Over the past 17 years, the world has come to know Jhayco as one of the writers behind Cardi B’s chart-topping rap single “I Like It,” a composer behind J Balvin‘s Latin-Grammy winning album “Vibras” and one of Bad Bunny’s most frequently featured artist. Now, with “Le Clique: Vida Rockstar (X)” (released last month), Jhayco is putting himself front and center.
With an ear for dynamic beats and a lust-focused pen, the 31-year-old singer, songwriter and producer is regarded as a powerhouse in contemporary reggaeton. Collecting collaborations from some of Latin music’s biggest names like Mora, Tainy and Anuel AA, the Miami-based musician has developed a knack for reinvention over his lengthy career.
By 16, the Puerto Rican-born, New Jersey-raised multi-hyphenate was already producing tracks for artists like Zion & Lennox, Natti Natasha and Tito el Bambino. After settling into the music industry, he launched a solo career under the name Jhay Cortez in 2017. Everything changed for the artist with the release of “No Me Conoce,” the third single off his debut studio album “Famouz.” The laid-back earworm about a secret affair caught the attention of reggaeton giants Bad Bunny and J Balvin who hopped on a remix. To date, it has more than 1.4 billion Spotify streams and helped Jhayco reach global audiences. Over the next few years, he continued establishing himself with popular features like “Dakiti” with Bad Bunny and “512” with Mora.
As one of reggaeton’s staple hitmakers, Jhayco trades the desire for success with his need to create art on his third album, “Le Clique: Vida Rockstar (X).”
“I could have done a record with another big artist just to get the numbers, like with [Bad] Bunny,” the Puerto Rican singer tells The Times about the September release. “But it’s not about that. It’s expressing what the artist is going through with the album and how I want it to be, not how people want it to be.”
As his first project since 2021, the performer says “Le Clique” is a biography of sorts. With a run time of an hour and 49 minutes, the release is an ambitious undertaking consisting of three parts and 29 tracks. Each part of the trilogy represents a different part of who he is: “Le Clique” is for family, “Vida Rockstar” is his rock star era and “X” are songs he claims are hits.
When settling on this concept, the self-proclaimed “único rock star Latino” says the album allowed him to discover his own star qualities. But he wasn’t looking to the cliché of a ’60s or ’70s musician for inspiration — instead, he turned to his contemporaries like the Weeknd and Post Malone with still-growing legacies.
“[Being a rock star] is not only about the lyrics and the sound, it’s about the combination of audio, visuals, production, energy and the heart,” Jhayco said.
The album’s title track, “Vida Rockstar,” opens with skateboards hitting concrete and the high shrill of a skater’s dragging heel. A guitar’s buzzing feedback pushes the song into Jhayco’s first exploration of pop punk. Resembling a catchy, Machine Gun Kelly-like song en español, it’s the only track on the album that explores a rock-adjacent sound — as soon as the peppy electric guitar rift rings out, it’s replaced with the bass-heavy hip-hop beat of “Grecia.”
Even though rock on “Le Clique” is limited, Jhayco still brings different elements into his usually trap-focused sound. He infuses música Mexicana’s distinctive guitar strum on “Ex-Special” with Peso Pluma, the pulsating sounds of deep house on “En La Bentley” and a bouncy jersey club beat on “58” with his unshakable understanding of reggaeton.
Over the three years it took to create “Le Clique,” the singer says he challenged himself to take the traditional sounds of reggaeton beyond a nightclub’s dance floor. Turning to Spanish beaches for tracks like “Passoa” and late Miami nights for “Le Clique,” he says these different environments allowed him to create an immersive soundtrack for his travels.
Out of the album’s lengthy track list, Jhayco says “Viene Basquiat…,” is the only song that doesn’t fit in with the others. Starting with an ominous echoing sound, he begins to sing “Como Basquiat, ‘toy bien loco como Basquiat” over a simple trap beat. As the lyrics continue to boast his legacy, he draws consistent comparisons between himself and the late Puerto Rican/Haitian painter over the toned-down, moody beat — all while interweaving the narrative of sleeping with someone in a museum (“Baby, tú ere’ arte, vamo’ a hacerlo adentro ‘e un museo”). He calls the track a foreshadow of what’s to come.
“It’s [the song] about the things I’ve learned from Basquiat and how I really connect with his personality and art,” Jhayco said. “I feel the way he puts his message out there is not like I want to be famous or I want to be No. 1. It’s about expressing art. And that’s the way I view music.”
As a continuation of his “Vida Rockstar” era, Jhayco will embark on a 10-stop North American tour this November. He will be playing L.A.’s Peacock Theater Nov. 21.