- Biography
A true innovator and creative, the composer and singer from the island of Puerto Rico, Jesus Manuel Nieves Cortes, better known as Jhay Cortez, began reaping success at the young age of 16, and yet, this is just the beginning of his promising career.
Born in Rio Piedra, Puerto Rico, Jhay lived in New Jersey for most of his childhood. When he was 12 years old, he moved back to Puerto Rico, where he found a new style of music growing in popularity, the new wave of urban music, such as reggaeton, was on the rise. It is at that moment, listening to the songs of Don Omar back in his hometown that Jhay fell in love with this genre, forever changing his future as a singer and song writer.
Since he was 14 years old he began producing and composing songs, and two years later, his work as composer and producer in the album “Invencible” for Tito el Bambino paid off, winning Jhay his first GRAMMY.
Achieving such a prestigious award at such a young age was the trampoline that launched his career as a composer, working alongside great artists like Zion y Lennox, Natti Natasha, and Nicky Jam, among others. However, this didn’t stop him from developing his own style and discovering his sound.
It is this unique style that is portrayed when he launched his first single, “Donde No Se Vea” (Where You Can’t See It), followed by “Se Supone” (I Suppose) and “Estan Pa’ Mi” (They Are There for Me), allowing him to establish himself as a singer and capturing the attention from the audience.
Even then, Jhay continued working as a composer and producer, taking home his second GRAMMY in 2018 for “Best Urban Album” for the work he did on J Balvin’s album “Vibras”, for which he composed four songs.
Jhay won the Song of the Year award granted by the Composer’s Association (ASCAP), for the single “I Like It” featuring Cardi B and J Balvin. Two more of his songs, “Criminal” and “No Es Justo” (It’s Not Fair), were also awarded.
Under the Universal Latin Music Entertainment label in 2019, Jhay launched his first single “Costear” along with four remixes of the same song. He also released “No me Conoce” (Doesn’t Know Me) and its remix featuring J Balvin and Bad Bunny, which is the second most watched video globally, and is also on the Top 100 of Billboard’s Hot 100, and one the 25 most listened to songs globally on Spotify.
His album, “Famouz”, written entirely by him, and in which he also took part as an executive producer, has made it to the list of Top 10 Latin Albums in the United States.