Nicky Jam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicky Jam
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Nicky Jam in 2019
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Nick Rivera Caminero
March 17, 1981 Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Occupation | Singer |
| Years active | 1995–present |
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Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer. He is famous for hit songs like "X", "Travesuras", "El Perdón", "Hasta el Amanecer", and "El Amante". The last three songs are from his 2017 album Fénix.
Nicky Jam has often worked with other Latin artists. These include Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Ozuna, Plan B, and Anuel AA. His early music was fast-paced reggaeton. However, his newer songs focus more on singing and romantic lyrics.
He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His mother is from the Dominican Republic, and his father is from Puerto Rico. When he was ten years old, his family moved to Puerto Rico. He started recording music at age fourteen. His first EP, ...Distinto a los demás, came out in 1995. He later met Daddy Yankee, and they formed a group called Los Cangris. This group was active from the late 1990s to 2004. After the group split, Nicky Jam faced some difficult times.
He then moved to Medellín, Colombia. There, he restarted his music career. He developed a more melodic style of music. This new style became very popular with songs like "Voy a Beber" and "Travesuras" in 2014. His success grew even more with the 2015 song "El Perdón" and his 2017 album Fénix. He released the album Íntimo in 2019. This album was well-liked by critics and sold very well. Nicky Jam has also acted in movies. These include XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Bad Boys for Life (2020). He also starred in and helped produce the Netflix series Nicky Jam: El Ganador (2018).
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Music Beginnings
Nick Rivera Caminero was born on March 17, 1981. This was in Lawrence, Massachusetts. His mother was Dominican, and his father was Puerto Rican. He was born on Saint Patrick's Day. As a child, he enjoyed going to parades for this holiday. In Massachusetts, he loved hip-hop. He especially liked East Coast artists like Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and LL Cool J.
When Nicky Jam was ten, his family moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico. They wanted to reconnect with their Puerto Rican family roots. Nicky Jam found it hard at first because he had never spoken Spanish. But he quickly made friends in his neighborhood. Spending time there inspired him to become a musician. He also used Caribbean hip-hop and reggaeton to help him learn Spanish better. He first called himself "Nick MC". Later, a man in his neighborhood told him, "You ain't Nick MC, you're Nicky Jam." So, he changed his name.
At age eleven, he worked at a grocery store. He would rap about the items he was bagging. A customer was impressed and invited him to record music. He signed a contract and released his first EP, ...Distinto a los demás, in 1995. He was fourteen years old then.
Forming Los Cangris
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Nicky Jam became popular in Puerto Rico as a hip-hop artist. He met his idol, Daddy Yankee. Daddy Yankee knew about Nicky Jam's music. He told him, "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 became very successful in Puerto Rico. They had hit songs like "En la Cama", "Dónde Están las Gatas", and "Guayando". While in the group, Nicky Jam also released solo albums. These were Haciendo escante (2001) and Vida escante (2004).
However, Nicky Jam found it hard to adjust to his new life. He faced personal challenges that worried Daddy Yankee. Daddy Yankee started to mention Nicky Jam's behavior in his songs. This led to a disagreement between them. Nicky Jam released a song in response in 2004. He later regretted this, especially when Daddy Yankee released his huge hit "Gasolina" that same year. Los Cangris separated in 2004. After the breakup, Nicky Jam faced many difficulties. He gained a lot of weight and felt very sad. He took a job performing music for tourists in a hotel. During this time, he improved his singing voice. He learned to add more singing to his music, instead of just rapping.
Overcoming Challenges and New Music Style
In 2007, Nicky Jam moved to Medellín, Colombia. He wanted to focus on his music and get healthy. People in Medellín welcomed him warmly. He said, "They made me feel like I was a legend. The boost they gave me made me want to be a better person." In 2010, he had a very serious health scare. This made him decide to completely change his lifestyle. He lost a lot of weight. He also got many tattoos, including on his neck, as a symbol of his recovery.
Musically, he was inspired by the romantic style of Colombian music, especially vallenato. He also made up with Daddy Yankee. They met on a flight, apologized to each other, and started touring together in late 2014.
His songs "Voy a Beber" and "Travesuras" helped restart his career. This led him to sign with Sony U.S. Latin. "Travesuras" was his first song to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias asked Nicky Jam to work with him on the 2015 song "El Perdón". This song later won Nicky Jam his first Latin Grammy Award. "El Perdón" was a huge hit. It spent 30 weeks at the top of the Hot Latin Songs chart.
His growing popularity helped Nicky Jam reunite with his mother in 2015. She had been living in the Dominican Republic. He had not seen her for over twenty years. He said it was "like a movie moment" when they met. Nicky Jam received the Warrior Spirit award at the 2015 Premios Tu Mundo. This was for his strong spirit in music. The next year, he recorded a new version of the 1992 song "De Pies a Cabeza" with Mexican rock band Maná. Nicky Jam called this collaboration a "blessing". In 2016, his song "Hasta el Amanecer" became his first song to reach one billion views on YouTube. The song won a Billboard Music Award for Top Latin Song in 2017.
Fénix Album Success
On January 20, 2017, Nicky Jam released his album Fénix. The album cover shows a mural painted in Medellín of Nicky Jam. The word "Phoenix" (stylized FEИiX) is also on it. Fans painted this mural without Nicky Jam knowing. When he saw it, he was so touched that he decided to use it as his album cover. Fénix means "Phoenix," which symbolizes his career coming back to life. The album went straight to the top of the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. It stayed on the Billboard Latin Rhythm Albums chart for 142 weeks. The album was nominated for a Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Fénix included songs with other artists like Sean Paul, El Alfa, J Balvin, and Kid Ink. It also had Nicky Jam's first English songs, "Without You" and "I Can't Forget You". With this album, he wanted to keep a natural reggaeton sound. He felt the genre had become too "futuristic" in Puerto Rico. The popular songs "El Perdón" and "Hasta el Amanecer" were on the album. New songs like "El Amante" and "Si Tú la Ves" (featuring Wisin) were also included. "El Amante" reached number two on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. Nicky Jam made his acting debut in 2017 in XXX: Return of Xander Cage. He acted alongside Vin Diesel in this action movie.
"X" and Recent Projects
His song "X" with J Balvin became very popular. The music video for "X" quickly gained over 200 million views in two weeks. Nicky Jam performed the song with J Balvin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Nicky Jam said, "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 worked with Will Smith, Diplo, and Era Istrefi for the official 2018 FIFA World Cup song, "Live It Up". Nicky Jam starred in the Netflix series Nicky Jam: El Ganador. This show explored his journey to fame and premiered in November 2018.
In October 2019, Nicky Jam showed a preview of his documentary, Behind Nicky Jam's Íntimo. He released the album Íntimo on November 1, 2019. It included the songs "X", "Atrévete" (with Sech), and "Whine Up" (with Anuel AA). Billboard magazine called the album "17 songs of pure reggaeton magic". In November 2019, he renewed his contract with Sony Music Latin.
He worked with Daddy Yankee again on the song "Muévelo". This song uses a sample from Ini Kamoze's 1994 hit, "Here Comes the Hotstepper". The music video was filmed in Miami. It pays tribute to the 1990s when reggaeton faced challenges in Puerto Rico. The song was also on the soundtrack for the movie Bad Boys for Life. Nicky Jam played a character named Zway-Lo in the film, which came out on January 17, 2020. In March 2020, Nicky Jam received the Career Achievement Award at the Premios Tu Música Urbano 2020. He also appeared on Bad Bunny's album Las que no iban a salir in May 2020.
In August 2021, Jam announced his first tour after the pandemic. The 'Infinity' Tour started in early 2022. It visited major cities across the U.S. and Canada.
Musical Style
Nicky Jam's music is known as Latin trap and reggaeton. Veronica Villafañe of Forbes said that Nicky Jam is seen as "one of the architects of the Latino urban music movement". His music is known for creating a party mood and also for being very emotional.
His career began in the mid-1990s. This was when reggaeton was just starting in Puerto Rico. His early songs sounded like old-school reggaeton, which was very popular. However, Eduardo Cepeda of Remezcla wrote that Nicky Jam's "sound has shifted from hard-hitting dembow...to more velvety rhythms and romantic lyrics". Billboard has described his lyrics as "catchy and flirtatious".
His first musical inspiration was Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. He remembers thinking, "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." He first heard Caribbean music when he saw family members dancing to reggae at a party. When he moved to Medellín, Nicky Jam started making more melodic and romantic music. This was inspired by Colombian music styles like vallenato. He also admires American soul singer Al Green. He says Al Green inspired him to write about romantic topics in his music. Other artists who have influenced Nicky Jam include Prince, Jay-Z, Jenni Rivera, and Shakira. He became a fan of Mexican rock band Maná in 1992. He calls the members of the group his "idols".
Personal Life
Nicky Jam has four children. He married Angélica Cruz in Medellín in February 2017. J Balvin and Vin Diesel attended the wedding. In August 2018, the couple filed for divorce. That same month, he bought a house in Miami Beach for US$3.4 million. On Valentine's Day 2020, Nicky Jam got engaged to model Cydney Moreau. They met while filming his music video for "Atrévete". He described it as "love at first sight". In February 2021, Nicky Jam confirmed that he and Moreau were no longer together. He has mentioned that he has attention-deficit disorder.
Public Views
In 2018, Nicky Jam supported young people who were part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He also shared his thoughts on immigration policies.
In September 2024, Nicky Jam appeared at a political rally in Las Vegas. He expressed support for a political figure. During his introduction, the political figure seemed unfamiliar with Nicky Jam. This caused some discussion online. In response, the Mexican rock group Maná removed their 2016 song "De Pies a Cabeza," which featured Nicky Jam, from all digital platforms. They stated that "Maná doesn't work with racists."
Nicky Jam later removed his social media post about the rally. On October 30, 2024, he withdrew his support for political discussions. This happened after some jokes were made about Puerto Rico at a rally earlier that week. He stated that "Puerto Rico should be respected."
Discography
Studio albums
- Vida escante (2004)
- The Black Carpet (2007)
- Fénix (2017)
- Íntimo (2019)
- Infinity (2021)
- Insomnio (2024)
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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| 2017 | XXX: Return of Xander Cage | Lazarus | Film |
| 2017 | The Keys of Christmas | Himself | Film |
| 2018 | Nicky Jam: El Ganador | Himself | Biographical television series |
| 2020 | Bad Boys for Life | Lorenzo "Zway-Lo" Rodriguez | Film |
| 2021 | Tom & Jerry | Butch Cat (voice) | Film |
Awards and Nominations
See also
In Spanish: Nicky Jam para niños
