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How Maluma's Parents' Divorce Shaped His View on Love and Marriage (Exclusive)

How Maluma's Parents' Divorce Shaped His View on Love and Marriage (Exclusive)
Credit: Bonnie Biess/Getty Images

Maluma is sharing his life story with the world.

The 25-year-old singer -- whose real name is Juan Luis Londoño Arias -- may show fans a glimpse of his life on social media, but now, the Medellín native is taking it one step further with his new YouTube Originals documentary, titled MALUMA: Lo Que Era, Lo Que Soy, Lo Que Seré.  

The 90-minute feature, directed by Jessy Terrero, traces the singer's journey from his humble origins in Colombia, his home and family life, the moment he decided to pursue a career in music, as well as his evolution to selling out stadiums worldwide. 

Featuring exclusive interviews with his parents, Marlli Arias and Luis Londoño, older sister Manuela, family members, longtime friends and Maluma himself, the "Felices Los Cuatro" singer tells ET via phone how important it was for him to share his story with fans.

"It was important to show how I came up [began my career] because I think that is one of the most special moments of an artist, the humble beginning and being on stage," Maluma explains. "I wanted to do it this way to show what I have gone through to get to where I am now. For a long time now, I had wanted to make a documentary that was raw and showed the true behind the scenes of my career."

From a young age, Maluma had dreamed of becoming a soccer star. At the same time, he also developed a love and passion for music, ultimately deciding to quit the sport and become a singer. All the while, his parents were going through a tumultuous separation, with his father leaving for Bogota when he was 10 years old.

With the family's patriarch gone, Maluma saw himself as the man of the house with a huge responsibility to take care of his mother and sister.

"In reality, when my parents got divorced it affected my life and career in a positive way because I had to go get el pan del día and find a way to help them," he recalls. "That was when I did a lot of things to bring food to the table for my family. I decided to leave soccer behind and focus on my music career, which was something that I had also wanted to do all my life. Everything happens for a reason. Everything has a 'why.'"

Maluma -- who has been dating model Natalia Barulich for two years -- also shares he still has a very open mind about what love and marriage mean to him.

"I think that marriage is something important for those who are big believers of Catholicism," Maluma expresses. "[Marriage] is something respectable, but everyone's life is different. More than a ring, I believe that love is all about your heart. Your heart and your partner's heart. You don’t have to get married to have a beautiful relationship with your partner. It's very respectable that a couple would want to get married, but it goes beyond being in a church."

The documentary also explores his early concerts, various ups and downs and how he ultimately made his dreams come true. After spending so much time in front of the camera for the documentary, Maluma says he has aspirations of acting in the future -- but all in due time. 

"Yes, definitely, I would love to [act]. It's just that everything comes at its moment," he says, explaining that at this moment his music comes first. "Then, with God's help, I will look for opportunities to act. But if I do it, I would want to do something big. To do something in Hollywood, something that represents a big movement. At the moment, I'm focused on my musical career."

As viewers will get a chance to see in the doc, Maluma does not take anything for granted and constantly counts his blessings. 

"So many amazing things have happened in my life," Maluma reflects. "Right now I am focused on the release of my new album, 11:11, and my documentary on YouTube. I recently dropped my song, 'HP,' which did well. I've been releasing a lot of new music. I also did a song with Becky G, 'La Repuesta.' I had the honor of writing a song for Marc Anthony, 'Parecen Viernes.'"

"I will also be going on tour in Mexico, the U.S. and Europe," he adds before taking a moment to reiterate that he's "working hard to make all my dreams come true."

MALUMA: Lo Que Era, Lo Que Soy, Lo Que Seré premieres June 5 on YouTube.

Get more Latinx news on ET MÁS, ETonline's new section featuring the latest celeb, film, TV, music and style news.

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