Nicky Jam opened up about his life and rising career at the Iconic Songwriter Q&A Panel that took place during the 2016 Billboard Latin Music Conference Wednesday morning.
The Puerto Rican singer talked about his greatest hit to date, "El Perdon," and the many obstacles he faced before winning his first-ever Latin Grammy in 2015. Jam, who is recently making the rounds with "With You Tonight," the English-language version of "Hasta El Amanecer," is an 11-time finalist at the 2016 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Here are some interesting facts we learned about the urban artist during his one-on-one panel with Leila Cobo, executive director of Latin content and programming for Billboard.
1) When he was eight, Nicky began attending talent shows in Boston, where he was born.
2) He was discovered at 11 years old in a supermarket by a lady who signed him to a record label and recorded his first album.
3) According to Nicky, the album sucked but local DJs became instant fans of his style.
4) At 12 years old, Nicky would imitate reggae singers from Jamaica and would say he was half-Jamaican.
5) Nicky always rapped, but it was not until he was 20 that he learned how to write music.
6) He fell in love with romantic music such as that from Sin Bandera and Camila.
7) He would perform at hotels, covering songs of these artists.
8) In 2007 he traveled to Colombia and realized that Colombians preferred lyrics over rhythm.
9) It was in Colombia where Nicky discovered himself as a music writer.
10) His next single might be a song called "Mil Lagrimos," which he just wrote for his upcoming album.
11) The forthcoming album is set to be released in September 2016.
12) He recalled the moment that he met Daddy Yankee and how El Cangri took him to Dominican Republic as his background singer.
13) In Colombia, he used to be the opening act for artists such as J Balvin and Reykon.
14) Daddy Yankee inspired him to be disciplined in his career.
15) His first national song in Colombia was "Piensa en Mi."
16) The video was filmed with a $500 budget.
17) Nicky will soon make his acting debut in a movie with Vin Diesel.
18) In the movie he portrays the owner of an island.
19) The 35-year-old singer also revealed that he might be in a "Fast & Furious" movie.
20) He also said a TV series is on the way... without giving away too many spoilers.
21) Then he revealed that Diesel wanted to record a song with him.
22) Nicky Jam's eagle tattoo on his neck signifies "wisdom."
23) His dream collaboration includes Juan Luis Guerra, Maná and Romeo Santos.
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