Switched on Pop is running Newcomers, a three-part series of interviews with breakout artists. This week, Reanna Cruz’s interview with Jhayco.
Jhayco, the artist formerly known as Jhay Cortez, operates differently from the rest of the Latin music machine: He is intimately involved in every step of the creative process, writing, producing, and performing his brand of glossy, melancholic reggaeton. “I have a wide variety of influences from everything I hear: alternative music, indie music, deep house, rap, trap, salsa, bachata, scores for music,” he says. “It’s like having a big closet with any type of clothes.”
Since his breakout hit “No Me Conoce” in 2019, the Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate has become one of the most listened to artists in the world, thanks to collaborations with superstars including Bad Bunny and J Balvin — which have amassed several billion streams on Spotify — along with writing credits on smash hits like Cardi B’s “I Like It” and Natti Natasha’s “Criminal.”
Jhayco’s newest record, Le Clique: Vida Rockstar (X) (out September), is a three-part, 29-track behemoth highlighting his globalist production style, his keen eye for melody, and his unique tastemaker status in the industry. “There’s only a few people I know who do this,” he says, “and thank God I’m one of those people.” You can read excerpts from the conversation below. For the full interview, check out the latest episode of Switched on Pop.
Before you were Jhayco, you were a songwriter for artists like Zion y Lennox and Tito “El Bambino.” When did you begin to write music?
When I was 11. Music was my cartoons when I was young. It was my Power Rangers. I knew everything: who did the beat, who did the flow, who wrote it, who recorded it, who mixed it. Then it would just be easy to imitate it. My dad used to rap, so I asked him how to structure a song, and it stuck with me. It was like a calling, something I knew from a past life. From there, I started writing. Then at 14, I started producing. At 16, I started selling records and producing for other artists, like Zion y Lennox and Tito “El Bambino.” I was just writing what I heard from artists that inspired me. I used to love Don Omar. I used to just copy what he used to say. My whole flow is like thanks to him.
Your list of collaborators is very eclectic, including artists both in and outside of Latin music, like your 2021 collaboration with Skrillex, “En Mi Cuarto.” How do you choose who to work with?
I have two ways of looking at things. I look from an artist point, and then I look at it as a fan. Am I gonna be able to listen to this album and know what’s gonna happen? Do I wanna know what’s gonna happen? No. Do I want to hear him with the same artist? Maybe if it is good enough, but usually no. I want to hear him with somebody new. Skrillex is somebody I love. I always admired him, and being able to do a song like that was a dream come true for me and for the culture of reggaeton. Like, who would have thought 10 years ago that somebody like me could co-produce a beat with somebody like Skrillex? He’s, like, a genius. So that’s a little bit of how I pick: I pick people I admire and people I never thought I could do something with and then I’ll pick somebody totally new, like Peso Pluma or Dei V. You gotta think also like a fan.
I feel like a lot of artists don’t really approach music from a fan perspective.
No, not at all. Because I feel like artists are so caught up in being the artists. Sometimes people who make hits fall into a place where they’re like, I know what a hit is. The public doesn’t know what they want.
You mentioned your collaboration with Peso Pluma, “Ex-Special.” How did it come together?
I go to Mexico a lot. I love Mexico. When I was doing my album I stayed there and really got to tap into the culture. Not just listening from playlists. I got to be there. I feel like everybody just tries to do the sound, and not try to really understand it. That’s what I did with this song.
How do you write melodies? Do you sit down and go for it? Do you try them out in the shower?
I don’t write too much in the studio. I feel like the studio is an office. It’s too square. It’s like going to school. I like when I can feel like I’m having fun. I’m at the beach, or at my house, or in the car. It comes out natural because I’m feeling good. You can’t write something if you don’t feel good.
Do you think other artists write like that, or is that something that only you do?
That’s something that I do because I’m a melody freak. There’s only so many people who have a talent with melodies. Most people just have talent with beats.
What statement are you trying to make withyour new record Le Clique: Vida Rockstar (X)?
It’s just my world right now: what I’ve grown into, what I’ve been — not only in my music, but my personality. When I was doing Famous or Timelezz, I was discovering not only who I was as an artist, but as a person. I was super young. I was starting to know the world, starting to know fame. And across these three years I’ve settled more into who I am. This project is what my perspective of a rock star is in my world.
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