“Se hace la que No Me Conoce...” (she acts like she doesn’t know me) was without a doubt Jhay Cortez’s breakthrough hit which had us all humming to its catchy melody - and lyrics - just last year. Although it was his remixed version featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny scoring in the top ten Latin charts of Billboard’s Hot 100, ever since he has been on the rise, becoming one of the hottest and most commercial Urbano Latin artists of the moment.
Based in New Jersey but originally from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Jesús Manuel Nieves Cortez better known as Jhay Cortez, is a singer, rapper and songwriter, who began writing music when he was 11-years-old. His musical career kicked off when he was still a teenager (at the age of 16) working as a co-writer on albums of reggaeton giants Zion & Lennox (Los Verdaderos) and Tito El Bambino (El Patrón: Invencible). The latter landed him his first Latin Grammy in 2011, for Best Contemporary Tropical Album.
Following years behind the scenes as a co-writer on reggaeton hits like Anuel AA’s Amanece, Natti Natasha and Ozuna's Criminal, and Bad Bunny’s RLNDT, in 2018 he took things to a whole different level when he contributed on the smashing crossover tunes I Like It, ft. Cardi B, Bad Bunny and Balvin and then once again with Balvin ft. Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco and Tainy on the electronically-infected I Can’t Get Enough.
During (t)his momentum, he was signed by Universal Music Latin and finally ventured into the scene as an artist dropping his solo debut album Eyez on Me later on that year (2018). A few months into 2019, his appearance on Sky’s and Balvin’s Bajo Cero, raised his profile even further, before then going onto release his full-length album Famouz (2019).
In an interview with Billboard (2019), Cortez said: “I started producing and writing for other artists until I felt like I had my own style, my own flow, so people would hear me and know it’s me… I wanted to release my own stuff when I felt like I had a style and a personality that people could define me for”.
Some of his greatest hits include No Me Conoce Remix ft. Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Costear ft. Almighty, Easy (Remix) ft. Ozuna, De Nuevo ft. Myke Towers and Alex Rose, Medusa ft. Anuel AA and J Balvin and most recently Como Se Siente, which also has a remixed version with Bad Bunny featured on the Conejo Malo’s brand new album Las Que No Hiban a Salir.
His recent online feud with fellow trap artist Bryant Myers, has seen him come under the spotlight. Battling over who’s best in the trap scene, the two Puerto Ricans have been releasing ongoing tiraeras on their social media platforms. Cortez made the first move when dropping the diss track 24 Horas, on May 11th, where he calls out on Myers for not writing his own songs, saying that out of the wave of artists that came out in 2016, he stayed behind. Giving him 24 hours to clap back with a tiraera, and after a long-awaited three days (May 14), Myers finally released his diss track El Que No Escribe (RIP Jhay Cosito) where he claims that Cortez is “always looking for features because he can't be successful by himself”. Jhay Cortez, hit back with a second-round the following day (May 15) with Game Over, where he mentions that right now he is to Puerto Rico, what Kobe is to/in LA.
With his emblematic “Me sigue o no me sigue?” Spanish for “Do you follow me or not? this reggaettonero and trappero, continues to top the charts with his soulful yet raspy voice.
