Nicky Jam on Building His Legacy and Why His Brand ‘Is Not Only Music’

Jessica Roiz
·4 min read
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In 2014, after a six-year hiatus due in part to substance abuse battles, Nicky Jam earned his first entry and top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart with “Travesuras” (“Mischief”) — and he has charted every year since. In 2015, he topped the same chart for 30 weeks with his Enrique Iglesias-assisted “El Perdón” (“Forgiveness”) and the following year, “Hasta el Amanecer” (“Until Sunrise”) earned him his second No. 1 and first as a solo act, ruling for 18 weeks. “I felt that my mojo was insane,” he says. “Everything I touched was magic when it came to the studio.”

Instead of letting the pandemic halt his momentum, the 41-year-old star found new opportunities. He kicked off 2021 with his own web series, The Rockstar Show (its third season will air soon), and opened his own La Industria Bakery & Cafe restaurant in Miami (with expansions coming to Puerto Rico; Orlando, Fla., and Medellín, Colombia). Though he’s working on a new album, Nicky Jam the businessman feels just as invincible, with plans of even more restaurants, as well as nightclubs and hotels in the United States and Colombia. As he says: “This all makes me feel like I’m a rock star, and I can’t stop.”

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At this phase in your career, why were you eager to explore new businesses?

We had days without doing anything, and the most I could do was just think and come up with all these projects. Thank God I had the budget to do these things. Everything I do is for people to feel inspired. I want them to realize that I was a drug user, I was in jail, I was at the bottom of the bottom, and look at me now. I’ve reached the highest point of my career. I’ve performed at the World Cup, I’ve done Hollywood movies and broken records in the music industry. Now I’m doing restaurants and hotels, not only to be connected with my fans but to hopefully motivate them. I want to lead people on the right path.

What’s the most rewarding experience you’ve had hosting your web series?

To be honest, it has given me back what I needed, and it’s that engagement with the people. I’ve grown older, and I’m not really the guy to pick up a song and do a TikTok video or dance. I used to be one of the first influencers back in the day, but today, I don’t think it would feel organic. There are so many people doing it. So many influencers. I feel more relatable when I host the show because it reminds people of why they love Nicky Jam in the first place. I share so many stories and talk with no filter, and that’s what the show gives. Hopefully, it comes to the moment that I make it a televised show. I’ve been offered money already, but I don’t want to sell it yet.

With a music career that spans nearly 30 years, what do you think your legacy in reggaetón will be?

My legacy is my story, where I came from and the sacrifices I went through to be where I am today. The sacrifices that not only I [made] but also my colleagues such as Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderón, Baby Rasta y Gringo and more to [take] reggaetón where it is today. Bad Bunny’s success, for example, is what makes me happy because I busted my ass since 1994 so that there could be artists like him filling out stadiums and making history. I know he has worked his ass off to be where he is, but behind his success is also mine. Bad Bunny is the No. 1 artist on the planet right now, and I feel proud of that. That’s my legacy.

What did these last two years teach you about the importance of having multiple projects?

When you don’t do anything, that’s the worst thing in the world. That’s why it’s important to keep your mind busy and happy while always having a focus and a target. That’s the mentality that helps me to keep going with all my projects. Nicky Jam’s brand is not only music. It doesn’t matter if I’m not on the top of the charts: I’m always going to look like a high-end brand. All you have to do is maintain it.

This story originally appeared in the Sept. 17, 2022, issue of Billboard.

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