Song guide

Mi Gente

J Balvin, Willy William

Mi Gente by J Balvin, Willy William, line by line: what the lyrics mean, 21 expressions explained and 283 words translated with their grammar. Learn Spanish from the song, free.

Lyrics with English translation, line by line

Each line as sung, what it means, and — where it needs one — why it's said that way.

1. ¡Wuh!

   Wuh!

2. Si el ritmo te lleva a mover la cabeza

   If the rhythm makes you move your head

3. Ya empezamos como es

   We already started the right way

4. Mi música no discrimina a nadie

   My music doesn't discriminate against anyone

5. Así que vamos a romper

   So let's break it down

   romper (literally 'to break') is widely used in Latin urban slang to mean 'to kill it', 'to dominate', or 'to tear up the place'; this slang sense recurs throughout the song

6. Toda mi gente se mueve (rra)

   All my people are moving (rra)

7. Mira el ritmo cómo los tiene (okay)

   Look at how the rhythm has them (okay)

8. Hago música que entretiene

   I make music that entertains

9. El mundo nos quiere, nos quiere, me quiere a mí

   The world loves us, loves us, loves me

10. Toda mi gente se mueve (rra)

    All my people are moving (rra)

11. Mira el ritmo cómo los tiene

    Look at how the rhythm has them

12. Hago música que entretiene

    I make music that entertains

13. Mi música los tiene fuerte bailando y se baila así (let's go)

    My music has them dancing hard and that's how you dance it

14. Estamo rompiendo la discoteca

    We're tearing up the club

    estamo rompiendo la discoteca uses the same slang sense of romper — 'tearing up the club' means dominating the dancefloor; estamo is a colloquial Caribbean/Latin urban elision of estamos, dropping the final -s

15. La fiesta no para, apenas comienza

    The party doesn't stop, it's just getting started

16. ¡Eh! C'est comme ci, ¡eh!, c'est comme ça

    Eh! It's like this, eh, it's like that

    c'est comme ci, c'est comme ça is a well-known French expression meaning 'it's like this, it's like that', often used in English and Spanish contexts as a borrowed phrase; its inclusion here reflects the song's French-Colombian collaboration

17. ¡Eh! Ma chérie, la-la-la-la-la

    Eh! My darling, la-la-la-la-la

    ma chérie is French for 'my darling'; its use here is a nod to Willy William's French background and the song's bilingual French-Spanish identity

18. Eh, Francia, eh, Colombia, eh

    Eh, France, eh, Colombia, eh

    Francia (France) and Colombia are the home countries of the two collaborating artists: Willy William is French (of Guadeloupean origin) and J Balvin is Colombian; the shout-out celebrates the international nature of the collaboration

19. Me gusta (¡freeze!)

    I like it (freeze!)

20. Eh, J Balvin, eh, Willy William, eh

    Eh, J Balvin, eh, Willy William, eh

    J Balvin is José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, a Colombian reggaeton superstar; Willy William is a French DJ and singer of Guadeloupean descent known for the original version of 'Voodoo Song' which became 'Mi Gente'

21. Me gusta (¡freeze!)

    I like it (freeze!)

22. Los DJs no miente', les gusta a mi gente

    The DJs don't lie, my people love it

23. Y eso se fue mundial (¡freeze!)

    And that went worldwide (freeze!)

24. No le bajamos, mas nunca paramos

    We don't turn it down, we never stop

25. Es otro palo y, ¡blam!

    It's another hit and, blam!

    palo in Latin slang (especially Colombian and Caribbean) means a hit song or a banger; es otro palo = 'it's another hit'; the literal meaning of palo is 'stick' or 'pole', but the slang meaning is entirely different

26. ¿Y dónde está mi gente?

    And where are my people?

27. Mais fais bouger la tête

    But shake your head

    mais fais bouger la tête is French for 'but shake your head'; this French line mirrors the Spanish ¿y dónde está mi gente? as a call to the crowd, reinforcing the bilingual structure of the song

28. ¿Y dónde está mi gente?

    And where are my people?

29. Say yeah, yeah, yeah

    Say yeah, yeah, yeah

30. ¡Un, dos, tres, leggo! (Ay, di que sí)

    One, two, three, let's go! (Come on, say yes)

    leggo is an English slang contraction of 'let's go', widely adopted in reggaeton and trap music; un, dos, tres, leggo is a classic countdown-to-drop formula used in dance music worldwide

31. Esquina a esquina, y ahí nos vamo

    Corner to corner, and that's where we're going

32. El mundo es grande, pero lo tengo en mis manos

    The world is big, but I hold it in my hands

33. Estoy muy duro, sí, okay, ahí vamos

    I'm very hard, yes, okay, here we go

    estoy muy duro in Latin urban slang means 'I'm very hard / I'm at the top of my game'; duro literally means 'hard' but colloquially signals that someone is performing at a high level or is very successful

34. Y con el tiempo nos seguimos elevando, yeah

    And with time we keep rising, yeah

35. Que seguimos rompiendo aquí, yeah

    We keep breaking it here, yeah

36. Esta fiesta no tiene fin, yeah

    This party has no end, yeah

37. Botellas para arriba, sí

    Bottles up, yes

38. Los tengo bailando, rompiendo y yo sigo aquí (yeah)

    I've got them dancing, breaking it and I'm still here (yeah)

39. Que seguimos rompiendo aquí, yeah

    We keep breaking it here, yeah

40. Esta fiesta no tiene fin, yeah

    This party has no end, yeah

41. Botellas para arriba, sí

    Bottles up, yes

42. Los tengo bailando, rompiendo

    I've got them dancing, breaking it

43. ¿Y dónde está mi gente?

    And where are my people?

44. Mais fais bouger la tête

    But shake your head

45. ¿Y dónde está mi gente?

    And where are my people?

46. Say yeah, yeah, yeah

    Say yeah, yeah, yeah

47. ¡Un, dos, tres, leggo! (Ay, di que sí)

    One, two, three, let's go! (Come on, say yes)

48. Worldwide, Willy William

    Worldwide, Willy William

49. J Balvin, man, ajá

    J Balvin, man, uh-huh

50. Ajá

    Uh-huh

51. Ajá

    Uh-huh

52. Ajá

    Uh-huh

Expressions and idioms in “Mi Gente”

The lines that don't mean what the dictionary says.

te lleva a mover makes you move

llevar a + infinitive means 'to lead someone to do something' or 'to make someone do something'; the indirect object pronoun te indicates who is being moved

como es the right way / as it should be

the fixed phrase «como es» (literally 'as it is') is used colloquially to mean 'the proper way' or 'the way it's supposed to be'

vamos a romper we're going to break it / let's break it

ir a + infinitive is the standard periphrastic future in Spanish, equivalent to English 'going to + verb'; here vamos a romper = 'we are going to break it'

se mueve moves / is moving

moverse (reflexive form of mover) means 'to move oneself'; the reflexive se shifts the meaning from 'to move something' to 'to move (on one's own)'

los tiene fuerte bailando has them dancing hard

tener + object pronoun + gerund is a construction meaning 'to have/keep someone doing something'; it expresses a sustained state caused by the subject

se baila así that's how you dance it / it's danced like this

se + verb in 3rd person creates an impersonal or passive construction; se baila means 'one dances' or 'it is danced', describing how something is done without naming a specific subject

Estamo rompiendo we are tearing it up

estar + gerund forms the Spanish present progressive, equivalent to English 'to be doing something'; estamos rompiendo = 'we are breaking/tearing up'; estamo is a colloquial elision of estamos common in Latin urban music

apenas comienza it's just getting started / it has barely begun

apenas + present tense conveys that something has only just begun or has barely happened; it is the opposite of 'already' and implies the action is at its very start

no para doesn't stop

parar (intransitive) means 'to stop'; no para = 'it doesn't stop'; note that parar can also mean 'to stop something' transitively, but here it is used without an object

Me gusta I like it

gustar works the opposite of English 'to like': the thing liked is the grammatical subject, and the person who likes it is the indirect object; me gusta literally means 'it is pleasing to me'

les gusta a mi gente my people like it

again the gustar construction: les is the indirect object pronoun for 'them', and a mi gente clarifies who 'them' refers to; the thing liked is the implied subject

No le bajamos we don't turn it down

bajar + indirect object le is used colloquially to mean 'to lower/turn down' (the volume or intensity); le refers to the music or the energy of the party

nunca paramos we never stop

nunca + present tense verb expresses a habitual or absolute negation; note that Spanish allows double negation (no ... nunca) but nunca alone at the start of a clause is also correct

di que sí say yes

decir que + sí/no is a fixed pattern meaning 'to say yes/no'; di is the irregular imperative of decir; the phrase is a call-and-response prompt to the crowd

Esquina a esquina corner to corner

noun + a + same noun is a Spanish pattern expressing movement or coverage from one point to another, equivalent to English 'from X to X'; it implies totality or full reach

nos vamo we're going / that's where we're headed

irse (reflexive of ir) means 'to go away / to head off'; nos vamos (colloquially nos vamo) = 'we're going'; the reflexive adds a sense of departure or movement away from the current place

nos seguimos elevando we keep rising

seguir + gerund is a periphrastic construction meaning 'to keep doing something / to continue doing something'; nos here is a reflexive pronoun with elevarse (to rise/elevate oneself)

seguimos rompiendo we keep breaking it

seguir + gerund expresses a continuing action; rompiendo (from romper) in this slang context means 'killing it / dominating'; the construction emphasizes the ongoing nature of their success

para arriba up / upward

para arriba is a directional phrase meaning 'upward'; botellas para arriba is a toast gesture meaning 'bottles up', equivalent to raising glasses; para + arriba/abajo/adelante are common directional combinations

Los tengo bailando I've got them dancing

tener + object pronoun + gerund means 'to have/keep someone doing something'; this construction implies the subject is causing or maintaining the action in others

yo sigo aquí I'm still here

seguir + location adverb (without a gerund) means 'to still be somewhere / to remain'; sigo aquí = 'I'm still here', implying persistence or continued presence

Vocabulary to learn from “Mi Gente”

The words the song uses most.

• tener has / holds verb ·8
• la gente people noun ·7
• romper to break / to smash verb ·6
• estar we are verb ·6
• la música music noun ·4
• bailar dancing verb ·4
• seguir we keep / we continue verb ·4
• el ritmo rhythm noun ·3
• mover to move verb ·3
• ser it is verb ·3
• ir we go / let's go verb ·3
• querer loves / wants verb ·3

Verbs in the song, and the form being sung

Present tense for each; the highlighted row is the one you'll hear.

Grammar you'll meet in this song

• Present45
• Imperative4
• Preterite1

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