13 Things We Discovered About Jhay Cortez During Nicky Jam’s ‘Rockstar Show’ at Latin Music Week

In the midst of the pandemic, Nicky Jam ventured into the new sideline as a host, launching his very own talk show called The Rockstar Show. In a format similar to late-night TV shows, Nicky would interview fellow musicians such as Maluma, Karol G, El Alfa, and many more.

On Wednesday (Sept. 22), the Puerto Rican artist took his show to the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Week, where he interviewed seven-time Billboard Latin Music Awards finalist Jhay Cortez. During their conversation, the two Latin urban artists bonded over their beginnings, music career, and admiration for each other.

“You’ve always treated me the same since the first day,” Cortez told Nicky. “I see you as an older brother. Your generation is the one that created the path so that everything would be easier for us.”

Jam replied, “Thank you, I had a horrible past but it converted me into who I am today and that’s the legacy I want to leave”.

Below, check out some interesting facts we discovered during “The Rockstar Show” live panel:

1. Both Nicky and Jhay Cortez met in 2015 after working on “Por El Momento” with Plan B for Nicky’s Fenix album.

2. J Balvin was the first person to talk to Nicky Jam about Jhay Cortez.

3. Jhay Cortez learned how to structure a song at the early age of 12 thanks to his father who was a composer and rapper.

4. At 14, he began to create beats; in fact, he sold his first-ever song to Zion & Lennox.

5. At 17, Cortez produced six tracks for Tito El Bambino’s Invencible album.

6. After a year of composing music with Haze for top-notch artists like Wisin y Yandel, Cortez decided to kick off his solo artist career.

7. The first song that earned him a big paycheck was Natti Natasha’s “Criminal.”

8. The first thing he bought with his paycheck was a Rolex and a Jeep Cherokee.

9. Cortez considered himself to be an introvert but he admits that music taught him how to be extroverted.

10. Cortez’s all-time favorite singer is Don Omar because he’s a complete artist who can sing and rap.

11. Myke Towers is the artist of his generation that he admires the most because “we grew up in the same ambiance and same studio.”

12. Following in the footsteps of Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Cortez hopes to take the urban genre to another level.

13. He wants to eventually act and create a fashion line because he wants to continue contributing to the culture and genre.

Latin Music Week coincides with the Billboard Latin Music Awards taking place Thursday, Sept. 23 via Telemundo.

Considered the longest-running awards show in Latin music, the Billboard Latin Music Awards is the only awards show to honor the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music as determined by the sales, streaming radio airplay, and social data that informs Billboard’s weekly charts during a one-year period.