Tainy Talks Chemistry With J Balvin & Bad Bunny, Landing No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Producers Chart
Billboard caught up with the reggaeton producer Tainy to talk all about his success on the Top producer/songwriter charts.
Before producing hits for Bad Bunny and J Balvin, Tainy (real name: Marco Masis) was hitting the studio with artists from la vieja escuela (old-school reggaeton), including De La Ghetto, Plan B, Wisin & Yandel and Jowell & Randy, to name a few. He first stepped into the spotlight in 2005, when he was one of the producers on Luny Tunes’ Mas Flow 2 reggaeton compilation album.
He’s currently making the rounds with his collaboration with Bad Bunny on “Callaita,” also marking Tainy’s first song as an artist.
The Puerto Rican producer returned to No. 1 on Billboard‘s Latin Producers chart this week (dated July 20), thanks to six producing credits on the Hot Latin Songs chart: His and Bad Bunny’s “Callaita” placed the highest at No. 2, followed by Sean Paul and J Balvin’s “Contra La Pared” (No. 26), Daddy Yankee and Wisin y Yandel’s “Si Supieras” (No. 31), and from the J Balvin and Bad Bunny Oasis album, “Yo Le Llego” (No. 32), “Un Peso” (No. 37) and “Cuidao Por Ahi” (No. 39). Here’s what Tainy told Billboard about his success on the charts.
The melodies and rhythms found in your tracks have played a part in reggaeton’s evolution. Where do you find inspiration?
I listen to a lot of types of genres of music. I think that helps a lot when it comes to my creativity and mixing it with whatever I’m working on. Most of my influences are producers and artists. The artist’s vision adds to it, seeing what you can take from it and what you can input also. Everything, really. Even art, movies, imagery, help me get that perfect sound that fits with the project I’m working on.
Who are some producers you looked up to growing up?
Kanye West is my all-time favorite. I listened to him when I began producing and studied how he does his beats, sounds, and creativity. Growing up in Puerto Rico, Luney Tunes was one of my biggest inspirations and Nely El Arma Secreta too. Aside from Kanye, Timberland, Pharell, the Neptunes are huge influences.
Five of your producing titles on the Hot Latin Songs chart are with J Balvin and Bad Bunny. How is it hitting the studio with them?
It’s just an amazing time! Sometimes it feels like we’re not even working. We’re just creative guys with visions and dreams that we want to accomplish. When we get together, our ideas just flow. Each of the guys is so creative and so amazing in their own way that when you combine those things, great and interesting things happen. When we were working on Oasis, it was Balvin, Bunny, Sky Rompiendo and myself, and it was exciting to see the result. The best part was trying out new sounds and push the boundaries we sometimes face in the reggaeton world.
“Si Supieras” with Daddy Yankee and Wisin & Yandel is also on Hot Latin Songs. Is it any different working with them, given the fact that they are pioneers of the movement and have many years in the industry?
Yea, with them it’s a little bit different because there’s that generation gap. You know, they come from a different generation. I grew up listening to them and being able to work with them is like a dream come true. It’s a different experience because they had a lot of things that worked for them in the past and they try to conserve that today. They also have a lot of ideas when I’m producing and in the end, their ideas work for the songs. It’s a different process but I learn a lot from them. It’s a great experience to be able to sit with them and see how they create their music.
Related
Which song would you consider your breakout hit as a producer?
I think my first big hit was “Pam Pam” with Wisin & Yandel. It kicked off my career outside of Puerto Rico and showed a lot of people in the music industry what I was able to do. This song came out when reggaeton was exploding after “Gasolina” and to be a part of Wisin & Yandel’s album was special.
Out of your producer entries on Hot Latin Songs (chart dated July 20), which would you say best defines who Tainy is?
All of them have a little piece of me by incorporating my sound but I really have to go with “Callaita” because it’s the track I worked on with the vision I wanted to push forward. It’s the first track off of my upcoming project and it has a different sound that I would like to see more in the industry.
Your roster is pretty impressive for being a young producer, but who’s the one artist you would love to work with?
I have a huge wishlist. One of them is Kanye West. The other artist that I’m interested in what she’s doing and her vision it’s Rosalia. I think her music is amazing and I would like to create something new with her to see what we can do together.
What does it mean for you to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Producers chart?
It’s amazing! I’m always trying my best at what I do and I know that the charts are always changing but it’s such an honor to be a part of that list with a lot of Latin producers. Hopefully, I continue to be on the list even if I’m not at No. 1. I thank Billboard for this great opportunity.
The weekly Latin Songwriters and Latin Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a songwriter and producer, respectively, for each attributed song that appears on the Hot Latin Songs chart (which blends streaming, airplay and download sales data); plus, genre-based songwriter and producer charts follow the same methodology based on corresponding “Hot”-named genre charts. As with Billboard’s yearly recaps, multiple writers or producers split points for each song equally (and the dividing of points will lead to occasional ties on rankings).
More From Pro
