Switched on Pop - Newcomers: Jhayco

Episode Date: August 30, 2024

Jhayco, the artist formerly known as Jhay Cortez, feels different from the rest of the Latin music machine. He considers himself a “melody freak,” has a wide variety of influences – “Alternative music, indie music, deep house, rap, trap, salsa, bachata, scores for music” – and is intimately involved in every step of the creative process, writing, producing, and performing his brand of glossy, melancholic reggaeton. Since his breakout hit “No Me Conoce” in 2019, the Puerto Rican multihyphenate 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) is out September 6th, and is a three-part, 29-track behemoth highlighting Jhayco's 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.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switchdown Pop. I am producer Rianna Cruz. And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. And welcome back to the newcomers, our series about artists that are popping off right now with new music that you should be listening to. Last week, we talked with the art pop duo Magdalena Bay. But today I'm here to tell you, Nate, about an artist

that is one of the most listened to musicians in the world. Whoa. I'm talking about the Puerto Rican writer, producer, and performer, J-Co. That's his song, Tori, which is featured on his new three-part record, dropping on September 6 called Le Cleek, Vida Rockstar X. Now let's explore this song for a bit. Nate, what are you hearing? I mean, there are elements of this that feel like classic reggaeton to me.

Most notably maybe is that boom, chick, boom, chick, boom, chick, beat. Which is like the essence of so many reggaeton tracks rhythmically. But then there's these elements that kind of feel more unfamiliar. Certainly his lyrics have a darkness that reminds me a little bit of like, I don't know, maybe someone like the weekend almost because it's like kind of this dark, drug-addled world that he brings you into. At the same time, these vocal hooks are so catchy. It's like he's singing about this escapeism, but he's doing so in a way that kind of pulls you into it. And that's something that he is known for. I really like that about him as well.

And over the course of J. Co's career, the artist formerly known as Jay Cortez has made his own music with albums like famous and timeless, but also has produced and written for multiple iconic artists both in and out of Latin music, including the duo Zion Illenics on songs like Komokura, and even Cardi B, he has writing credits on the smash hit I like it with Bad Bunny and Jay Balvin.

But in his own solo work, Jayco is also out of part in several tracks with over a billion streams, including his song, No Me Connoce, also with Bad Bunny and Jay Balvin. So, Rihanna, if Jay Cortez has been pretty successful

under his original name, what do you think is behind? this kind of rebranding as an artist named Jaco. Is this a sonic turn? Is this a new identity for him? Like, what do you make of this new cognomen? I think him changing a name is him fully leading into the rock star life that this album is titled after, you know, because you think of artists with one names, right?

You think a Madonna, you think a share, you think a prince, you know, these iconic, one-named artists of incredible status. And I feel like with this name change, J-Co is putting himself on a similar pedestal. So that's cool. So this is like a new statement for this artist. This is his, his Magna Carta, so to speak. In his own way, this is him being a newcomer. This is his first album under the J-Co name. And yet at the same time, he's also one of the 200 most listened to artists in the world on Spotify and is a very big deal in Latin music, but maybe in English-speaking America, he's not as well known as, say, his contemporaries like Bad Bunny. So this feels like a pivotal moment for this artist, Rihanna, and I'm so curious to hear your

conversation. Like, what are some of the things that we're going to be hearing from J-Co? Yeah, so I got to speak with him about some of the tracks on his new record, and in the process found that he thinks about music very differently than the average reggaeton superstar. He calls himself a melody freak, and it's very easy to see why. You're going to hear about how he moved from being a songwriter to being an outward-facing artist, how he writes melodies that connect with billions of people, and what it's like to differentiate yourself and carve out your own space in the Latin music industry. I'm stoked, Drianna. Let's turn it over to

you and Jaco. I'm Jaco, and we're going to be talking about the clip, Be the Rock Star X, my new album. Before you were the public facing J-Co, as we know, you were a songwriter. When did you begin to write music? I began to write music when I was 11. I love music. Those were my cartoons when I was young. Those were my Power Rangers.

So I would know everything from who did the beat, who did the flow, who wrote it, who recorded it, who mixed it. Then it would just be easy to, like, you know, imitate it. I used to love Don Omar, so I used to just, like, copy what he used to say and all that. That was my idol, and my whole flow is, like, thanks to Donamar. Would you say that's why your approach writing for other artists versus writing for yourself is different? How do you approach writing music for other people versus writing stuff that's, like, going to be on your records and things like that? It's just that the way I do music is totally different than everybody else. You know, a way that I start my verses, you know, it's my style, it's my style, the melodies I pick, the way I instructions it's differently.

So it's easy, you know, it's like how to make pasta and how to make rice with beans. You know, you don't start the same way. I have a wide variety of influences from everything I hear, you know. I hear alternative music, indie music, deep house, rap, trap, sapsa, bachata, scores for music. But that's what I think I've done across the years, you know, just me learning and me being able to live all these experiences with my career, my music, being in London, being in Paris, and being in Puerto Rico, and then be in Spain and be able to do Afro, and then being in a visa and be able to, like, really live how the deep house culture is there. And then coming to New York, and, you know, it's just like it gives you so much open space to, like, create and just push the... bar when it comes through creativity, you know. I feel like that sort of sensibility reflects on your collaborators

because I feel like the people you work with is a very eclectic list. And you work with a lot of people both in and out of Latin music. I'm thinking of like your collaboration with Skrillix and My Quarto, you know? Can you talk a little bit about how you choose people to work with? It has to do a lot like with the moment. People like new people. People want to hear you with new people. People want to hear you with other people, with old people, you know.

So it's a little mix of what's happening and what you love, you know. Like Skirley is somebody I always admired and being able to do a song like that. And not only do a song like that with him, but co-produce it with him. Because I had already done all the melodies. And he came and he put the drums and then mixed it. It's a dream come true for me. And then not only for me, but for the cold. culture of regga tone, like, who would have thought 10 years ago that somebody could, like,

co-produce a beat for a song with somebody like Skrillix that's like a genius, you know? So for me, that's a little bit of how I pick people I admire and people I never thought I could do something with and then I'll pick somebody totally new, you know, like Besso Gruma. Or even more like Davey, you know, like it's all about like, you gotta think also like a fan, you know, when you, when I have two ways of looking at things. I look at it from my artist point, my creative point, my producer point, and then I look at it as a public, you know, as a fan. Am I going to be able to listen to this album and know what's going to happen?

Do I want to know what's going to happen? No. Do I want to hear him with the same artist? Maybe if it's good enough, like, no-me-one-know-nose it, but if not, then no, I want to hear it with somebody new. So it's just like keeping the love for the fans and the love for the creativity always on. fire, you know. Yeah, I like that. And I feel like a lot of people don't really approach music from a fan perspective. No, no, not at all, because artists are so caught up in, like, them being the artist. Sometimes, like, people that do music or do hits, like, fall into a place where they're like,

I know what's a hit is. I know what this is. If I'm a fan, I know what I, I want to hear something new. I want to hear something fresh. I want to hit this or, you know, like, you have. You have a hit. You to listen to a fan because before you did music, you was a fan. I want to talk about, you mentioned before your collaboration with peso Pluma, Especial. How did this collaboration come together? I go a lot to Mexico. I love Mexico. So when I was doing my album, I stayed there, like, let's say, a month and a half, I would say. So I really got to, like, tap in a little bit more into a culture and not just listen.

From playlist or, whoa, yeah, what's Mexico? Listen, let me go to the Mexican. Mexico playlist and see what songs are in the top 10. I got to be there. You know, and try to understand it. It's a whole different stuff, and I feel like everybody just tries to do with the sound. And I try to like really understand it so they could like put their sound into it, and then it sounds like a fusion.

That's what I did with the songs. Because their sound is a different timing than ours. It's three times, and the radio told me this four. So I had to really like find a way to like mix those two timings. I really enjoy the beginning, right, where you blend the Mexican sounds, you know, this like Mexican regional guitar into the classic regga tone. And that's fascinating about the rhythms. I never really clocked that.

That's what I mean when I say you have to like really understand. Because if not, I would have just done something with their beat, you know. And it sounds like I just hopped on their wave, you know, and not just like I took their wave and put my stamp on it, you know. Yeah, totally. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster? Well, you have to ask lots of questions.

I'm Maria Sharpova, and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Ready. Do not sugarcoat something. for me. No, no. We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives,

actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. Speaking of like pivots, I really like your song Pazoa, and I like how it's like a down to. tempo, like melodic dance hall track. What inspired the paired back pivot that you take on that song? I mean, just being in Europe, being in Granada,

and being in Formintera's and being in Ibiza and all these islands, you know, there are more beach-oriented. And they hear different type of records, you know. They're not hearing, like, Ice Spice. They're hearing ambiental beach music. And that really inspired me, you know. And I feel like that type of music is really universal. It invites you in, you know, so that's one of my favorite tracks and I'm happy you like it too.

Yeah, it's fresh. Like, I dig it. And I think, like, the beach feeling is so true. I feel like you do that a lot in your music thinking of like your bad bunny collapsed out. Like, same vibe. You know, like beach chilling in PR, like doing your thing, you know. I really love Deep House. I'm not like a huge techno guy, like hard beat, you know, like.

I love melodies, and then Deep House is just like, it's just like a feeling, you know. It's just like it never explodes and just like, it's like a wave. That's how I see it. But I feel like even within Deep House, there's like a lot of emotion in those songs. And I would say Afro is the same thing because they have like the same certain melodies, you know, and I'm a melody freak. Yeah, which is cool. And I feel like the J-Co sound is like melodic regatone, you know, like obviously. Obviously you have songs like 3D where you're like partying.

But it's mostly melodic because like that's like why I love. I love melodies. I love like a melody you put from the good go and instructs you in the heart. Like you feel it. And it invites you. It's like hopping on a vibration, you know. A melody that's super beautiful. It's just you hopped instantly in a vibration.

And that's how, that's why like I just, I can't just. do records and just release any type of records. I need to, like, feel from the get-go, like, I hopped in this vibration, I hopped in this emotion, and that's what creates a moment. How do you write melody? Like, do you sit down and you, like, just kind of go? Do you write in the shower?

Like, are you that type of songwriter? I don't write too much in the studio. Like, I feel like the studio is, like, an office. I like when I can feel like I'm having fun. I'm in somewhere or the beach or at my house. or whatever or in the car and then it just feels natural. It comes out because I'm feeling good. You can't write something if you don't feel good, you know what I mean?

So let's say here in New York, I'm in the street, I'm in a car, and I start searching for the melodies, something's going to come out because I'm feeling good, you know? And I feel like that's how people feel when they're outside, when they're going somewhere, and that's how I connect with certain melodies. I know people are going to like, you know, in any type of day. And then it's not like I did the song around a beat. Like, como se Sienti, I did it without drums. So you're not thinking about the drums.

You're in love with the melody and the chorus and the intro, and it could be a salsa, it could be a pachata, and it's still going to be a hit, you know, because it's not about the beat, it's about the melody. I'm really a melody scouter, so I'm mostly every day just saving melodies and looking for melodies and all that. So there's more percentage of being a hit because the melody is not in the beat. So you're always going to feel something.

And that's why, like, songs like, you know, me connoisse, songs like like Siente like that gigi. Like Medusa. Are songs that are timeless. They came out in a decade, but like, it's melancholic when you hear it because it's like, it's not part of, like, what was pop in those six months.

I hear what you're saying about, like, these songs kind of being timeless, you know. They really, like, have no, I think, like, sense of datedness, you know? Like, that's so true, you know? Like, I hear them on the radio when they came out. I'll probably hear them on the radio in five years and still be like, no mechanosis is a banger, you know? And it's still a banger and it's not going nowhere.

It's also, also the melody, you know? It's like the melody helps create the moment because it is a moment. He wasn't hearing it because of the beat. When it starts the thorn thing, they're like, it takes you to that moment of time you was living in. And it's melancholical as part of a certain specific moment and feeling. I want to talk a little bit about your new record. Are you trying to make with this record?

So it's just like my world, you know, right now. It's just like what I've grown into, what I've been not only in my music, but in my personality, how I found to be more myself or who I really am. You know, like I feel like when I was doing famous or timeless, I was really like discovering not only what was as an artist, but also as a person. You know, I was super young. I was starting to know the world, starting to know fame. And across its three years And I, you know, I've settled in more into who I am.

And that is this project, you know, like my world and what my perspective of a rock star is in my world, you know. It's just being so in tune and so tapped into creativity and doing it for so long that you're not even thinking about it. It's like I'm doing it without even touching the mouse.

You know, I'm telling the producer, this is what I want. Do this. No, it's not like that. Just give me the computer. It's this. What I want. You know, it's just having all these tools and knowing all these people and just being able to create,

knowing it so well, trying to look, oh, how can I do something different? I know all the patterns in music. When I do a song, I'm not thinking the patterns. I'm thinking what the melody invites me to do. It invites me to start with the chorus. Then I'll start with the chorus. I'm not thinking about it. I'm just doing it.

I'm doing the same thing with the piece and with the production and with the video. and it's all like a combination of just knowing everything to the core. Yeah, and I feel like that combination, do you feel like it's specific to you in the Latin music industry? Like, I'm curious if that's like the standard or you feel like, you know, you're doing everything. That's not a standard. I'm doing that.

I mean, you got to know how to produce. There's only so few people that know how to be an artist. and do punchlines in the songs and do great choruses, and do great introses and do great rhythm, and has like a personality in the verse, you know, and also a personality in the melodies, you pay, like if that when he picks a melody, you're gonna know his bad when it's melody, you know?

If Kanye thinks a melody, you know it's Kanye's melodies, even without him starting to sing, you know? So it's the same thing with this, and there's only a few. few people I know what I do and thank you I'm one of those people you know yeah they can mix your music special well thank you jaco I really appreciate it loved it amazing switch on pop is produced by riana Cruz we're edited by art chung brandon macfarland is our engineer iris gotleaf makes our illustrations nashah kirwa is our executive producer we're a production

of the vox media podcast network and vulture which is a part of new york mag we'll be back on Tuesday with a great episode about the great album from Sabrina Carpenter that just came out. And then we'll be talking again here on Friday about another newcomer trying out a new sound. And until then, thanks for listening. Attention Spotify. Has arrived on the new Good Girl Jasmine Absolute of Caroline Herrera. A fragrance intense with caratte gourmet and addicive. Imagine a jasmine emvolventy, caramelized and tonka toasted.

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