Interview by Andrea Regina Esperon
We recently caught up with Puerto Rican artist JimmyBoy (LA JOTA) at the Governor’s Ball in Flushing Meadows Corona Park this past weekend. JimmyBoy is bringing a fresh perspective to urban music, blending reggaetón, R&B, trap, and Afro influences into a sound that’s both dynamic and deeply personal. After taking the stage at Gov Ball through Berklee’s Popular Music Institute (BPMI), he will continue to build momentum with a growing international audience and recognition from Billboard Latin Radio. Be sure to check out his newly released self-titled EP, LA JOTA, for a glimpse of the future of music!
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: Hi there! How was your first Gov Ball experience?
JIMMYBOY: It was amazing. It was really, really, really amazing. Really good. Really exciting! I was nervous, you know, but after the first two songs, I was in my world.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: “Did you start performing at a young age?”
JIMMYBOY: I’ve always performed because I played cello so I’m used to all that performing and getting on stage, but singing, I would say by the age of 15 or 16, I started performing. I was doing little shows and things like that so I got to work and started doing more shows.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: That sounds amazing. So I watched your set today and it was amazing, but I noticed your music blends reggaetón, R&B, trap, and Afro beats. When you are in the studio, how do you decide which genre takes the driver’s seat for a particular track?
JIMMYBOY: So, when I go the studio it just depends the mood of the day, the vibe that I’m feeling that moment. Sometimes I get to the studio and my friends already have the beats made or we create the beats. Its also comes from influences a lot of what is happening in my life or what’s happening that day. Its just go with the flowstate or how my friends are feeling, or even producers. Shoutout to my producers Joseph, Lucas, Brayden.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: Nice. Do you have any inspiration when it comes to creating music?
JIMMYBOY: Alain Pere. He’s a Cuban artist. I listen to him a lot because the way that he about women, its not denigrating any person. He’s very romantic, very mellow, so I listen to a lot of that and try to incorporate that with my lyrics. And obviously Bad Bunny, Rauw.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: Those are all great inspirations. So today, you were the first one on the Verizon Stage, so congrats on opening the main stage. You had a huge crowd turn out. Walk me through how you crafted the set you performed today.
JIMMYBOY: Well, I first started with my boys, Lucas and Brayden. They’re my brothers. When I got the news, the first people I called was them. And we just started creating the soundtrack, the setlist, the sounds, what we were going to do. We had a lot of meetings, a lot of rehearsals and I had a beautiful team of BMPI from Berklee and they help me a lot with the process of recording the content and helping me out with what I gotta do, like media. And all that comes with all the prizes of doing big big big festival.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: Let’s talk more about the Berklee program. I know your peers are handling your on-site promotion, production, and tour management for this festival. From an artist’s perspective, how does working with a student-led team that is learning the industry in real time change the collaborative dynamic compared to working with traditional, established industry veterans?
JIMMYBOY: A lot of people tell me “Oh you’re working with students,” but I’m not working with students, I’m working with professionals. They obviously just graduated but even before they graduated, they were becoming professionals. They do this for a living. I’m literally working with family. I have known them before so they know how I work, I know how they work so it was very easy the way that went. They were always on top of me, you know, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. Like sometimes I be forgetting, but you know it is really great to be working with them.
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: You’ve been recognized by Billboard Latin Radio as an innovator who creates music, and this Gov Ball is going to be the first performance of many. What’s on the radar for you, and what can we expect soon?
JIMMYBOY: This experience has really opened up a lot of opportunities for me. It was a whole week of learning a lot about the industry, how it works, learning about a lot of PR, meeting a lot of people, network, so you know this really helped me. And when I got the news, I was in class and I had to exit class, I started crying and called my mom because it is a big thing. But I just dropped an EP today as soon as I started my set at 12pm. It’s called La Jota. I also have some more performance opportunities coming, so stay tuned!
LOUDSPEAKER COLLECTIVE: Best of luck!
Loudspeaker Collective 