy because the song blew up before it even came out. Instead of telling people it was awesome, we told everyone that the collaboration sucked and having everyone say, ‘Dude you guys messed up the song so bad.’” Artists Maluma, Zion Y Lennox, and J Balvin publicly commented on the "rivalry". The music video features a playful nod at the artificial feud, with the artists competing over love interests. In January 2019, Sebastián Yatra and Reik launched a collaborative work titled “Un Año” (one year). The single was well-received by many Venezuelan migrants who identify the song lyrics with separations from families. The single was released alongside his new album '' Fantasía'', which was released in April 2019. Despite releasing several reggaeton-influenced songs prior to releasing the album, the majority of the twelve tracks on ''Fantasía'' have been classified as ballads. Yatra commented, "I started my career as a balladeer. I listened to

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for multiple songs, one of them being " Despacito" featuring rapper Daddy Yankee. Fonsi received his first ...

, Reik,

Alex Ubago Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple ...

and

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songb ...

. I'm very grateful for all the urban things I've done but I did not want to lose my essence." ''Fantasía'' has been nominated for

Best Latin Pop Album The Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the Latin pop genre. Honors in ...

at the

62nd Annual Grammy Awards The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...

2019–present

In June 2019, Yatra released the track "

" with

and

, featuring the

. "Runaway" is the first bilingual song Yatra has released. After writing the chorus in English, Yatra realized that he wanted a mainstream English-language musician to feature on the track, putting the recording of the song on hold for two years while he searched for the right collaborators. Commenting on the song, Yatra stated, "you feel the happiness in the track." Yatra performed the song alongside Natti Natasha, Daddy Yankee, and the Jonas Brothers on the opening night of the Jonas Brothers' Happiness Begins Tour in Miami. His single "Oye", featuring Argentine singer Tini, reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Argentina Hot 100 for the week of October 26, 2019. The music video received more than 40 million views in the two weeks after it was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

. In October 2019 he was involved in political controversies after expressing his support for the politicians and candidates of the Colombian far-right, including controversial former president

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia. He held offices in th ...

. Yatra collaborated with Mexican rock group

Maná Maná () is a Mexican pop rock band. The band is considered one of the best-selling Latin music artists and the most successful Latin American band of all time with over 40 million records sold worldwide. The group's current lineup consists o ...

in November 2019 to release a new version of the group's 1995 single “No Ha Parado De Llover”. The song's music video, which partially centers around a fatal car accident, serves as a

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

against texting and driving. Maná initiated the collaboration after seeing Yatra cover the song at the

2018 Grammys The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...

gala. Yatra has publicly advocated for fans to practice social distancing to stop the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. In March 2020, he began reading children's books on Instagram Live every night at 8pm EST. Also in March 2020, he released a remix of his '' Fantasía'' song "Falta Amor" featuring

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his discography spanning Latin pop, pop, dance, reggaeton ...

. On the collaboration, Yatra reflected, "Singing with Ricky Martin is just insane. I would have never thought it possible in hislifetime. It’s huge not only as a Latino, but for any person that loves music.” He announced that he will be the opening act for Martin and

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By th ...

's US tour, which is planned to take place from September 5 to October 30, 2021. In 2021, Yatra recorded the Spanish song " Dos Oruguitas" and its English language version, "Two Oruguitas" for the soundtrack of the Disney animated film ''

Encanto ''Encanto'' is a 2021 American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 60th film produced by the studio, it was directed by Jared Bush ...

''. The song, written by

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals '' Hamilton'' (2015) and ''In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

, represented Yatra's first inclusion on a Disney movie soundtrack and the accomplishment of a personal goal: "It's always been a dream of mine to be a part of a Disney movie and it really hits the heart when it's a Disney movie about my country and showing the best of what we have to offer, which is love and family and miracles," Yatra noted. "Dos Oruguitas" was one of five songs nominated for Best Original Song for the 2022

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. On February 22, 2022, Yatra revealed the North America dates for his ''Dharma World Tour''.

Artistry

Yatra's music has been classified as Latin pop, reggaeton, and

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. According to ''The Fader'', Yatras music lands "somewhere in between the olden times’ sappy romantics and the new wave’s sensuous vibras." He is influenced by Latin pop and reggaeton artists

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

, and Reik. In an interview with ''Billboard'', he expressed a desire to collaborate with Italian opera singer

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...

. Yatra believes that contemporary musicians commit an "error in associating ballads with boring and slow and old", and hopes to rejuvenate intererest in ballads for a younger audience. However, his music contains elements of other genres; Desire Thompson of ''Vibe'' described his song "Traicionera" as a "trap-EDM blend". Despite growing up in Florida and being fluent in English, Yatra sings almost exclusively in Spanish. Yatra explains, “My goal was always to be a singer in Spanish. And I really wanted to understand where I come from and live it. A lot of times I went to Colombia and, even though I spoke Spanish and was always speaking Spanish with my parents, I still felt like an outsider. I wasn’t 100 percent part of it. I wanted to give my roots the importance they deserve.” His June 2019 song "Runaway" was his first foray into bilingual songwriting. In December 2019, he collaborated with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n boy group

Monsta X Monsta X (; stylized as MONSTA X) is a South Korean boy group formed through the reality survival program ''No.Mercy'' under Starship Entertainment. The group is currently composed of six members: Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohon ...

for the song "Magnetic", which features verses from Yatra in Spanish and a bridge from Monsta X in

Spanglish Spanglish (a portmanteau of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is m ...

. Sara Delgado of ''Teen Vogue'' called the song a "truly international pop hit".

Filmography

Films

2021 ''

'' Singer of "Dos Oruguitas."

Telenovels and series

Realities shows and others

Discography

* ''Mantra'' (2018) * '' Fantasía'' (2019) * ''

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ...

'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

ASCAP Latin Awards

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" , , Award Winning Songs , , , -

Heat Latin Music Awards

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, , "Traicionera" , , Best Video , , , - , Sebastián Yatra , , Best Andean Artist , , , - , align="center" rowspan="4",

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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" , align="center", Best Collaboration , , -

Grammy Awards

, - , style="text-align:center",

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, '' Fantasía'' , rowspan="2", Best Latin Pop Album , , - , style="text-align:center",

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, ''

'' ,

Latin Grammy Awards

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, Sebastián Yatra ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, , - , ''Extended Play Yatra'' , Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album , , - , style="text-align:center;",

, "

" ,

Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to: * Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year * Dove Award for Song of the Year * Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year * Grammis Song of the Year * Grammy Award for Song of the Year * Latin Grammy Awa ...

, , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3",

, rowspan="2", '' Fantasía'' ,

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, , - , Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album , , - , "Un Año" , Song of the Year , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Bonita" , Song of the Year , , - , Best Pop Song , , - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

, rowspan="2", ''

'' , Album of the Year , , - , Best Pop Vocal Album , , - , rowspan="2", "

Tacones Rojos "Tacones Rojos" (English: "Red High Heels") is a song co-written and performed by Colombian singer Sebastián Yatra released as the eighth single from his third studio album ''Dharma'' (2022), published through the Universal Music Latino lab ...

" , Song of the Year , , - , Best Pop Song ,

Latin American Music Awards

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, , Sebastián Yatra , , New Artist of the Year , , , - , ''Mantra'' , , Favorite Album - Pop , , , - , "

" , , Favorite Song - Pop , , , -

MTV Europe Music Award

, - , style="text-align:center;" , 2016 , , rowspan="6", Sebastián Yatra , , rowspan="6", Best Latin America Central Act , , , - ,

, , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , -

American Music Awards

, - , style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2",

, "Dos Oruguitas" , rowspan="2", Favourite Latin Song , , -

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yatra, Sebastian 1994 births Living people Musicians from Medellín 21st-century Colombian male singers Colombian pop singers Latin pop singers Colombian emigrants to the United States Musicians from Miami Singers from Florida 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers MTV Europe Music Award winners Universal Music Latin Entertainment artists Latin music songwriters Latin Grammy Award winners