Maluma for Allure Magazine - July 2024

July 24

Juan Luis Londoño Arias was born in 1994 in Medellín, Colombia. The teenager, who had been training to become a professional soccer player, saw reggaeton stars like the Puerto Rican duo Wisin & Yandel hitting it big and decided that music would be his ticket to fame. His planned musical success is how he would help his family out of financial struggles. And so he asked his aunt Yudy, whose husband became his manager, for a recording session as a birthday gift. But first, a stage name worthy of reggaeton greatness. “I couldn’t be Juan Luis. Juan Luis is like an artist from the ’80s or ’90s,” he says in his documentary. “I spent like two weeks before going to the studio, thinking about the name.” And thus came the baptism of Maluma, a combination of the first two letters of his mother’s name (Marlli), father’s name (Luis), and sister’s name (Manuela). It was already there in script on his left calf, a tattoo he had gotten as a tribute to his family but without his parent’s permission. “My mom got super mad at me,” he says.

Interview: https://www.allure.com/story/maluma-cover-interview