Jhay Cortez

Smooth reggaeton specialist Jhay Cortez, also known as Jhayco, leveraged extensive prior studio contributions to establish himself among Universal Music Latino’s top-selling acts. Following his first release as a lead performer, the Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and songwriter landed a Top Ten placement on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart via the 2019 remix of “No Me Conoce,” coinciding with the arrival of his debut full-length Famouz. That project climbed to number five on the Top Latin Albums chart and set the stage for further singles and features, among them a verse on Bad Bunny’s Latin Grammy-nominated “Dákiti” from 2021. Cortez returned to the Latin Top Five with his second album, Timelezz, issued the same year.

Rooted in New Jersey after growing up between Rio Piedras and Carolina in Puerto Rico, Jesús Manuel Nieves Cortes began composing and tracking material at age eleven. Still in his teens, he earned credits on Zion & Lennox’s Los Verdaderos and Tito El Bambino’s El Patrón: Invencible, the latter of which captured the 2011 Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Tropical Album. Over the following years he supplied dozens of additional songs to fellow artists before 2018 brought heightened visibility through Cardi B’s “I Like It,” Anuel AA’s “Amanece,” and Bad Bunny’s “RLNDT.” During this period he secured a Universal Music Latino contract and introduced himself as a solo act with the Eyez on Me EP. Early the next year he joined Sky on “Bajo Cero,” elevating his profile ahead of Famouz, whose remix of “No Me Conoce” featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny quickly entered Hot Latin Songs and later reached the Top Ten.

Cortez extended the Famouz campaign in 2020 with the digital-only Famouz Reloaded, a collection of reworked tracks that paired him with several admired colleagues on cuts such as “Somos Iguales” with Zion & Lennox, “Deséame Suerte” with Karol G y Haze, “Imaginaste Remix” with Wisin & Yandel, and “Easy Remix” with Ozuna. The set drove the original album to a Top Five peak and a 52-week stay on the Latin Rhythm Albums chart.

Early in 2021 he linked with Myke Towers for “Los Bo” and scored a solo success with “Christian Dior,” both of which paved the way for Timelezz. Released that September, the album debuted at number two on the Top Latin Albums chart and included appearances by Skrillex, Anuel AA, Buscabulla, and additional guests. By year’s end Cortez had reached the summit of Hot Latin Songs through his featured role on Bad Bunny’s “Dákiti,” which earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Urban Song. In March 2022, now recording as Jhayco, he issued the single “Sensual Bebé.”