Nicky Jam

Life and career

1981–1996: Early life and career beginnings

Nick Rivera Caminero was born on March 17, 1981, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to a Dominican mother and Puerto Rican father. Having been born on Saint Patrick's Day, he enjoyed attending parades for the holiday as a little boy. When Nicky Jam was ten years old, his family moved to the Río Hondo suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in an attempt to reconnect with the family's Puerto Rican roots. However, in an interview with Billboard, Nicky Jam explained that his father had become embroiled in a drug-related case and escaped bail, necessitating the move to Puerto Rico.

Nicky Jam initially experienced culture shock upon moving to Puerto Rico, having never spoken Spanish before arriving to the island. Despite the difficult start, he quickly made friends in his neighborhood and after spending time in the streets as a middle schooler, became inspired to pursue a musical career. He also used Caribbean hip-hop and reggaeton as a way to help him polish his Spanish-language skills. He originally went by the moniker "Nick MC", but changed it to Nicky Jam after a neighborhood homeless man gave him the unsolicited comment, "You ain't Nick MC, you're Nicky Jam".

While working at the Pueblo Xtra discount grocery store at age eleven, he passed time by rapping about the items he was bagging, which impressed a customer who invited him to record with a local indie label. He endured a difficult breakup with his girlfriend shortly after the album's release and the emotional pain of the experience led him to try cocaine for the first time at age fifteen. Nicky Jam reflected on the experience by saying: "[I thought], 'why am I going to take care of myself? My dad didn't handle his drug problems. My mom did drugs too, so why not me?' I mean, I had drugs all around me, and the foundation of everything is your home. It's your family."

1997–2006: Los Cangris and career decline

Despite his drug use, he managed to gain popularity in Puerto Rico as a hip-hop artist and eventually met his idol, Daddy Yankee. Nicky Jam recalled that Daddy Yankee was familiar with his work, explaining, "He looked at me and said, 'I know who you are. You're that little kid that sings rap in a little Mickey Mouse voice. I like your style.'" The two artists then formed a duo called Los Cangris. The duo achieved success in Puerto Rico through hit singles such as "En la Cama", "Dónde Están las Gatas", and "Guayando". While in the group, he went on to release the solo albums Haciendo escante (2001) and Vida escante (2004).

However, Nicky Jam struggled to adjust to his new lifestyle and began using drugs and alcohol to an extent that concerned his musical partner. Having used cocaine on and off since age 15, he later began using Percocet. Daddy Yankee began to criticize Nicky Jam's behavior and alluded to his bandmate in songs, including the lyric "your courage depends on a pill" from the 2004 song "Santifica Tus Escapularios". This led an incensed Nicky Jam to release a diss track in response that same year. Nicky Jam quickly regretted releasing the song, explaining, "That wasn't a good choice, because he came with [2004 Billboard Hot 100 hit] 'Gasolina.' [I] looked stupid. He went his way, I went my way -- and obviously my way didn't go very well."

Los Cangris separated in 2004 after a falling out between the two musicians. After the breakup of Los Cangris, Nicky Jam struggled personally and professionally, calling himself the "embarrassment of the Latin Caribbean music industry". Deeply depressed, Nicky Jam gained a significant amount of weight, eventually reaching 300 pounds (136 kg). He also experienced legal troubles, including a police chase in his car that was in the process of being repossessed. He took a job in a hotel, performing lounge music for tourists. Despite viewing this period to be his "lowest point", the artist developed his singing voice during this time, learning to incorporate sung vocals into his music as opposed to strictly rapping.

2007–2016: Career renewal and successful singles

In 2007, Nicky Jam moved to Medellín, Colombia in an attempt to stop using drugs and focus on music. The musician was well received by the people in Medellín, and the singer reflected, "They made me feel like I was a legend. The boost they gave me made me want to be a better person. I started eating OK, I stopped drugs, I stopped alcohol. People came to love me because I was loving myself." In 2010, Nicky Jam suffered a nearly fatal overdose that served as the impetus for him to quit using drugs completely. He lost 100 pounds (45 kg) and tattooed a significant portion of his body, including the entirety of his neck—which he considered a symbol of his recovery. Artistically, he drew influence from the romanticism of Colombian music, in particular the genre of vallenato. He also amended his friendship with Daddy Yankee after encountering him on a flight, where the two apologized to each other, and began touring together at the end of 2014.

His songs "Voy a Beber" and "Travesuras" reinvigorated his career and led to his signing with Sony U.S. Latin. Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias contacted Nicky Jam to collaborate on the 2015 song "El Perdón", which later won Nicky Jam his first Latin Grammy for Best Urban Performance.

His increased popularity during this time led Nicky Jam to reunite in 2015 with his mother who had been deported to the Dominican Republic; he had not seen her for more than twenty years. He recalled, "Most of my life, I was trying to be famous, do music to see if my mom could listen to me and see me...when [the reunion] happened, it was like a movie moment. My bodyguard was like, 'There's this woman outside. She's fighting with everybody saying she's your mom and she wants to see you'...and automatically, I knew it was her because I remembered her voice." The following year, he recorded a remix of the 1992 song "De Pies a Cabeza" with Mexican rock band Maná, a collaboration Nicky Jam described as a "blessing". In 2016, his song "Hasta el Amanecer" became his first song to reach one billion views on YouTube. The song won the Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Song at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. It also won the Urban Song of the Year and was nominated for Single of the Year at the 29th Lo Nuestro Awards.

2017: ''Fénix''

On January 20, 2017, he released the album Fénix. The album cover consists of a mural painted in Medellín of Nicky Jam with the Spanish word for "Phoenix" (stylized FEИiX). This mural was painted by fans without Nicky Jam's knowledge, and upon discovering the existence of the mural, Nicky Jam was so moved that he proclaimed on Instagram that he would make the mural the cover of his next album. The record was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, losing to Salsa Big Band by Rubén Blades with Roberto Delgado & Orquesta.

Fénix featured collaborations from Sean Paul, El Alfa, J Balvin, and Kid Ink and included Nicky Jam's first English-language songs "Without You" and "I Can't Forget You". With the album, he hoped to maintain an organic reggaeton sound, feeling that genre had evolved into an overly "futuristic" sound in Puerto Rico. "El Amante" also reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Tony M. Centeno of Vibe praised the album by writing, "Despite the high demand for commercial, electronic club records, Jam manages to keep his integrity, remaining loyal to the lane he established for himself nearly 20 years ago." Nicky Jam made his acting debut in 2017 in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, the third release in the XXX action film series, acting alongside Vin Diesel.

2018–present: "X" single and ''Íntimo''

His collaboration with J Balvin, "X", peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The video debuted at the number one spot on YouTube's global music chart and amassed more than 200 million views in two weeks. Nicky Jam performed the song with J Balvin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon while Jimmy Fallon danced onstage with the two singers. Reacting to the success of the song, Nicky Jam divulged, "I knew our music was going to be big, but I didn't think it was going to be the way it is now." Nicky Jam starred in the Netflix biographical series Nicky Jam: El Ganador, which explored the artist's struggles with drug addiction and his rise to fame and premiered in November 2018.

In October 2019, Nicky Jam previewed the release of his documentary, Behind Nicky Jam's Íntimo, which was produced through Apple Music. He released the album Íntimo on November 1, 2019. It contained the singles "X", "Atrévete" featuring Sech, and "Whine Up" featuring Anuel AA. Billboard called the album "17 songs of pure reggaeton magic". He collaborated with Daddy Yankee on the song "Muévelo" which samples Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze's 1994 hit, "Here Comes the Hotstepper". Nicky Jam appeared on Bad Bunny's surprise album Las que no iban a salir, released in May 2020.

In August 2021, Jam announced that his first official post-pandemic tour will kick off in early 2022. The 'Infinity' Tour will visit major cities across the U.S. and Canada, starting Feb. 3, 2022, at Boston's Agganis Arena.

Musical style and influences

Nicky Jam's music has been classified as Latin trap and reggaeton. Veronica Villafañe of Forbes wrote that Nicky Jam is considered "one of the architects of the Latino urban music movement". His music has been noted for both eliciting a party atmosphere and embracing overt sentimentality. His lyrics have also been described by Billboard as "catchy and flirtatious".

His earliest musical influence was Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video; he recalls that "I knew automatically when I saw Michael Jackson do 'Thriller' as a little kid that I wanted people to fall in love with my music." Jay-Z's The Blueprint (2001) "gave [him] an idea of how to do [his] albums in the Spanish market and give [his] fans that kind of vibe". He became a fan of Mexican rock band Maná in 1992 during the beginning stage of his career and describes the members of the group as his "idols".

Personal life

Nicky Jam has four children. J Balvin and Vin Diesel attended the wedding, which featured performances by reggaeton group Gente de Zona and salsa singer Jerry Rivera. That same month, he purchased a house in the Palm Island area of Miami Beach for US$3.4 million. On Valentine's Day 2020, Nicky Jam became engaged to model Cydney Moreau. The couple met on the set of his music video for "Atrévete", an encounter which the singer described as "love at first sight". After posting a photo alone on Valentine's Day 2021, Nicky Jam confirmed that he and Moreau are no longer together. In an interview with Vibe, he stated that he has attention-deficit disorder. He dated Livia Rici, Nati Torres, and Paulina Cruz.

Politics

In 2018, Nicky Jam supported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and criticized Donald Trump's approach to immigration.

He endorsed Trump for president at a rally in Las Vegas on September 13, 2024, wearing a Make America Great Again hat onstage and stating, "We need you. We need you back, right? We need you to be the president." During his introduction, Trump, who was apparently unfamiliar with the singer, referred to Nicky Jam as "she" and called him "hot", which caused a social media stir. In response, Mexican rock group Maná removed the song "De Pies a Cabeza," which they had recorded with Nicky Jam in 2016, from all digital platforms, stating that "Maná doesn't work with racists."

Nicky Jam went on to delete his Instagram post endorsing Trump. He withdrew his endorsement on October 30 following racist roast jokes told by Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally earlier in the week, saying he was "stepping away from any political conversation" and that "Puerto Rico should be respected."

Discography

Main article: Nicky Jam discography

Studio albums

• Vida escante (2004)
• The Black Carpet (2007)
• Fénix (2017)
• Íntimo (2019)
• Infinity (2021)
• Insomnio (2024)
• Sunshine (2025)
• Bohemio (2026)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Nicky Jam

References

References

1. (2021-07-21). "Nicky Jam tiene un 'amuleto de la buena suerte' que lo une a Colombia". Telemundo.
2. (July 31, 2020). "El Albariño habría sonado ayer a ritmo de Nicky Jam".
3. Cobo, Leila. (February 5, 2025). "Nicky Jam Signs Global Deal With Virgin Music Group: See the Exclusive Details".
4. (March 17, 2021). "This day in history, March 17: New York holds first St. Patrick's Day parade".
5. (December 14, 2018). "Así sonaba Nicky Jam en su faceta de "El Niño Raggamuffin"".
6. "Nicky Jam - Biography". [[Rovi Corporation]].
7. Exposito, Suzy. (January 30, 2020). "The First Time with Nicky Jam".
8. Katz, Jesse. (February 16, 2017). "48 Hours With Nicky Jam In Medellín: How the City Helped Him Quit Drugs & Get Back on Top".
9. Murray, Nick. (October 29, 2015). "How Nicky Jam Triumphed Over Drugs, Weight Gain and Beef With Daddy Yankee: 'I Was Too Young'".
10. (September 11, 2020). "Nicky Jam lamenta el fallecimiento de un amigo".
11. Cordero, Rosy. (January 8, 2020). "Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee dropping new album as Los Cangris in 2020 on heels of reconciliation".
12. (February 12, 2018). "Listen to 'Despacito', 'Bailando', 'La Tortura' & More of the Longest-Running Hot Latin Songs No. 1s". Prometheus Global Media.
13. Vulpo, Mike. (January 22, 2020). "How Music Helped Nicky Jam Reunite With His Mom After 20 Years Apart". E! News.
14. (August 20, 2015). "Nicky Jam, Daddy Yankee Win Big at Premios Tu Mundo". Prometheus Global Media.
15. (August 3, 2016). "Mana & Nicky Jam Team Up for New Version of 'De Pies A Cabeza'".
16. Flores, Griselda. (February 23, 2017). "Premio Lo Nuestro 2017: See the Full Winners List". [[Eldridge Industries]].
17. Cobo, Leila. (September 26, 2016). "Residente, Maluma Lead Latin Grammy Nominations; 'Despacito' Earns 4 Nods".
18. Centeno, Tony M.. (January 25, 2017). "Review: Nicky Jam Is Bound For Crossover Success With 'Fénix'". Vibe.
19. "Nicky Jam - Hot Latin Songs Chart History".
20. Madden, Sidney. (March 25, 2018). "Nicky Jam And J Balvin Show Off Their Footwork In 'X' Video". [[NPR]].
21. Pierre-Bravo, Daniela. (April 20, 2018). "The reggaeton revolution is here, and Nicky Jam saw it coming". NBC News.
22. Zemler, Emily. (August 2, 2018). "Watch Jimmy Fallon Dance to 'X' Onstage With J Balvin, Nicky Jam".
23. Flanagan, Andrew. (May 25, 2018). "Is Will Smith, Nicky Jam, Diplo And Era Istrefi's World Cup Anthem Good? Who Cares?". National Public Radio.
24. O'Connor, Roisin. (May 25, 2018). "Official World Cup song review: 'Live It Up' with Will Smith, Nicky Jam and Era Istrefi is almost unlistenable". The Independent.
25. Exposito, Suzy. (January 8, 2020). "Nicky Jam, Daddy Yankee Reunite as Los Cangris in Defiant 'Muévelo' Video".
26. Fernandez, Suzette. (October 21, 2019). "Nicky Jam to Unveil His 'Intimo' Journey Via Apple Music Documentary".
27. (November 1, 2019). "Viva Friday Playlist: Nicky Jam's 'Intimo' Album & More".
28. (November 20, 2019). "Nicky Jam Renews Multi-Million Dollar Contract With Sony Music Latin & Confirms 'Los Cangris' Comeback With Daddy Yankee".
29. Exposito, Suzy. (March 6, 2020). "Premios Tu Música Urbano 2020: Top Winners Include Daddy Yankee, Ozuna".
30. Peters, Mitchell. (May 10, 2020). "Bad Bunny Drops Surprise New Album 'Las Que No Iban a Salir': Stream It Here".
31. Roiz, Jessica. (August 17, 2021). "Nicky Jam Hitting the Road on 2022 'Infinity' Tour: See Dates".
32. Lopez, Julyssa. (February 28, 2019). "Record labels said Latin trap was 'going nowhere.' Billions of YouTube views proved them wrong.". [[Washington Post]].
33. Centeno, Tony M.. (April 10, 2019). "Reggaeton Star Nicky Jam Imagines a Latin Trap Freshman Class".
34. Villafañe, Veronica. (January 17, 2020). "Nicky Jam Says Role In 'Bad Boys For Life' And Reunion With Daddy Yankee Are Perfect Timing". [[Forbes]].
35. (April 18, 2016). "10 of Nicky Jam's Most Flirtatious Lyrics".
36. (August 30, 2018). "Rumors confirmed: Reggaeton star Nicky Jam is separated from his wife". Miami Herald.
37. Abravanel, Lesley. (August 20, 2018). "Reggaeton star Nicky Jam just bought a $3.4 million crib in Palm Island". The Miami Herald.
38. (February 15, 2020). "Nicky Jam Is Engaged! Watch His Sweet Valentine's Day Proposal To Girlfriend Cydney Moreau".
39. (2024-09-17). "Dreamers blast Nicky Jam for endorsing Trump after he sought to end DACA as president".
40. Peters, Mitchell. (September 14, 2024). "Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for a Woman Ahead of Latin Star's Endorsement Speech in Las Vegas".
41. Ruggieri, Melissa. "Donald Trump misgenders reggaeton star Nicky Jam at rally: 'She's hot'".
42. Peters, Mitchell. (2024-09-15). "Maná Removes Nicky Jam Collab From Streaming Platforms After Donald Trump Endorsement".
43. Mier, Tomás. (2024-09-15). "Maná Pulls Nicky Jam Collab After He Endorses Trump: Band 'Doesn't Work With Racists'".
44. Archacki, Liam. (2024-09-16). "Reggaeton Star Misgendered by Trump Deletes Endorsement". The Daily Beast.
45. "Reggaeton star scrubs endorsement after Trump misgenders him as 'hot' woman: report - Raw Story".
46. Stein, Chris. (2024-10-31). "Trump stages garbage truck stunt in bid to turn tables over Puerto Rico backlash". The Guardian.
47. MacFarlane, Scott. (2024-10-30). "Democrats and Republicans in tight races seize on comments stemming from "garbage" joke at Trump rally - CBS News".
48. (October 28, 2024). "Trump rally speakers lob racist insults, call Puerto Rico 'island of garbage'". [[Washington Post]].
49. Garcia, Thania. (October 30, 2024). "Nicky Jam Retracts Donald Trump Endorsement, Says He's 'Stepping Away' From Politics: 'Puerto Rico Deserves Respect'".
50. (2024-10-30). "Reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam withdraws Trump endorsement over Madison Square Garden rally: 'Puerto Rico should be respected'".
51. (December 5, 2016). "Mariah Carey, Nicky Jam & More On YouTube's Christmas Special".
52. "Las vida de Nicky Jam llegará a la pequeña pantalla con la nueve serie El ganador de Telemundo". [[People en Español]].
53. (January 18, 2019). "'Bad Boys' Sequel Adds Nicky Jam".
54. (December 2, 2020). "Nicky Jam reveló qué personaje interpretará en Tom y Jerry, la película (in Spanish)".