What does it take to put on the perfect show? The kind of set that has people buzzing all the way home. The kind where the energy just keeps building with no signs of stopping.
It’s a formula Nicky Jam has been working on for years now, as the reggaeton legend’s profile has only continued to grow on the international stage. “I come from doing clubs and discotheques and all that, so that’s a different type of crowd,” he recently told Complex. “Then when I became mainstream, and I became a ‘global artist,’ I had to do arenas,” he recalled. “It took me years to put together a perfect concert.”
“It’s just me and my voice, just having fun with my people and showing people love.”
This is exactly what the Latin Grammy-winner and 15-time Billboard Latin Music Award-winner is looking to do with his Infinity Tour, which sees him coming to Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum on April 13 before heading to Laval, Quebec the following night in support of his upcoming studio album, set to drop later this year.
“I’m not really one of those shows that you go and you’re going to see a whole bunch of, like, huge balloons and stuff on stage,” he explained. “It’s just me and my voice, just having fun with my people and showing people love.”
For Jam, it’s all about giving the crowd an unforgettable experience, one they’ll take with them long after the lights go up. “That’s what Canada is going to see,” he promised. “Me going on stage and performing all these songs, from the classics to the new ones. I always interact with my crowd. I always have fun with my crowd,” he continued, saying the energy “keeps going up, going up, going up, going up. It never goes down.”
“If I feel good, I’ll keep doing it. People gonna still like my music, I’ma be there.”
His latest successful tour is just another of the many reasons why, even though he’s been recording for over three decades now, he’s not ready to start thinking about retirement just yet—although he admits he’s probably next up after his fellow reggaeton pioneer and former Los Cangris partner Daddy Yankee recently announced he’d be hanging the mic up following his own 2022 tour. “Obviously, I’m from the same era. And I’m 41 years old already. I don’t know, I don’t think I see me [at] 50 years old performing on stage. But who knows?”
“If I feel good, I’ll keep doing it,” he reasoned. “People gonna still like my music, I’ma be there. And then when I feel that’s not the way and I have to step back, I’ll just step back.”
The way Jam sees it, you can never predict where life will take you, pointing out that his old friend had been saying he wanted to retire for years—and then “Despacito” came out, becoming a massive, chart-topping global phenomenon and getting a Justin Bieber remix. “You could tell [Justin] busted his ass in the studio to come out with the Spanish,” he laughed.
“And look, after that, he did a whole bunch of hits,” he said. “So like I said, you never know. I could say that today, say, ‘Yeah, I’m retiring tomorrow,’ and come out with a global hit again. And it’s like six years non-stop working. So, whatever God wants me to do.”
Complex Canada’s Alex Narvaez caught up with Nicky Jam to talk about his upcoming Toronto show, which international superstars he’d love to collaborate with, and who’s got the better Spanish: Drake, The Weeknd or Bieber. Watch their full conversation above.
