N
EARLY FIVE YEARS
ago, Sech was flipping
burgers and working in
construction in his home-
town of Río Abajo, Pan-
ama. Since then, he was
discovered as a rapper online, signed
a recording contract with Rich Music
and — six months ago — released his
acclaimed debut album, Sueños, featur-
ing Manuel Turizo, Farruko and Nicky
Jam. In September, he was nominated
for three Latin Grammy Awards.
Sech’s breakout hit arrived in
April, when he released “Otro Trago”
(Another Drink), featuring Darell,
which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin
Songs chart and established him as
one of urbano’s most compelling and
promising acts from the southernmost
country in Central America. “Right
now,” says Sech, “urban music in
Panama is fire.”
Unlike many of the genre’s rappers,
Sech composes his music on guitar
or piano, then writes the optimistic
wordplay that he sings in a warm,
soulful tenor — all evidence of urban’s
move toward a more R&B-driven
future, best heard on his “X Ti” or
“Boomerang.” He sees where the
urbano landscape is heading and is
capitalizing on it, which is exactly why
reggaeton’s top tier has sought him
out: Sech has collaborated on recent
tracks with Maluma and Ozuna.
Born Carlos Isaías Morales Wil-
liams, the 25-year-old singer-rapper
grew up in a household that pri-
oritized music. As the son of two
pastors, Sech regularly sang in the
church choir as a child, and at home,
he would jam with his brothers, all
of whom are musicians as well. But
Sech was always most interested in
lo Flow. A day later, he released his
first-ever EP, The Sensation Mixtape.
Both caught the attention of in-
dependent urbano label Rich Music,
which signed Sech to a recording
contract in 2018; soon after, the
label signed a distribution deal with
Universal Music Publishing Group.
Sueños, which includes a Dímelo
Flow remix of “Miss Lonely,” is now
Latin Grammy-nominated for best
urban music album, up against Bad
Bunny’s X 100PRE.
Sech himself may not be far from the
kind of global stardom that Bad Bunny
has reached. In August, Sech hit No. 4
on the Emerging Artists chart, and he
is currently credited on four hits on the
Hot Latin Songs list. As he continues
to cross over into the U.S. mainstream,
he says he hopes his career follows a
similar trajectory as Daddy Yankee’s.
“In the future, I see myself like him,”
says Sech, as an artist “who has accom-
plished so many things.”
Sech wants to accomplish more
than a solo career: Outside of his own
music, he is also a member of The
Avengers, a supergroup comprising
Feid, Dalex, J Quiles and Lenny Tav-
árez (see sidebar). The collective has
yet to release a formal project, but was
recently in Miami filming a music vid-
eo for the upcoming single “Uniforme.”
Meanwhile, Sech just signed for global
representation with the agency CMN,
whose first task is coordinating his first
U.S. arena tour.
Before that, though, Sech will
attend his first Latin Grammys in
November — a ceremony that is facing
controversy. In September, Daddy
Yankee and J Balvin posted the same
photo on Instagram of a red “X” over
a Grammy Award with the caption:
“Sin Reggaeton, No Hay Latin Gram-
my” (Without reggaeton, there is no
Latin Grammy), alluding to what they
felt was a lack of genre diversity in the
awards’ top categories. “We hear the
frustration and discontent,” said The
Latin Recording Academy in a state-
ment. “We invite the leaders of the
urban community to get involved with
the academy, to get involved with
the process and to get involved with
discussions that improve the academy.
Our doors are always open.”
As an urbano artist who has mul-
tiple nominations, Sech shrugs off
questions relating to the subject, in-
stead focusing on the positives. “Ev-
erything has an evolution,” he says.
“Reggaeton and urban music are
having an incredible moment, and I
think [my nominations] will inspire
many. Believe me that at some point,
more young people will emerge from
[Panama]. Our culture hasn’t reached
where it’s supposed to go.”
reggae en español. The genre was
born in Panama in the late 1960s and
’70s, after descendents of Jamaican
laborers who constructed the Panama
Railroad brought reggae, and later
dancehall, to Central America. By the
late ’90s, when Sech was growing up,
“Reggae en español and reggaeton
was heard everywhere,” he recalls.
“That is something that stays with
you forever.”
He cites El General and Nando
Boom, both of whom are widely
considered forefathers of reggaeton,
as early inspirations. “El General was
a pioneer,” says Sech, “and one of the
first to make reggae en español. He had
a big impact on me. There weren’t a lot
of artists coming from my country, and
when he [found success], there was
real hope that you can make it out.”
Motivated to do just that, Sech
co-founded the reggae en español duo
El Combo de Oro as a teenager. In
2016, he started uploading tracks on-
line, eventually recording and posting
solo material, too. In December 2017,
he released a single, the tender urbano
track “Miss Lonely,” produced by
Miami-via-Panama hitmaker Díme-
“Urban music in
Panama is fire,”
says Sech.
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.THE REST OF SECH’S SUPERGROUP
Since releasing his debut
album in 2015, Feid has
collaborated with Sebastián
Yatra, Nacho and J Balvin,
with whom he co-wrote
“Ginza.” The track topped
the Hot Latin Songs chart for
a then-record-breaking 22
weeks. In May, the 27-year-
old singer-songwriter born
Salomón Villada Hoyos in
Medellín, Colombia, re-
leased his second album, 19.
Born Justin Quiles in Con-
necticut, this 29-year-old
Boricua artist has co-written
with J Balvin, Maluma, Dad-
dy Yankee and Yandel. After
releasing albums in 2015 and
2016, he was nominated in
2017 for Premios Juventud’s
best new artist award.
Now, J Quiles is sprinkling
his tropical verses atop
The Avengers’ more tradi-
tional reggaeton tracks.
After the reggaeton-pop
duo Dyland & Lenny broke
up in 2013, Lenny Tavárez
set out on his own. Though
he came up through the
Latin trap movement, the
singer, now 32, stood out
as a crooner with R&B flair.
His style is best heard on
his 2018 EP, Pop Porn. So
far this year, he has scored
two hits on the Hot Latin
Songs chart.
At 29, Dalex, born Pedro
David Daleccio Torres, has
bounced from Philadelphia
to Puerto Rico to Orlando,
Fla., to Miami. He started
as part of the duo Jayma y
Dalex — the pair released
its only album, Gravedad, in
2015 — before going solo.
His first LP, the R&B-leaning
Climaxxx, arrived this May
and debuted at No. 8 on the
Latin Rhythm Albums chart.
FEID DALEX J QUILES LENNY TAVÁREZ
36 BILLBOARD • OCTOBER 12, 2019