The reggaeton artist Nicky Jam confessed something few expected: until recently, his knowledge of Cuban music was limited to just one genre. This was captured in the behind-the-scenes footage of the music video for "La Foto," published by the Camagüeyan singer El Shadow on Instagram.
"I only knew the cast, I didn't know that they sang Afro there, that they sang trap, all of that," the Puerto Rican artist admitted with complete ease in front of the camera during the filming of the music video in Miami.
What changed his perspective wasn't a deliberate search, but the algorithm. "The Cuban music algorithm started coming to me on Instagram, a lot, a lot, a lot. I began to receive a ton of talent from Cuba," Nicky Jam explained in the video.
That's how El Shadow arrived, whose real name is Raudel Gómez Hernández, a 26-year-old from Camagüey who blends afrobeats, trap, and Caribbean sounds, far away from the Havana scene that the reggaeton artist already knew.
"I saw this young kid, listening and sounding like a devil. This guy has a vibe and a voice that's different from what I'm used to hearing back in Cuba," said Nicky Jam about the moment he discovered the Cuban artist.
The story of how the collaboration came to be is as good as the song. In February of this year, El Shadow had only 12,000 followers when he posted a video singing "La Foto" and asked his community to tag Nicky Jam. The reggaeton artist not only saw the clip: he publicly commented, "I don't know what you all are saying, I'm jumping on this song. It's foooo sounds great. Amazing," and then added, "Hit after hit."
Then the direct message came. "I heard the song, and right away he hit up my guy, and when he hit up my guy, he had already messaged me, he had already written to me via DM, and I said: 'Yeah, man, I like that song, let's do it, let's get to work,'" Nicky Jam recounted in the behind-the-scenes footage.
The music video for "La Foto," premiered on August 13 with an exclusive presentation by Billboard en español, brings together two worlds: El Shadow recorded his part in Playa Santa Lucía, Camagüey, while Nicky Jam filmed his segment in Miami. The Cuban influencer Samantha Hernández appears as the main model.
Three days before the launch, the video had already approached 3 million views.
Nicky Jam is no stranger to Cuban talent: earlier this year, he had already collaborated with the duo Charly & Johayron on "Magia", and he has enthusiastically reacted to projects by other artists from the island. However, it was the algorithm, not a planned search, that led him to El Shadow.
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