56 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020
SKILLZT
HE HOUSES ALL LOOK
the same on a quiet,
residential block near
Miami’s design district:
white picket fence, cute
front yard, trimmed win-
dows — and no way to know which
one is NEON16, the studio launched
in 2019 by Puerto Rican producer
Tainy and his manager/ business part-
ner, Lex Borrero.
Inside, Marshmello’s entourage is
lounging on couches at the entrance,
flanked by giant KAWS and Murakami
dolls. Marshmello, sans helmet, is in
a room listening to beats with Tainy,
who only steps away from his laptop
to say a brief hello. “He’s practically a
monk,” Borrero says later of his client.
“He’s on his computer all day. We’ll be
in Japan, and he’ll just want to be in
his room finding beats.”
There is indeed a certain level of
asceticism required to produce music
at the astounding rate that Tainy has
maintained for the past two years. In
2018, he co-wrote and produced “I
Like It,” a Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 for
Cardi B, J Balvin and Bad Bunny, and
has since placed six other tracks on
the chart. In 2019, he was the No. 1
producer on Hot Latin Songs thanks
to 19 entries during the chart year
(Nov. 24, 2018-Nov. 16, 2019), includ-
ing tracks off Bad Bunny’s X100PRE
and the Bunny-Balvin joint release
Oasis, both of which are up for the
best Latin rock, urban or alternative
album Grammy Award.
Tainy signed a management deal
with Borrero, a 34-year-old publisher
who previously headed Roc Nation
Latino, in 2018. Early last year, Tainy
inked a label deal with Interscope for
NEON16, and by December 2019, he
finalized a deal with WME. Now, the
30-year-old producer is preparing to
release his debut solo EP, The Kids
That Grew Up on Reggaeton, out in
March on NEON16.
Tainy isn’t the first Latin urban
producer to venture out as a solo act:
DJ Luian, Mambo Kingz and Play-N-
Skillz have fronted their own projects,
while Chris Jeday has scored several
hits as a headlining artist, including
2017’s “Ahora Dice” featuring Ozuna
and Balvin. Tainy is, however, the first
to produce mainstream acts — and
simultaneously land them hits while
crafting his own. In 2019, he had
two forays as an artist: “I Can’t Get
Enough,” with Benny Blanco, Selena
Gomez and Balvin, and “Adicto,” with
Anuel AA and Ozuna. “I always want-
ed to push myself to be something we
had never heard before,” says Tainy
today. “It’s that combination of what
we haven’t heard with what we love
[that sets me apart].”
As the title of his EP implies, Tainy
grew up on reggaetón. Born Marco
Masís in Puerto Rico, he moved
with his family to Hartford, Conn.,
when he was in kindergarten but
moved back by the second grade.
Those three years stateside, how-
ever, were crucial: Tainy learned
English, devouring American TV and
listening to artists like Eminem and
Snoop Dogg. He was still blasting the
reggaetón he was raised on, too, and
soon befriended Josías de la Cruz,
now known as producer Nely “El
Arma Secreta” — their mothers went
to church together — who intro-
duced him to production. “Watching
him work made my mind go crazy,”
recalls Tainy. “He gave me the soft-
ware to start producing. That was
my addiction those years: I would
come from school and try to see what
I could make work. I would listen to
songs and dissect them.”
By 14, Tainy signed to the produc-
tion team Luny Tunes — the duo be-
hind hits from Wisin & Yandel, Daddy
Yankee and Don Omar — and earned
the nickname “Tainy Tunes.” Despite
crafting hits with the pair in Puerto
Rico, Tainy didn’t take off on his own
until he moved back to the United
States, landing work with Balvin and
Bad Bunny, and pushing the boundar-
ies of reggaetón. He not only created
a sound that moved away from the
standard, but also easily switched
between producing mainstream and
Latin artists, a rarity in the Latin
urban genre.
“You can’t go too drastic when
you’re creating records for the Latin
market; it’s about expanding what
their ear is used to,” says Tainy. “The
American market has more liberty.
Hearing the essence of reggaetón
from Luny Tunes, but listening to dif-
ferent chords from The Neptunes or
how big and full Timbaland’s percus-
sion sounds [are] and adding those
pop and electronic elements [influ-
ences my work].”
The Kids That Grew Up on Reggae-
ton is being marketed as a complete
“experience” that began with a photo
exhibit in Miami during Art Basel in
December. There are plans to open
pop-up shops in Mexico City and
New York, and eventually, Borrero
wants to have a festival of the same
name. Tainy is also using the EP as an
opportunity to co-sign up-and-com-
ing artists and producers by featuring
NEON16 acts Kris Floyd and actor-
influencer Dylan Fuentes, as well as
Spanish rapper C. Tangana, a fixture
in the Spanish urban scene who is
breaking stateside. All the while,
Tainy is delivering hits to the super-
stars; in September, he produced and
appeared on “Feel It Too” alongside
Jessie Reyez and Tory Lanez.
Jorge Mejia, Sony/ATV’s president/
CEO for Latin America and U.S. Latin,
summarizes Tainy’s trajectory best:
“Tainy epitomizes the future of music:
multicultural, bilingual, infectious
and constantly evolving.”
“We’ll be in Japan,
and he’ll just want
to be in his room
finding beats.”
—LEX BORRERO, MANAGER/BUSINESS PARTNER
TAINY’S CHART TAKEOVER
47
Career total of
Hot Latin Songs hits
he produced
19
Total Hot Latin
Songs entries he
produced in 2019
7
Number of
Hot 100 hits he
has produced
1
2019 ranking as
top producer on
Hot Latin Songs
Bad Bunny (left) and
Tainy at New York’s
Jungle City Studios
in November 2019.