Yankee became ВreggaetonвЂ™s biggest star after вЂњGasolina,вЂќ while Jam was suddenly a pariah in the very music he helped Вpopularize. He went his way, I went my way - and Вobviously my way didnвЂ™t go very well.вЂќ вЂњThat wasnвЂ™t a good choice, because he came with вЂGasolina.вЂ™ looked stupid. I took it too seriously and made a whole song for him,вЂќ explains Jam, Вreferring to a 2004 tiraera (slang for diss track) over Fat JoeвЂs вЂњLean BackвЂќ instrumental.

Yankee began criticizing his bad habits, even subtly checking him on a record. Nicky Jam, Daddy Yankee Win Big at Premios Tu Mundo But the growing success was Вoverwhelming, and Jam began abusing drugs and alcohol. The pair became inseparable and collaborated on a handful of hits in the genreвЂ™s turn-of-the-Вmillennium golden era (вЂњEn la Cama,вЂќ вЂњGuayandoвЂќ). The admiration was mutual, and Yankee asked him to become his hypeman. The underage Jam would usually be escorted out of clubs after his own shows, but one night he Вmanaged to stick around long enough to introduce himself to his hero. His favorite was then-rising star Daddy Yankee. вЂњI used to open for these big singers - they were 20, 25 years old, and I was a kid with a Mickey Mouse voice, trying to speak Jamaican,вЂќ recalls Jam. His bilingual flows caught the Вattention of DJs and vocalists whose mixtapes were Вforming the basis of a harder-edged sound that Вcombined reggae rhythms with rapped vocals and Latin Вinstrumentation: Вreggaeton.

An impressed customer brought him to a local indie label, through which Jam released his rap/Вreggae debut, вЂ¦Distinto a los Demas, in 1994 at 14 years old. After his father moved the family to Puerto Rico to вЂњgo back to our rootsвЂќ when he was 10, Jam was discovered at a grocery store, where he would entertain himself by Вfreestyling about the foods he was bagging. Born Nick Caminero, he started rapping at local talent shows in his native Lawrence, Mass., hardly a Latin music hotspot. Jam has a history of finding success where youвЂ™d least expect it. Nicky Jam on Breaking ShakiraвЂ™s Chart Record, Writing for His Girlfriend & More: Exclusive вЂњTo be a guy that disappeared from Вreggaeton for 10 years and come back,вЂќ says Jam, вЂњit canвЂ™t be better than that.вЂќ He couldnвЂ™t even make it to the first-ever Latin American Music Awards on Oct.В 8 in Los Angeles, where he won song of the year and two other trophies for his smash single вЂњEl PerdГіnвЂќ (featuring Enrique Iglesias), which has been dominating the Hot Latin Songs chart for most of 2015.

On this October evening heвЂ™s in Zarazoga, Spain, the latest stop on a European tour that also has him hitting Paris, Milan, Rome and Barcelona. Today, the 34-year-old has the opposite problem.

Nicky jame