Nicky Jam Makes Regional Mexican Debut With Luis R. Conriquez: ‘It Seemed Like the Perfect Song for Me’

Luis R. Conriquez managed to do what few would have imagined: lead Nicky Jam to venture into regional Mexican music. The Mexican singer and the Puerto Rican urban star dropped their collaboration “Como el Viento” Friday (March 24), after recording it in Miami last month during the week of Premio Lo Nuestro.

Written by Ángel Sandoval, Abbel and O’RLY, and released under Kartel Music, “Como el Viento” talks about being disappointed in a relationship and the attempt to overcome it. “But there I go like the wind/ I’m like a tornado picking up alcohol to overcome this fear/ Because you’re so pretty and I haven’t found the perfect substitute,” the stars sing in Spanish.

“I’ve always respected regional Mexican music. It’s not from my culture — in Puerto Rico you hear more salsa, merengue and Caribbean music, but I lived 10 years in Colombia, and over there you listen to it a lot. So they showed me this song and I thought it was the perfect one for me,” Jam exclusively tells Billboard Español.

“I used to listen a lot to Nicky Jam’s music,” Conriquez adds. “I remember a song that I particularly liked, ‘Dónde Están las Gatas’. Also, I saw the series about his life and I really liked knowing how everything was happening in his career, so meeting him in person when we made the video in Miami was awesome.”

During the shooting of the clip, both say they found similarities in their lives that created a chemistry between them. “He’s very authentic,” Jam says. “He comes from the barrio like me. … It felt like I was with a friend. We drank some tequilas and had a very good time”.

“It was very gratifying that he congratulated me on what I have achieved,” adds Conriquez. “We had a great time and you will see that in the video.”

This is Jam’s first team-up with a Mexican artist since 2016, when he recorded a cover of “De Pies a Cabeza” with the group Maná, but that was a pop song.

A believer in collabs, Conriquez has already teamed up with Grupo Frontera, Marca Registrada, Peso Pluma and Alfredo Olivas so far in 2023. And soon, he will be releasing others with Darey Castro and Fidel Rueda, two of his idols from regional Mexican.

He also hints that “Como el Viento” may not be his only effort with Jam — “very soon we could be doing another, more of the urban kind” — and reveals he is already working with other urban acts. “Collaborations are in the [making] with very important people like Farruko and El Alfa, to keep blending our regional Mexican with urban music,” he says.

Watch the music video for “Como el Viento” below:

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