J Balvin arrived at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards with some of his closest friends and collaborators: DJ Snake, Justin Quiles and Lenny Tavárez. The boys were ready to take over the stage at New York’s UBS Arena with a performance on Sunday (Sept. 7).

“It’s up to [DJ] Snake — he better play that thing right,” Balvin told Billboard on the red carpet ahead of their performance.

“Energy,” the French DJ and producer assured Billboard in a separate interview. “It’s going to be a party, and that’s what we’re doing.”

A few moments later, the Colombian global sensation took over the VMAs stage for an energy-packed medley that kicked off his “Zun Zun” alongside Tavárez and Quiles. The track, which is part of Balvin’s latest Mixteip EP, is powered by sensual perreo elements à la Plan B or Zion.

On the stage, the three reggaetón veterans were joined by a group of dancers and neon-drenched visuals that included a boombox, palm trees and lighting bolts, best representing Balvin’s graphic line.

After the perreo number, Balvin was joined by DJ Snake, and together they performed their latest single, “Noventa,” an EDM-infused reggaetón song with Middle Eastern melodies. “Noventa” follows Balvin and Snake’s 2019 “Loco Contigo” with Tyga, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Airplay chart that same year.

In addition to his fiery and star-studded performance, Balvin was nominated for Best Latin for his song “Rio.” Also nominated in the category are Bad Bunny’s “Baile Inolvidable,” Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conicido,” Peso Pluma’s “La Patrulla,” and Rauw Alejandro and Romeo Santos’ “Khé?”