Jhay Cortez vs. Rauw Alejandro: A Timeline of the 2021 Reggaeton Feud

Jhay Cortez and Rauw Alejandro, two of Billboard’s chart-topping stars, are battling it out on social media in a new tiraera that unfolded during the holiday season.

Tiraeras (or rap battles) have been a part of the genre’s DNA for years, finding two artists battling each other, oftentimes with diss tracks so that fans can determine who’s the best lyricist.

Daddy Yankee vs. Tempo, Tego Calderon vs. Lito y Polanco, Hector y Tito vs. Baby Rasta y Gringo, Cosculluela vs. Anuel AA and Lapiz Conciente vs. Mozart La Para are some of the notable rap battles that have occurred over the years.

Just last year, Cortez and Bryant Myers confronted each other during quarantine to come to terms on who’s the best trap artist of this generation.

Below, see a timeline of Cortez’s newest feud, with Rauw Alejandro.

Dec. 16: Both Jhay and Rauw formed part of Ankhal’s “Si Pepe” remix released via Carbon Fiber Music. Other artists on the remix included Farruko, Arcangel, Miky Woodz, and Luar La L. In his verse, two minutes and ten seconds in, Cortez seemingly threw some jabs at Rauw, comparing his dance moves to that of a cockroach and even mentioning his “Spanish girlfriend” (Rauw is currently dating Spanish artist Rosalia). Read part of his translated verse below:

If you’re good at dancing, I’ll make you breakdance like a cockroach
You’re not street, on this track you’re a fake
[…]
Your Spanish [girlfriend] wants me to speak to her in English
Do you want to f***? “Jhayco, I want in the Bentley,” ey

Dec. 17: Rauw Alejandro responds on his social media accounts, telling fans that he just discovered his No. 1 fan. Furthermore, he said that Jhay should do a collaboration album with him so that he can at least enter the top 3 on the charts. But what really ignited Rauw to go to war was the verse where Cortez allegedly mentioned his girlfriend. “Women should be respected […] We’re jumping on,” he tweeted.

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Con Rauw!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 pa que llegues al Top 3 por lo menos. pic.twitter.com/lyJ2GURX8x

— R A U W A L E J A N D R O (@rauwalejandro) December 17, 2021

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Descubrí a mi fan #1 🤣🤣🤣💙

— R A U W A L E J A N D R O (@rauwalejandro) December 17, 2021

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Las mujeres se respetan!!!!! Lechon!!!! 🙅🏽‍♂️🚫🐽 VAMO PA ENCIMA!!!!!!!!!

— R A U W A L E J A N D R O (@rauwalejandro) December 17, 2021

 

Dec. 23: Rauw Alejandro announced that his diss track would be released at 6 p.m. ET on the night before Christmas Eve. After not releasing it on time, Cortez headed to Twitter and said: “What are you waiting for? For YouTube to approve the campaign so that you can say that you made five million views?”

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Que Estas esperando que te aprube la campaña Youtube pa decir que hiciste 5 Millones jajajaa Suelta esooo!!

— JHAYCO (@jhaycortez) December 23, 2021

Soon after, Rauw dropped “Hunter,” a nearly five-minute track with an elaborate music video that shows scenes of Rauw portraying John Wick, a sniper, and a baseball athlete to get his message across.

In the lyrics, Rauw mentions how Jhay’s tour is not selling out, how his viral verse on “911” was written by Mora, and how his album Timelezz is not charting unlike Rauw’s Afrodisiaco and Vice Versa. He also compared his and Rosalia’s relationship to that of Jay-Z and Beyoncé, claiming: “Where we sing, nobody knows you.”

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No confundas la humildad con la cobardía. El que me conoce sabe que somos linea, pregunta por ahí… VAMO PA ENCIMA!! dentro y fuera de la musica. HOY TO EL MUNDO ACTIVO A LAS 6PM !!! Jeje 👹👹👹👹🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑😴😴😴😴😴😴😴 pic.twitter.com/wjOCpXZo2P

— R A U W A L E J A N D R O (@rauwalejandro) December 23, 2021

Dec. 28: Jhay Cortez responded with a seven-minute track called “Enterrauw.” The title is a play on words of “enterrado,” which is Spanish for buried. On Instagram, he posted his COVID results, explaining that even though he tested positive, he worked on the track. “I’m Jordan, I won playing with the flu,” he wrote in the caption. Cortez even went as far as creating a “death certificate” to promote his diss track.

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Vamos Pa Encima 🕊 pic.twitter.com/aYTtzQSsaU

— JHAYCO (@jhaycortez) December 29, 2021

On the song, which was released with a clip that says “this is not a video” and references parts of the lyrics in GIFs, Cortez claims that Rauw would WhatsApp him to compose his music, that his concert tickets are sold for $30, and that he’s a fake pop star. He replied to Rauw’s previous tweet, expressing: “You say to respect women but you support the abusive Chris Brown” (in September, Rauw and Chris collaborated on Rvssian’s “Nostalgico”), and he also took a dig at Rauw’s lyrics, stating: “Even if Mayweather trains you, you know you can’t write a punchline.”

Rauw later responded to one of Jhayco’s lyrics where he says: “Stay in your line, you don’t see me dancing” by sharing a never-before-seen video of Cortez taking dance lessons.

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“Tu no me ve’ bailando” 🎶🎶🎶🎶😂😂😂 whaaatttttt pic.twitter.com/CHpWziZDTI

— R A U W A L E J A N D R O (@rauwalejandro) December 29, 2021

Dec. 29: Mia Khalifa, who is dating Jhayco (they officially made their red carpet debut at the 2021 Latin Grammys), also jumped on the trending feud, posting on TikTok a video of her trying to keep up with the tiraeras.

@miakhalifa😤♬ original sound – Joe

Dec. 29: Just a bit before midnight hit, Rauw responded to Jhay with a new diss track called “JhayConflei” (referencing cornflakes). In the Latin trap-heavy track, Rauw claims Cortez only has money because of his collaborations with Bad Bunny, he calls out Cortez for not being born with talent, and for allegedly being abusive to his baby mama. In the track, he even tells Jhay, “don’t call me to make peace.” Towards the ending, he even challenged Jhay to fight in person. “JhayConflei” marks the beginning of the tiraera’s second round.