The Commercial Break - TCB Infomercial: Nicky Jam

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

Episode #597: We don’t know how this happened, but this week we are talking to Nicky Jam! Nicky Jam The story of Bryan & Nicky Jam INSOMNIO Life’s too short to be an asshole The crack era in ...Massachusetts (late 80s early 90s) Getting discovered bagging groceries Freestyling with the groceries Nicky Jam don’t play Mixtapes to reggaeton greatness He’s the godfather Nicky’s godfather impression Daddy Yankee Drugs, jail, and drama Colombia His journey to comeback The fame The new album Nicky Jam is NOT retiring You heard it here first (for real!) Special Guest: Nicky Jam Watch “Nicky Jam: El Ganador”: https://www.netflix.com/title/80221207 Listen To “INSOMNIO”: Apple Music Spotify Follow Nicky Jam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickyjam/?hl=en Come To Our Shows: Dania Beach Improv (Tuesday, Sept. 24th) The Funny Bone Orlando (Wednesday, Sept. 25th) Text us or leave us a voicemail: +1 (212) 433-3TCB Follow Us: IG: @thecommercialbreak TikTok: @tcbpodcast YT: youtube.com/thecommercialbreak www.tcbpodcast.com Executive Producer: Bryan Green Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley Producer: Astrid B. Green Producer & Audio Editor: Christina Archer Christina’s Podcast: Apple Podcasts & Spotify To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Oh Come on Justin Rigger down See no sing any more offended. Oh, we love you, Justin On this episode of the commercial break I used to freestyle with the groceries Were you talking about like the tomatoes and the things Were you talking about like the chicken and the milk? Yeah, the tomatoes and the things. Yeah, this is Niki Jaren. You know I don't play though, but you know we got the sauce with the tomatoes.
Starting point is 00:00:54 The next episode of The Commercial Break starts now. It's 30 in the morning! Oh yeah, cats and kittens, welcome back to The Commercial Break. I'm Brian Green. This is my sister from another Mr. Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to the commercial break. I'm Brian Greene. This is my sister from another Mr. Kristen Joy Hoadley. Best to you, Kristen. Best to you, Brian. And best to you out there in the podcast universe.
Starting point is 00:01:12 Delay not, because today is a very special day here at the commercial break. Yes, it is. We have an infomercial unlike any other, or at least we hope it's going to be like any other. Nicky Jam, international crossover reggaeton artist. Star. Star. The godfather of reggaeton. Some will call him me. I'll call him that. He is amazing. Like the amount of musical influence that he's had, quite frankly, all over the world. Since the 90s too. Since the 90s. He's been doing this since he was like 13, 14 years old. His story is amazing. I'm not going to step over the world. It's just stunning. Since the 90s too. Since the 90s. He's been doing this since he was like 13, 14 years old.
Starting point is 00:01:46 His story is amazing. I'm not gonna step on the story. I'll let him tell it, hopefully. Hopefully we can convince him to talk about it. But Nicky Jam is really quite frankly, a superstar. Like in the upper echelon of superstars. And how he ended up here on the commercial break, I have no idea, but we are grateful to have his time.
Starting point is 00:02:04 He's like, I think he's being very gracious by agreeing to come on the commercial break. I have no idea, but we are grateful to have his time. He's, I think he's being very gracious by agreeing to come on the commercial break. Yeah. But we are very excited about this interview. And so we do want to get to it relatively quickly, but I'll just share how I understand the Nicky Jam or my, it might, I guess, the way that Nicky Jam came into your life, how he came into my life.
Starting point is 00:02:25 The story of our love. So the year is 2015, I think it is. And Astrid and I have just started dating and I am going to Spain for the first time to see her outside of the United States. And so I fly into Spain and- They let you in. They let me in. I don't know that they'll still let me in, but they let me in
Starting point is 00:02:47 then. That was a good first step. Well now I've got, now I might have Nicky Jam on my, on my- Yeah, that's right. Rolodex. So I think they have to let me in now. And so we go to stay with her uncle who lives there, her uncle and her aunt who live there. And unbeknownst to me, they have planned this 10 or 11 day road trip around Spain. We are going to go all around Spain. We're going to drive the entirety of Spain. We're going to drive like one big circle and get back to
Starting point is 00:03:17 Madrid, right? And one of the places, we're going to stay in all these castles that have been renovated into hotels, like castles owned by the government, then taken over, then managed by a hotel company. It was an amazing trip. I'll never forget it. Best of my life. One of the best of my life. But one of the places we are gonna stop outside of the whole castle thing is we're gonna stop in the Pyrenees Mountains one night. I think I've told this story about how we were driving in the middle of the night to get to this hotel at this ski resort, and we were like, literally out of the movie, on the side of a cliff to get to this hotel at the ski resort. And we were like, literally out of the movie,
Starting point is 00:03:46 on the side of a cliff, it's snowing, I'm driving in a new country. It's just like, it's craziness. And right as, it's one of those roads where you're driving and if you misstep by two feet, you are going 180 meters down, right? It's very scary. I was like glued to the windshield just watching.
Starting point is 00:04:06 Anyway, that's not the point of the story. Of course it isn't. We get to this hotel. It's beautiful. It's lovely. We're there on the 30th of December. And on the 31st, my uncle and Astrid have planned and my aunt have planned the night and they have gotten tickets to this hotel New Year's Eve party in this beautiful hotel that we're staying at that this is the place where I played the piano for my in-laws and they quickly learned that I am not a Nicky Jam. I am far from Nicky Jam. I'm not even the, no I did, I did Montley Crue, Home Sweet Home for 12 minutes. I'm on my way.
Starting point is 00:04:50 And then some 14 year old kid got up and did like Beethoven's 9th, all parts. He had five hands. I didn't, I couldn't even, I was so embarrassed, but I was pressured into it because of course I told him I was a musician and that was a total, not a total lie, but definitely a white lie. So anyway, so we all get dressed up. I've brought a, Astrid told me to bring a suit for the occasion. I do. Everyone's just lovely. We get down to this hotel party. It's one of those things where you have dinner and then you go into the ballroom that's overlooking the Pyrenees mountains. It's just a scene out of a movie, it's unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:05:26 And then they have a DJ and then the champagne and the whole nine yards, and you toast and you eat your grapes and you do the whole nine yards. So the DJ starts the night off pretty, like what you would expect being very close to France, right, you would expect like a lot of French pop music and American pop music and you know, some oldies but some goodies and Frank Sinatra in there for good measure. Just kind of starts off that way. But as the clock
Starting point is 00:05:48 ticks toward midnight, it gets more and more, the music gets more and more like rowdy. And after midnight, it becomes almost exclusively reggaeton, which at that time, I don't have a lot. I know what it is, but I don't have a lot of experience with it, right? It's not something I had on in the car. And so as if anybody puts radio on in the car. I was going to say that like when your mom had, what was the soundtrack of the movie? Phantom of the Opera. Phantom of the Opera. That's right. That's right. I was listening to my Phantom of the Opera. And so they start playing this reggaeton and my soon to be brothers-in-law are freaking out and they're dancing. And I mean, they are good dancers because they are from Venezuela where your hips are born moving. Like they just know how to do it.
Starting point is 00:06:35 Exactly. And everybody is going crazy. Like all ages, everybody loves this music and they're playing like 10, 15 songs in a row, reggaeton. And I'm like- S1 05.00 Were you dancing? S1 05.00 I was trying to, but they weren't, it was not going well. It was just not going well for a white guy from Chicago. I was doing like- S1 05.00 I can picture it now. S1 05.00 Yeah, I was doing like the noodle, like the white man noodle, you know, waving my hands around, bouncing my butt up and down, my hips refuse to move from side to side.
Starting point is 00:07:06 You know how it goes. So, the guys are trying to, Danny Gustav, they're trying to teach me how to do some of these moves they got. They're trying to teach me these steps, right? And I'm kind of getting it, but not really. If there was a video, and I'm sure there is, it's embarrassing for everybody involved. But I said, you have to, like, this is, you know, some of these songs are great. What is this? And they say the name, Nicky Jam, right? Daddy Yankee,
Starting point is 00:07:29 Nicky Jam, Nicky Jam. And I'm like, oh, okay, I know Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam, oh, curious. And they're like, he's huge, he's a huge star. And, you know, at the wedding, you got to play this song, you got to do this thing. And we hadn't even talked about, I mean, we, I don't even think we're engaged at that point, but we're already talking about the wedding. And I say, listen, if we have a wedding, I'm paying you to DJ and I'm paying you to teach my white brethren how to dance, right? And it was a joke. It was like a running joke in the family for a while.
Starting point is 00:07:55 So first time I hear the name, Nikki Jane. Then we get to the wedding. You were there. And one of the things that I really felt, almost that I feel sentimental about at this time is you have these two families from disparate sides of the world. You have the Venezuelans and you have the like straight up Americans. It's split down the middle. It's about 75-75, right?
Starting point is 00:08:17 75 Americans, 75 Venezuelans. And everybody is just having a good time from the get. It's a really great vibe. But then we do something called La Hora Loca, which is the crazy hour. That's what it's called. And the crazy hour is a tradition in some Latin communities, in a lot of Latin communities, where at a wedding or whatever, at a party, you do La Hora Loca. Everybody gets crazy. You break out props like big hats and all this crazy shit. And it sounds corny and kooky, but it's not.
Starting point is 00:08:44 No, it's so fun. It was so much fun. You do the conga line, you know, everybody's dancing, and it doesn't matter who you are, your butt needs to be on the dance floor. And my wife, with help from Gustavo, put together a playlist for the DJ because she felt it was really important to get this one right. And of course, please do, right? I was all about it. And that Oraloka started, and I'm telling you what, there was not a butt in a seat. Everybody was dancing. And if you were sitting down, the Venezuelans were going to grab you and pull you up because that's not allowed. It doesn't matter if you know how to dance. Try. Shake your butt. It doesn't matter. You know, move your hands.
Starting point is 00:09:21 Do the noodle. Whatever it is, we'll teach you how to dance or it'll be fine. At least for this hour, it's fine. We're not going to make fun of you. It's like a free pass. Do your noodle, you don't have to move your hips, you'll be fine. And Nicky Jam was on that playlist quite a bit. And when I talked to Gustavo a couple nights ago about this interview, he said there were probably five songs there. And the most beautiful part of that wedding to me was that la or eloca, because I really felt like everybody was just, it didn't matter if you spoke English or Spanish or some mix thereof, whatever it was, there was like a communication going on in the room, on the dance floor. And that was these two are in love, let's celebrate by just showing some love,
Starting point is 00:10:02 right? Everybody was getting along and having a good time. Dancing, no matter the age, the race, the color, the language, it didn't matter. And that really- Music is the international- Language. ... love, really. Of everything. Of celebration, yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:16 It doesn't matter. You can like a song and not know what they're saying. It doesn't matter. Half the time I don't know. I'm singing the wrong words. Yeah. I still don't know what Eddie Vedder is saying, but I like his music. I still don't know what he's saying. But I like the music. Cool, dude. Whatever you're saying. But Nikki was a presence there during that hour, which I really cherish in my heart, and always will. And in the wedding video, you can see it, like, they're playing his music. It's there, right?
Starting point is 00:10:30 And so, when we got this opportunity to interview Nikki Jam, of course, I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it.
Starting point is 00:10:38 I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. I was going to do it. always will. And in the wedding video, you can see it, like they're playing his music, it's there, right? And so, when we got this opportunity to interview Nicky Jam, of course, I was going to jump at it because I just felt like he may have played a small part in the
Starting point is 00:10:53 wedding, but he played a big part of the feeling that I took away from that. Yeah, the bring, the togetherness of that. And of course, all of this will give me Insta cred with my Venezuelan family. They no longer will laugh in front of my face. Now they'll do it behind my back. So that is good news. Yes, anything you can do on that front. Yes, so Nikki has a brand new album coming out. His album is Insomnia in English.
Starting point is 00:11:17 And we're really excited that he's here. He's gonna talk about the new album. And of course you can find him on social media at Nicky Jam, I think is what it is on Insta. He's on TikTok. He's on YouTube. Everywhere. He is everywhere. This guy is a big presence in the music world. And we're so grateful to have him. So generous with his time. So let's do this. Let's take a break. And through the magic of tele-podcasting, we will have on an amazing guest, Nicky Jam. How's that? Okay, ready? We'll be back.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Oh my God, Christina, you're an icon and a legend. That's my impression of you when I tell you that you can officially get tickets to come see us in Florida. We'll be at Daniel Beach Improv on September 24th and the Funny Bone Orlando on September 25th. And both of those links are already in the show notes. So come see us and giggle your way into our little hearts. If you can't make it to Florida to win our love, don't worry we're easy. All it takes is to follow us
Starting point is 00:12:13 on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCB Podcast or you can text us at 212-433-3TCB. And check out our website, tcbpodcast.com, for all of our audio video content and any sneaky links we might share. Kick off an exciting football season with Bet MGM, an official sports book partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down,
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Starting point is 00:14:59 BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Thank you, Nikki, for being here with us today. We really appreciate your time. Hi. Very grateful. Hi, hi, hi. How you doing?
Starting point is 00:15:12 We're doing good. I'm very grateful to have you here because I think I will now have instant respect in the family gatherings with the Venezuelan half of the family. Oh, yeah. This is going to give you credit for years. My brothers-in-law are absolutely in love with everything, Nikki Jam, and they couldn't be more excited that you're joining us. And I can't either because I've done a lot of
Starting point is 00:15:34 homework on you and I find you to be a very interesting and self-aware human being, which sometimes when you think of somebody that kind of has a level of success and a level of fame, you might, at least the stereotype might be that they're so disconnected from the audience or people, real people, that you don't believe they might be that self-aware. But I dug in, I listened, I read, I watched. You're a very humble and aware guy. And I think that only comes from struggle. And I know you've had some. Yeah, a lot. I mean, I'm very humble because of my dad. My dad is a very humble guy.
Starting point is 00:16:10 He's always been, and I've always saw that as something that I wanted to be just like my dad. And he was always the type of guy that he would like stop doing anything to help anybody else, or give a little that he had to other people. So I appreciate that from my dad and I learned that from my dad and it made me be a very humble human being, but that's just part of me. You know what I'm saying? You can't really learn to be humble. It's just what you are. If you're humble,
Starting point is 00:16:38 you're humble. If you're not, you're not. But when somebody admires a humble person, that means that you're humble. That's what I think. I mean, if you admire somebody that's cocky and a jerk, I don't know what kind of... You can still use that word. Sure. Absolutely. We use it all the time.
Starting point is 00:16:56 Yeah. Well, if you admire people like that, well, that's what you are. So I admire humble people and that's what I am and I just like to be that kid that everybody likes. I like to be the soul of the party. I like to be the guy that makes everybody laugh. I like to be that person that when people see me feels a good energy. So that's just me the way I am. And it didn't matter in any situation that I was, even when I was in drugs or I was in jail or I was in the World Cup singing Will Smith, doing a movie with Vin Diesel, it didn't matter. In any of those situations, I was always the same guy.
Starting point is 00:17:38 I would drink a Coca-Cola sitting down on the floor, and I also could eat lobster at the finest restaurant. I don't care about anything. I just like enjoying life, and life is too short to be an asshole. Yeah, hey man, I totally agree with you, and I tell my kids this all the time. There is plenty of, I mean, I don't say this word, but there is plenty of shit in this world.
Starting point is 00:18:04 We need more shine, right? So, and I think you're right about something, and I never thought about it this way, is that like attracts like. So if you are a humble person, you admire humble people. I admire what I've heard from you specifically and read from you because I think you're also not afraid to share the struggle, which is also something that I think for men,
Starting point is 00:18:28 for maybe the men in my family specifically, it's hard to share the struggle because they see that as weakness. Where I think when I hear it from you, it's a strength. That is a strength, that you're able to share that struggle. Because you've learned from it. Because you've learned from it. Yeah, I mean, I had a lot on my shoulders
Starting point is 00:18:44 and I needed to get it off. And I was still going to have all these problems from the past. They catch up sometimes. I ain't going to lie. I'm not a perfect person. I'm a human being. I have my days where my past catches up with me. But doing the series and showing my life helped me a lot. It was very good
Starting point is 00:19:08 for me. And at the same time, I'm always thinking people were always misunderstood in a way. I don't know if you can relate to that. Some people think that they know about you, but they don't really know about you. They don't know who you are, where you came from, and what you represent. And this series shows the people that I'm not the superstar with the Lamborghini and the planes and all this stuff. I'm not only that. I have that. I'm grateful for it.
Starting point is 00:19:36 I worked for it, but I came from nothing. I came from starving. I came from waiting in the back of Dunkin' Donuts so they could throw away the donuts they didn't sell anymore so I could take to my sister so she could eat. I came from packing groceries so I could make $20 a day and buy cigarettes and milk and bread and ham and cheese so we could eat at the house. I come from nothing and I come from a house
Starting point is 00:20:07 where my dad was a drug addict, my mom was a drug addict. And the whole environment where I was living in Lawrence, Massachusetts, everybody there was on drugs because it was the crack era. And crack era really messed up the city. Was this early 90s? Was this early 90s? It was early 90s, late 80s. Late 80s, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:29 Late 80s, yeah. And it was ugly. I mean, it was like living in the street with a whole bunch of zombies. And in my house, I had two zombies. So imagine that. I can't. I can't. And I think that's part of, when you share your story, when I heard you share your story as I'm doing my research, I think that's the part, like share your story, when I heard you share your story as I'm doing my research, I think that's the part, like you just said, is people think they know you, right? Even if you share your entire story, it's still your perspective is still unique to you. And so the person you are is like a, I think, is like a fabric of all of those different experiences that you've had and no one can ever do that again. It's not repeatable,
Starting point is 00:21:04 right? I mean, it's just one of those things that becomes you. And I think that, I think it's so telling that you're so open about all of this. Your mom and dad were drug addicts and then you moved to Puerto, like take it back a little bit. You moved to Puerto Rico when you were 10, 11 years old. Is that right? Yeah, I moved to Puerto Rico when I was 10 because my dad, he caught a case. They caught him with a, I think it was like 20 kilos of cocaine. It was an undercover cop that was with us, like family. And, you know, he was dealing and they caught him and then he went, he was, he was, he posted bail and he was supposed to go back on trial. He knew that my mom wasn't in a good situation, being in drugs and everything, and he said,
Starting point is 00:21:51 if I go to jail, who's going to take care of my kids? In those days, the TSA situation wasn't so strict. You couldn't travel to Puerto Rico with no. So you could have traveled to Puerto Rico with no problem. So my dad traveled to Puerto Rico with us to escape this situation that he had so he could be with us and be a father and take in. And I'm very grateful for that because he did stop doing drugs and he did become the dad that I needed, especially in that situation. So, you know, I... That's a hero move, bro.
Starting point is 00:22:31 Oh, 100%. That's a hero move, yeah. And he stayed with us and he did what he could do. And that's how we lived in Puerto Rico. I'm very grateful because thanks to living in Puerto Rico, I learned about this reggae music and all these Caribbean sounds that made me fall in love with it. You know?
Starting point is 00:22:55 And that's my story with Puerto Rico. Yeah. For those that don't know in our audience, you've described that you get found because you're bagging groceries at a grocery store and you're rapping and you're just kind of doing your thing. You're freestyling. I love that story.
Starting point is 00:23:13 That's incredible. Yeah. Freestyling. I used to freestyle with the groceries that I had. You know what I'm saying? Were you talking about like the chicken and the milk? Yeah, the tomatoes and the things. Yeah, this is Mickey Jarron. You know I don't play though, but you know we got the sauce with
Starting point is 00:23:28 the tomatoes. I would just freestyle about the food and I came like a small celebrity. It was like, yo, you heard this kid that he be rapping about the food and everything. He's packing and everybody would love to go to my aisle because they wanted to listen to me rapping. In those days, rap was something new in Puerto Rico, especially see a kid so young to rap. So this lady came to me and she was like, I wasn't feeling like rapping that day, so I was just packing my groceries. She's like, so you're not going to rap for me? And I'm
Starting point is 00:23:59 like, I mean, if you give me the right tip, I'll probably do it. I just, I gave, I rapped. And she liked what I did. And then from that came to just- Like a series of coincidences that ended up with you in the shooting. She said she wanted to sign me. And because she said she wanted to sign me, She said she wanted to sign me. She told me she wanted me to get in the car with her.
Starting point is 00:24:29 I'm like, hell no. I'm 12. Weren't you 12 or something? Even though I was 12, I had street smart. Of course. I don't know, Carl, I'm from the hood. I know not to get in the car. But she was like, no, my husband, he's a producer from MP Records in those days.
Starting point is 00:24:47 That was like a big record label in Puerto Rico. And I got in a car and I went with her and I rapped for her husband and they went home that same day and they bring me like a huge ass contract like this. My dad, you know, my dad's from the hood too. He's like, he don't even know how to read none of that shit. He's like, you don't gotta read shit, just sign that shit. Go ahead, sign it.
Starting point is 00:25:11 I'm ready. Fuck that. Just sign it. Are they giving us money? Sign the contract, right. My dad just signed that shit. No, they ain't giving me no money in those days. You know how it is, man.
Starting point is 00:25:20 You know, when you sign it, today they'll give you money if you already have a platform, you know what I'm saying? Like today you have Instagram and all that, and today you can make people want you already. So when you go to a label, you could be more like, like yeah, well I already have five, like what could you do that I can't do for myself?
Starting point is 00:25:36 But those days you needed to wreck a label, like 100%. So there was no platform, so they didn't give me no money. But they fucked me in that contract. Anyways, I didn't do shit, I didn't was no platform. So they didn't give me no money, but they fucked me in that contract. Anyways, I didn't do shit, I didn't make no money, but I'm sorry if I cursed. I don't know. No, you can curse. No, please, after the show is cursing,
Starting point is 00:25:53 feel free, I will fly. Yeah, they fucked me in that contract, but what helped me was the album did not sell, because how creative could you be when you're 12 years old when it comes to the album? You know, because how creative could you be when you're 12 years old when it comes to an album? You have no mind for it, but the good thing that happened was the street DJs was listening to my music,
Starting point is 00:26:16 and they liked it. And the street DJs was the one that was taking over. They was doing these things where there was these mixtapes where they put 50 singers from Puerto Rico, and everybody would like drop like a verse. Yeah. And they would become famous. So I was like the youngest kid on those mixtapes and I became famous. I became a celebrity just because of the mixtapes.
Starting point is 00:26:38 So the album didn't do good, but the mixtapes took me to this underground world where I became one of the architects of reggaeton music. You sure did. You're like the god, one of the godfathers of reggaeton. Okay, so fast forward, fast forward. I'm not trying to date you, man. I'm just saying. You come to me on the commercial break and you tell me your age. on the commercial break and you tell me your age. You come to my wedding! I see your Grammy and I see you a bottle of Gatorade. You come to my wedding!
Starting point is 00:27:16 That's a good one. That's actually pretty good. I know, there's great marlin. He's got the cheeks and everything. Marlin, right there. You don't respect me! By the way, people ask me what my favorite Christmas movie is of all time. I say, The Godfather 1 and 2.
Starting point is 00:27:31 Is that a Christmas movie? But all of a sudden they started showing it in the States. During Christmas? Yeah, like 24 hour marathons. So now my kids are watching whatever, The Grinch, and I'm like, I'll be in here watching The Godfather. I'm not asking you what's your favorite Christmas movie? You're saying Halloween 1. So fast forward a little bit. So you have this huge explosion of popularity when you're in
Starting point is 00:27:54 Puerto Rico in this early part of your career, but then you admittedly say at some point, and I'm quoting you here, I feel like an embarrassment of the rigatone industry at some point because I just kind of fall off the platform. Tell me about that, like 2007, 2008. Well, that's very, yeah, that's very fast forward. I mean, obviously I had a huge career before that. And then of course, I mean, you know, I was a young kid, so I did a lot of bad things, you know what I'm saying?
Starting point is 00:28:23 I was a rebel. I didn't have my mom. So, in my mentality, my mom, you know, she left me. So, in those days, I didn't care about living. Like, I didn't give a fuck about living. I would do anything. I was in the hood with the kids. I would like run around.
Starting point is 00:28:37 Like, I was literally like doing anything in the streets that you shouldn't do. And you know, Daddy Yankee wasn't a part of that because I was with him. We was like this. Yeah, you guys were together. Yeah. But he was trying to... He had kids. He was way more mature than me. And he already had a focus. I liked the whole street thing. And the reason why we got into the street thing is because, well, I was raised in the streets anyways, but it's because this guy wanted to kill us. And you can see that on the series, you know what I'm saying? This guy wanted to kill us and because this guy wanted to kill us, we had to run to New
Starting point is 00:29:13 York. And then we went to New York and one day I tell Yankee, I'm like, yo, Yankee, we've been having people trying to kill us our whole life in Puerto Rico. That's part of, that's normal in Puerto Rico because we're from the from the hood when you from the hood. That's not a new thing, you know It's not normal in a normal environment, but we're not from normal by we're from the whole we from the place Like you can say from the projects in Puerto Rico. No, I said he or so So I'm telling them bro. We've been through this shit and we're not going to hide here in New York. Let's get two straps each other.
Starting point is 00:29:47 Let's go to Puerto Rico and let's keep doing music. And if somebody comes through, we ready. And he's like, fuck it, let's go. So we went to Puerto Rico. We got strapped and for some reason this guy, obviously if you mess around in the streets, you know what's going to happen. You got two ways, jail or death. And this guy, he had a lot of problems already and they killed him.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Just because they... It made our lives easier because we didn't have to like... Stress about it. Indeed, that looks behind your shoulder. Yeah. Stress about it anymore. So Yankee's like, yo, I don't want my gun anymore. I don't need it. And I said, I'll take it. I'm not stressed about it anymore. So Yankees like, yo, I don't want my gun anymore. I don't need it. And I said, I'll take it.
Starting point is 00:30:27 I'm ready. I like the streets. I want her to keep going in the streets. So that was the beginning of my fuck up. Because instead of going that Yankees route, he was going to a rap where he was like, you know, preparing himself, you know, psychologically, mentally and physically for his new career where we was already successful to be bigger and bigger. I was going to self-destruction because I just wanted to be in the streets with the kids, my boys, because for me, my family was the kids from the hood, you know what I'm saying? So I just wanted to be that. It went from that to doing
Starting point is 00:31:05 drugs and doing more drugs and more drugs. It came to a moment where I wasn't even a street doer anymore. I was just a junkie. From a junkie, obviously I caught my case. I went to jail for attempted murder and all that. When I came out, it was even worse. In 2005 and 2006, it was like I was doing more drugs and more drugs and people will see me like, you know, like, you know what you do. Tweet down on the street and yeah. Stuff like that and like they will care,
Starting point is 00:31:33 like get me in a car that I haven't paid like for seven months and they're like embarrassments. It was like a whole line of embarrassments that you could only get when you were junkie, you know? Sure. Can I ask you a question? Can I ask you a question? Can I ask you a question? When you were in that period of your life
Starting point is 00:31:46 and you and Yankee were together, did Yankee ever like try to get through? Like, hey, you know, we can grow, we can do this, but you gotta settle down a little bit. A hundred, no, we was already successful. Sure. But he was looking for more. Yeah, he wanted to take it to the next level.
Starting point is 00:32:04 He wanted to take it to the next level, He wanted to take it to the next level, but of course Yankee tried everything in his power to make me be a better person. But when you're stubborn and you're young and you're a rebel and you don't care and you have that street mentality and you have a whole bunch of street kids next to you giving you the wrong message,
Starting point is 00:32:23 there's no way you're going to listen to just one person. You know what I'm saying? And sometimes you just got to hit bottom. You got to hit bottom so you can learn. And thank God, and it sounds weird for me to say thank God to hit and rock bottom, I became the human being that I am today and the superstar that I am today and everything that I am today. When you were addicted to drugs, when you were on the Perks and you were doing blow
Starting point is 00:32:57 and all this, you at some point get called to Columbia, right? You say, I got to get to Columbia. I'm interested to know what drew you to Columbia. Because let's be honest, right? You say, I gotta get to Columbia. I'm interested to know what drew you to Columbia. Because let's be honest, right? When you think of getting clean off drugs, Columbia maybe isn't the first place you think about. But, and that's a stereotype, but it's true, right? It's the cocaine capital of the world,
Starting point is 00:33:17 and I'm sure that there's a lot of other stuff available there. What draws you to Columbia? What makes you say, hey, I gotta get there? Well, the reality of everything is it wasn't that I went to Columbia because it was something that I thought it was better for me. They just called me for a show. I was broke as fuck. I remember when they called me, they were like, we're calling from Columbia.
Starting point is 00:33:40 We want to do a show with Nicky Jam. Let me put my manager through. I changed my voice. I was like, hold up. No fucking way. And I just changed my voice. Like, hold up. I don't want to be. No fucking way. I love that. You faked being your own manager?
Starting point is 00:33:49 Yeah, I was trying to act like I was important. You know what I'm saying? Cause I didn't want, you know, I was embarrassed that I was managing my own self. Cause I didn't have a manager. I was just, nobody wanted to manage me. So I got the show. I remember the guy was like, so we need the 18th.
Starting point is 00:34:03 And I'm like, well, let me check if I have the 18th. That's so funny. That's so funny. It's the only day we have free. Hey, Nikki, can I tell you? When your management calls and says, we got the 10th, I go, tell them, give them a minute and we'll check and see if our calendar's free. Of course we got the 10 free.
Starting point is 00:34:25 Yes, you have to do that. Yeah, of course. So when I go to Columbia, I think I'm weighing like almost 260 pounds. I look horrible. Because the problem with Perks is it's the only drug you take and it makes you fatter. So you're a junkie and you're fat. Because I would have rather been a junkie and you're fat. Cause I've rather, I would have rather been a junkie and skinny.
Starting point is 00:34:47 Yeah. But the weird thing is you're a junkie and you fat cause perks make you eat. They make you eat. They're late. It makes you like a little with euphoric and lethargic and it makes you want to eat. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:59 It does not give you the, exactly. It does not give you the typical syndromes of a, of a drug addict that normally drug addicts are skinny because the drugs they take like crack, cocaine, well I did cocaine but then Perks were like the most that I would take and all these other drugs will make you skinnier. So I went to Columbia and there was this show, the show that they, the 18th show, they took me over there and I'm over here embarrassed that I didn't even want to go out, you know, because I'm thinking
Starting point is 00:35:30 shit, man. Like I don't even have a hit song right now. I haven't had a hit song in years and all these kids are like young and they look so good and they ready and they got hits. How the fuck am I going to go on the stage? Funniest thing in the world is these kids come out, they do their show and I'm thinking over here, I'm like, yo, why are you guys saving me for last?
Starting point is 00:35:52 I mean, you know, like you should have put me like first because these kids are the one popping right now. They're up and coming. Yeah, they're new, they're fresh. Why are you putting me on? Yeah. The mode is like, what are you talking about? Like you're the biggest star here.
Starting point is 00:36:05 I'm like, what do you mean the biggest star? I just came out of jail a couple of years ago. What the fuck are you talking about? It's like, nah, bro. You're a legend here. First of all, when you hit the songs that you hit, you didn't even come here so people didn't get a chance to see you. So for them, I was like the biggest headline.
Starting point is 00:36:22 So when I come out and I feel all that love and People screaming there was 50,000 people on the stage And that came out and I was singing my songs and people it was overwhelming of course And then that same that same week I did like nine shows. Oh Wow in a week, I said well not not stadiums though, but I did like small shows and I needed the money. So this one trip to Columbia made me like come back and buy me a car. I didn't have a car and I paid rent for a whole year and then I had a couple of money inside and I said, what the fuck am I doing in Puerto Rico? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:37:04 To Columbia, yeah. money inside and I said, what the fuck am I doing in Puerto Rico? Yeah. It took Columbia. Yeah. That's how it started for me to go to Columbia because it was working. I was just working and I still had the perks problem. The problem is Columbia don't sell perks. Oh, interesting. They don't sell perks.
Starting point is 00:37:18 How'd you get it? It's not like Columbia. I would have to buy a whole bunch from over here and take it over there. It was the worst thing in the world. That's when it happens that I go over there and I clean myself. Obviously, I did so much drugs there in the moment in Colombia because I partied and I did every crazy thing that you would think that you would do in Colombia. I had a brain problem.
Starting point is 00:37:41 Like a motor skill problem? Yeah, I had a motor skill problem. I still deal with it sometimes, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes, because stuff like that doesn't cure, you know what I'm saying? When it comes to a brain thing, you're fucked. It rewires your brain a little bit, right? And I understand this struggle, having done a lot of drugs in my own life, in my young life.
Starting point is 00:38:00 I understand this struggle. And a couple times, high on LSD LSD coke whatever else I put in my body I just started to like my motor skills Started to shut down and it was the scariest fucking thing in the world the worst you worse when you can think You can't move your hand when you're thinking about it like move your hand you can't you can't do it It's the worst thing in the world Telling you is the scariest thing in the world, I'm telling you, it's the scariest thing in the world. For sure.
Starting point is 00:38:27 You know what I'm saying, because you feel like you're gonna be in a coma. It's like being in a coma but alive, you know? I mean, I don't know, I just said that doesn't, it's like being in a coma but not in a bed. That's right, that's right, yeah. It's a disconnection from your body, it's a disassociation that is really fucking weird and very scary and obviously there are you know
Starting point is 00:38:48 Lots of people have worse problems than that But it's still scary when you don't when you've never experienced it before and starts creeping up on you in these different weird ways When you're really fucked up and you can't think straight and you're having a hard time putting it all together When you were traveling with the perks that you like get nervous? Like was it nerves or just back then it didn't? It's always nervous. It's always nervous. I mean, I mean, you know, going through the airport, like I remember I used to buy like Bayer's, uh, aspirin bottles. Oh, Bayer's aspirin. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Bayer's, yeah. Bayer's aspirin bottles and I would put them in there.
Starting point is 00:39:20 And, uh, and cause they look alike, the, and the, the 602 endo perks that I used to take, they look like aspirins. So I would put them there and then, and just pass it like, like nothing. And I didn't have a problem. What was, when you get to Columbia, what is the moment where you're like, first of all, it's gotta be amazing to be in Puerto Rico and feel this level of, I don't know, embarrassment and shame about all this shit you're going through and people seeing you on the corner and, you know, just kind of tweaking
Starting point is 00:39:51 out with the street kids. And then all of a sudden you get to Columbia and you're like, like you say, a phoenix, right? You're like, holy shit, there's this whole audience, these people appreciate and love and understand my music and they're holding it like the, I mean, I imagine they're holding it up like the Holy Grail. I mean, it's amazing that 50,000 people are screaming your name. How much did you get paid for that show? For like 2, like 2,500? $2,500, 50,000 people screaming your name. That must've been like, some switch must've flipped in your head. Like this, I got it. There's these people, there's something there. I got to follow.
Starting point is 00:40:29 So the thing is, you know, to make the long story short, in this time that I'm in Colombia, you know, I'm not only like to, you know, I stayed in Colombia. I moved to Columbia, and I took a whole year to lose weight. I think in a whole year I lost like, I don't know, probably like 70 pounds, something like that. I got skinny and skinny, and people were looking at me different, and they were loving me more, and everybody was like, even though the approach of the promoters and singers that would come from Puerto Rico to do shows or look at me different like that changed almost 60% of my situation in- That's discipline.
Starting point is 00:41:16 In Colombia and in my career. And I went to a, I did a song called Pien Sa Hai Mi, right? I did a song called Pien Sa Hai Mi. And for some reason, I moved to this house in the countryside of Medellin. I was alone. It was a farm. It was like a farmhouse. It was a very beautiful farmhouse. It was cheap, very cheap to live there. I remember it was like probably like $500 a month. And I just moved there alone. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:53 I didn't want, I wanted to distance myself from the people because of the situations that I had with the motor. Motor skills, yeah. Motor skills and all that. And I felt like I was getting anxiety, panic attacks with the people. So I just hide myself there. And I lived there almost like for seven months, I think it was like, yeah, seven, eight months. And the song was a hit. And I didn't know because I was just hiding in that.
Starting point is 00:42:16 That's insane. On the farm. I was hiding in that farm. So one of my managers, who's my manager today comes to me and he's like, bro, you're fucking popping right now. Like, what the fuck you talking about? I was like, bro, you killing the game, bro. You have the biggest song right now on the radio. Unbelievable.
Starting point is 00:42:33 And I'm like, what do you mean? I'm like, yo, that song been saying, remember like, yo, Rod dropped that shit over a year ago. I was like, nah, man, check on YouTube. So I look at YouTube and I saw all the views that had like millions of views already and I'm like, yo. They called me in a show, a radio station show where there was like more than 60,000 people because those radio shows are like festivals, like huge.
Starting point is 00:43:02 And I go up there and I start performing. And when I finished performing, everybody was asking me for that song, PNC, I had me. And I'm like, I look at the DJ, like, do you have the beat? It's like, I don't have the beat, but I have the song and you can just sing over it. I'm like, fuck it, go ahead. When the beat comes out and I start singing the song, the whole crowd went crazy. They started singing the song and that was like the first time I felt that I did a hit after so many years.
Starting point is 00:43:28 So I started crying, obviously on stage. I couldn't even sing. I had like, you know. Teared, like a throat thing when you're crying. Yeah. I was choking. Yeah, it was a beautiful and weird feeling. And so to make the long story short after that, my mentality was this country has 60,
Starting point is 00:43:46 more than 60 million people live in here. If I can make more than four or five number one hits in this country, I can make so much views on YouTube where I could bounce all around the world and do a comeback. Yeah. And that's what happened. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:01 That's why I'm number one. I did five number one songs in Columbia and made millions of views. And from there I jumped to the world and yeah, I am today. What an incredible story. I mean, Nikki, you really do have an incredible story. I have one more question that I want to talk about the new album.
Starting point is 00:44:14 And we're gonna, and I might argue with you for a second. So I might argue with you on behalf of my family. It's okay, it's okay. So one more question. So when you're at this level of fame and success, obviously there's good and there's bad, right? There's things that come with it that are fantastic and there's things that come with it that are irritating
Starting point is 00:44:33 and sometimes scary. Do you enjoy the fame or is the fame just part of you expressing yourself and getting the message out there like probably you were born to do I Mean it's like everything at the beginning When this fame pops up you start enjoying it It comes to a moment where it catches up with you because the reality is you know, there's nothing better than having Like, you know privacy and you know intimacy. Yeah
Starting point is 00:45:04 When you become that the fame that I had accomplished, it comes to a moment where that goes away, you know what I'm saying? Then you feel like, I don't know how you say it in English, when you feel like people are like- Yeah, they're evading your privacy. They're like, it's- I feel like they're invading me too much. It became to a moment where it messed me up.
Starting point is 00:45:29 But do I enjoy being famous? Of course. I mean, I'm famous. I go out and I don't have to make a line in a restaurant. People give me love everywhere I go and it's good, but it has its backs too. It's like, how do you feel having money? It's like, well, it's a good thing, but it's a bad thing too because everybody looks at you like a money.
Starting point is 00:45:52 It's a cash register. Everybody wants money, everybody wants a loan, cousins that you never had. Tell me if I'm wrong on this. Tell me if I'm off base on this, but I imagine you're the type of person, because of the human being that you are and the way that you've grown up and the struggles that you've had and the empathy and self-awareness, you probably are one that says yes a lot, right? That probably says yes. I don't say no.
Starting point is 00:46:20 That's my problem. Mine too. And I can be honest with you. I can't say I lost money. If I, how do you say this? If I spend it, okay, I can say 50% of the money that I've spent it is helping people. You know what I'm saying? And I'm talking about millions of dollars.
Starting point is 00:46:44 Millions of dollars that I've spent helping people. And I have, like, I'm the type of guy that if I have 20 friends, we all got motorcycles and we all go out on motorcycles. I'm not gonna be one, none of my friends with motorcycles. Yes. I'm the type of guy that I would read DMs where people from Venezuela will tell me, Nikki, I don't have a fridge and I will send
Starting point is 00:47:07 money to that person to get a fridge. I need a ticket because my man's whooping my ass here in Texas and I live in Columbia. Please help me. I will send a ticket or send money to help him. I will stop living for me to live for the people because I didn't have anything. I'm the type of guy that I see a movie and I see people struggling in the movie and I cry and I was like, I wish I could help that person. I have the money now.
Starting point is 00:47:31 I wish I could be in a situation where I could help people. I just love helping people. That's just the human being I am. Me too. I think that speaks volumes about the person that you are. It's like when I saw the movie, John Q. I'm sorry. It's like when I saw the John Q. movie. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's like when I saw the John Q. movie with Denzel Washington when he needed money to operate.
Starting point is 00:47:49 I was like, fuck, I had the money, I could help him. You know what I'm saying? He didn't have to sell his truck. I would have gave him money. That's the way I think. Me too, that's crazy. Okay, let's get to the new album. Tell me about the writing.
Starting point is 00:48:03 I wanna argue with you for a second because you're saying that this might be your You might be I mean, I think you've said this you might be retiring. It might be your your final script Is there an impetus for that or you just feel like hey, man, I've had a long career Bro, you want me to be honest, please? I went through a moment where I was my past cast it up with me and I had a bad alcohol moment in this last year. Very honest.
Starting point is 00:48:36 Yeah. It took me to a dark spot. The problem with alcohol is it's so legal that you don't even think that you're doing drugs. It's true. It's so true. It's everywhere you go. You have a meeting, they're drinking wine, you go to a restaurant, they're drinking,
Starting point is 00:49:02 you go to anywhere people are drinking. It's like, it's normal for people, right? That's the problem with alcohol. And I think it's one of the worst drugs that I've ever done is alcohol because yeah, you get all the giggles and shits, but then it can really take you, like you said, to a very dark place. So it took me to a dark place, so dark of a place that I even thought about retiring. And I got depressed and I did this last album called, I don't know how to say it in English, it's called Insomnia. Mm-hmm. Insomnia. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:35 It's the same shit but do it the eight? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay, we got it. So the reason why this album is called Insomnia is because all of the songs talk about stuff that I went through this whole year. If you listen to it, you will listen to everything that happened to me. There's so many songs that will talk about my situation in this year with the alcohol, with my relationships, with my darkness and all that. And that's why I announced that I was retiring, but I'm not really retiring.
Starting point is 00:50:10 I'm going to be honest with you. I ain't retiring for shit. Good. Glad to hear that. You're going to make a lot of my family members happy. Yeah. So no, I'm not retiring. That was just me.
Starting point is 00:50:21 And if you see the post, the post that I put a post on, I edited that video myself, like my retirement and all that. And I erased that post. Once I got better mentally, I got better. I cleared up and I was like, what the fuck am I doing? What is this? I'm retiring. I'm still young. I'm 43, but I look like I'm 30. Why am I retiring? There's no reason. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:57 So, but it was me depressed and that's what alcohol does. And, you know, now I'm smoking weed. There you go. Hey, listen. You know't want to be in anxiety. Yeah, listen. I think of any of the drugs, weed is the friendliest on your persona. Hey, hey, hey. I'm being honest. I'm being honest. I've always been honest with people. No one can fault you for that. There's been a lot of drama because of the weed thing, because they're seeing me do weed, and they think that I, they're like, oh my God, he went back to drugs.
Starting point is 00:51:29 I'm like, bro, I've never had a problem with weed. It's just a little weed. I'm smoking some weed. Yeah. No, no, no, no. My problems were with Perks. You saw the series. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:51:39 It was Perks. I was, I never said I had a problem with weed. Weed is not my problem. I can smoke weed until I die. I'm good. But Marley did, Snoop's still smoking weed and nobody tells him shit. No, he tried to quit for a while and then he said, fuck it.
Starting point is 00:51:51 Like I just, I just like it, right? 100%. 100%. So, so to be honest with you, the weed helped me a lot with the alcohol. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And made me control my anxiety and all that.
Starting point is 00:52:06 Why did I got to the situations? Oh, we all do, we're human beings. You know what I'm saying? And if you saw my past, look, I tell people this. When people go to the war, they go to Iraq, right? Yep. They come back with PTSD, right? Okay.
Starting point is 00:52:25 So I was in the hood and I saw friends get blown their head off, shot, a whole bunch of stuff. My best friend died in my face and I saw him die in his last minutes. My uncle died of AIDS in my face and I saw the worst things in the world. And a whole bunch of people that they killed in my hood, because I'm from the hood, hood, hood. You see where I'm from and you see where I'm from in Puerto Rico and the people that got shot and the situation that I live, you would say, oh, this guy's okay. He should have been worse. So the reality
Starting point is 00:53:00 is people don't think about PTSD when it comes to human beings that were born in the hood. You know what I'm saying? They think, oh, because he didn't go to Iraq, so he don't need that shit. He has no problem. No, no, you're wrong. If you're from the hood and you see people getting their face blown and stuff like that and your best friends and getting shot and people getting shot in their cars and their
Starting point is 00:53:22 heads and you know, stuff, all that, all that could fuck up your head. Of course. Yeah, for sure. So yeah, I got strong-minded in a lot of situations, but it catches up with you. It catches up with you and sometimes you make money and you become, you know, you start getting in relationships and stuff like that where you don't even understand if people are with you or with you because of the money or with you because they really love you.
Starting point is 00:53:48 You understand what I'm saying? Yeah, that's gotta be a mind fuck. That's gotta be one of the top things. It's gotta be a mind fuck. Yeah. And I also have to say that I think sometimes when people assume, yeah, you came from the hood, oh, he's fine now, he's got money and he's got clout.
Starting point is 00:53:58 Well, it doesn't work like that. No. I'm telling you, I'm telling you myself, I struggle, hey, I struggle every day. I struggle every single day. I'm telling you, I smoke weed now because of anxiety. And I was going through alcohol a lot until the other day. I ain't lying.
Starting point is 00:54:15 I'm being 100% with you. So this album is called... The reason why I said I was retiring was because I was on this alcohol darkness crazy trip. I am not retiring. So that's one thing. And this is the first place I'm saying this. Number one. Number two, the reason why my album is called Insomnia is because it represents all these dark moments in me, but still the music is amazing. Like amazing. Because the reality of everything is you could be, sometimes being in the worst situations comes to best music. Yes.
Starting point is 00:55:00 Sometimes being in the best situation comes to best music. I understand. People happy make good music. That was my situation in all these global hits that I made. I was in a happy place. These songs that I'm making, I was not in a happy place, but I was in a creative mold. I was being real to the people and I'm just talking to the people through my music. So that's what music is for.. So that's what music is for. Exactly. That's what music is for.
Starting point is 00:55:28 It doesn't all have to be I love you, you love me. You got to make music. You got to make music to talk about yourself and it feels good. So that's why the album is called Insomnia And I think it's one of the best albums that I've done because I sat down with this album with so much passion because it made me, you could say- It opened you up. Yeah. It opened you up.
Starting point is 00:55:58 Yeah. Yeah. So it's Nicky Jam 100%. It's not like a whole bunch of producers in a room doing music for you, no, it's just me telling my stories. All these songs are really bad ass and the melodies are crazy. Even when I was drunk, I would go in the studio and drop some crazy ass melodies. I'm not going to lie.
Starting point is 00:56:18 When you're doing shit and you're drunk or you're high, you be creative. Listen, you take the drugs and alcohol out of music at like all catalogs of music, all famous artists, you are gonna find a really boring set of music. It'll be only like 20%. Yeah, it'll be 10% maybe. Probably, probably. All right, Nikki, I know you have a tight timeline today.
Starting point is 00:56:39 You got a lot of stuff to do. God, what a great interview. Thank you so much. I would do two hours with you. I know, we could talk forever. You're such a fascinating of stuff to do. God, what a great interview. Thank you so much. I would do two hours with you. I know, we could talk forever. You're such a fascinating human being. Congratulations. The honesty is what makes you so relatable,
Starting point is 00:56:52 so damn relatable. Thank you. Your self-awareness is wonderful. Thank you so much. You were the soundtrack to my La Oraloca at my wedding. And you brought a bunch of gringos and Venezuelans together on the dance floor. That's better, that's better.
Starting point is 00:57:04 I love you, my family loves you, man. I you, man. Mad respect. You can come back anytime. Everyone get the new album and he's not retiring. Breaking news here on the commercial. I'm turning that Instagram, I'm turning that Instagram reel around tomorrow, buddy. Thank you very much, Nikki. We appreciate it. Talk to you soon. You already know who it is. Christina here to keep you actually informed, unlike some people we know, Brian. I've got certified, verified factual information about our Florida shows, so listen up.
Starting point is 00:57:39 We are coming to Dania Beach Improv on Tuesday, September 24th, and The Funny Bone in Orlando on Wednesday, September 25th. And links to those tickets are in the show notes, so go get them. In other completely new and interesting news, you should follow us on Instagram at the commercial break and on TikTok at TCB Podcast. And of course, go to our website, tcbpodcast.com for all of our audio and video content. And finally, if you want to tell Brian and
Starting point is 00:58:07 Chrissy that I am a pretty pretty princess, or that you hate me, text us or leave us a voicemail at 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Bye. Looking for a path to accelerate your career? Clear direction for next level success? In a place that is innovative and practical? A path to stay current and connected to industry? A place where you can be yourself?
Starting point is 00:58:39 You will find it at York University School of Continuing Studies, where we offer career programs purpose-built for you. Visit continue.yorku.ca. Oh my gosh. Wow. Everything that I wanted and more. I mean, the guy could not have been nicer. Nicky Jam. What a passion and energy and his story. You need to go watch this on YouTube because he's kinetic.
Starting point is 00:59:06 Like you can tell that he's just full of energy and passion for life. And how honest could someone be? I mean, yeah, I was struggling with alcohol there for a minute and out of it came this album and Newsflash, which we never get breaking news first. Newsflash, he's not retiring. It's amazing.
Starting point is 00:59:23 It's amazing you said that on the show. I mean, when he said, I'm telling you guys first, I in my head was like, oh my God, we get to be first. We always get it last. Yes. He was an amazing guest for sure. And you remember when he said that Venezuelans will text him, I don't have a refrigerator. Can you please send me one? And he'll send them a refrigerator. Sorry about my family, Nikki. They'll stop. I'll tell them to stop. I kid, of course. All right. That one's for everyone. Wow. I mean, you may not be into reggaeton and maybe you don't understand the language, but Nikki Jam is a fascinating human
Starting point is 00:59:57 being. And I think my personal opinion is that he is really changing the narrative by sharing his story. Yeah. Because, you know, sometimes guys in our culture, in certain cultures, they don't like to share that kind of stuff because they see it as a shortcoming and it's really not. I know. And people need to connect with that and let them know that they're not alone and what they feel if they're going through dark times too. You're so right about that. And so, well, that's it. I'm speechless actually. I had a really nice time with Nicky and I hope someday he will come back. But if he never comes back, I will have enjoyed
Starting point is 01:00:31 the 45 minutes. It's a great moment in time. It's a great moment in time. Mark your calendars. It's gonna be a changing day in your life, as Dr. Phil would say. Thanks to Nicky. Yeah, thank you, Nicky. We really appreciate it.
Starting point is 01:00:44 Thanks to Nicky and all the people who helped set that up. We really appreciate it. Azalea and Alain, all the Trixie, Astrid and CTB, of course. Thank you so much for making that happen. Okay, here's the deal. Chrissy and I are going to go and we're going to go do some dates live and we would love to see you there. We'll share all the dates and the ticket information, where it's going to be, when it's going to be.
Starting point is 01:00:52 We're going to share that with you very soon. So keep an eye out, keep an ear out. We'll post it on social media and we'll put it on the website. So stay tuned. We'll see you there. Bye. Bye. Bye.
Starting point is 01:01:00 Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. We would love to see you there. We'll share all the dates and the ticket information, where it's going to be, when it's going to be. We're going to share that with you very soon, so keep an eye out, keep an ear out. We'll post it on social media and we'll put it on the website when that time comes. Also, we would love it if you would give us a ring, 212-433-3TCB, 212-433-3822.
Starting point is 01:01:23 Please do text us your questions, comments, concerns, content ideas, we would love to hear from you if you wanna go to one of the shows. We'd love to hear your feedback on the Nicky Jam interview. We love it all, just keep it coming. You can also leave a voicemail there if you dare leave a voicemail. We've actually gotten some voicemails, so that's good.
Starting point is 01:01:38 There you go. I think one or two of them might be arable. So let's see how that goes. Please do us, hey, by the way, you came through at the commercial break on Instagram. A lot of you came through and started following us on Instagram, thank you much. If you haven't done it, please do it.
Starting point is 01:01:56 TCBpodcast.com is where you find everything else. Okay, that's a lot for one day, Chrissy. But I love you. I love you. I love you. Best to you. Best to you. And best to you out there on the podcast universe, including our new friend, Nicky Jam.
Starting point is 01:02:10 Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Until next time, Chrissy and I always say, we do say, and we must say, goodbye. Goodbye. Oh Oh, hell yeah!

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