- [Dometi] You were mentored by the Luny Tunes,
but you also had to develop your own sound.
How did you carve out your own lane as a reggaeton producer?
- All these guys have their sound
and they're elite at what they're doing.
How can I have my own lane?
And that's where I started using distortions,
like, hip-hop kicks, like, hip-hop snares and hi-hats,
something that wasn't really done in reggaeton.
And I think that little by little,
I got my spot in my lane within those giants.
There's a lot of fear sometimes of like,
man, if I try this, it's going to be too crazy.
People are not going to like it.
They're not going to vibe with it.
I'd rather just repeat myself and do the same thing
'cause that's what works for me, or whatever.
That's the mentality that I try not to have in my career.
I just want to be better.
I just want to try different things and evolve
because that's how we get more amazing music,
we get more amazing artists.
(upbeat electronic music)
- [Dometi] Let's start from the very beginning.
Came up in Puerto Rico.
What was your childhood and upbringing like?
- I always say I was blessed
to be born and raised over there.
It's such an amazing island.
The culture, the people.
You hear a lot of salsa,
you hear a lot of plena, Bomba,
like, things that are really the roots
of Puerto Rican music.
But also, my mom's Dominican,
and Dominican Republic is right beside it.
So you have a lot of Dominican Republic culture over there.
You always have music in the house.
- What's crazy to me about
how diverse your musical interests are,
is the fact that you're not just influenced
by salsa, merengue, reggaeton, and rap.
I mean, you're a fan of Linkin Park and Blink-182 as well.
- [Tainy] That was my thing at school.
Everybody was listening to reggaeton.
I was listening to rock and rap. I started to embrace it.
And then when I got to go into the production
and listen to the music, then I was like,
whoa, what Luny Tunes are doing? It's just insane.
What Nely "El Arma Secreta" is doing is next level.
Kind of like what these rap artists
that we grew up, like, embracing and loving as idols.
Like, we can have our Dr. Dre,
we can have a Timbaland and Pharrell Williams.
Like, this is something that's ours now.
- At what point did you develop
a real interest in creating music?
- [Tainy] My mom used to go to this church.
That's where I met my mentor,
which is Nelly "El Arma Secreta," who is an amazing,
you know, iconic producer from Puerto Rico.
So I know him since I'm like 7, 8 years old,
and his cousin who was older than him,
he was the first to bring the FL Studio
to anybody over there.
I just asked my mom to look for a computer
cause I never had one.
So she, she bought me one.
And that was the first time that
I just went to them like,
please can you give me the FL Studio
just to mess around and see what happens?
I was still going to school.
So I would, like, stay up until like 7 a.m.,
probably sleep for half an hour and go to school,
come back and stayed on the computer.
I would see my guy every Sunday at church.
So I would bring a CD with, like, six beats
for him to get me, you know,
some pointers and you know, direction,
until he felt a point
where he saw, OK, there's something here
like this kid might, you know, might have something.
I never really thought about it in that moment
of making a living out of it.
And you know, eventually Luny got to hear my music
and decided to sign me that same day.
- Wait, you got to take me back to that moment.
He heard your music that day and signed you on the spot?
- [Tainy] It's crazy, like, as I mentioned,
I used to bring CDs every Sunday
and Nely heard one that he liked
and he told me, yo, I'm gonna show this to an artist,
can you come by the studio tomorrow?
And I was like, sure, bro, anything you say.
So next day, I start calling him,
and he doesn't pick up, like at all.
But I say, like, should I just pass by and see,
and just, like, take a chance?
And I just did it.
I told my mom to bring me to the studio
cause I know where it was at.
And I started looking for him,
but I didn't find him. Who I found was Luny.
And you know, that was the most
terrifying moment in my life.
I'm seeing my idol right in front of me.
He asked me, are you the kid that makes beats?
And I'm like, I guess so.
And he's like, OK, sit down and show me.
And you know, bro, I was like, knees shaking,
like, just trying to walk to that seat.
I'm about to do a beat right in front of my idol.
And just like that, started working
with the same beat that Nely liked.
I just tried to recreate it
'cause I knew it was the safest bet.
So I did it, and he just went crazy.
He starts calling people, all listened to the song,
listened to everything.
The other half of the Luny Tunes comes in, Tunes,
and he listened to it and he's like, wow, this is amazing.
And my mom is still waiting for me outside in the car.
Like, it's been like four or five hours, and he's like,
yo, talk to your mom because I just want to sign you.
- [Dometi] How'd you get the nickname Tainy?
- When I got there and they signed me, I didn't have a name.
I was just Marco, like that's me.
The beat that I did in front of Luny
ended up being the intro for their album.
So they were doing credits and everything and then say,
OK, what's your name?
And I'm like, I don't know.
I don't have like, like a stage name or anything.
So you know, my friend Nely and Naldo
and all other other guys who used to work over there,
they start brainstorming.
And like, they just ended up having this idea
that I looked like the younger version,
like the kid version of what the Luny Tunes were.
In the cartoons, you got the younger version,
which are the Tiny Toons.
And that's how, you know, they ended up
using the Tainy for me and then adding the
A between the T and the I, because you know,
most of the work that I was doing was in Spanish
and people would pronounce it "teenee," and you know,
so we added the A in between and they pronounce it correctly
and you know, and now it's different.
Like, there's a thousand Tinys all around,
but now it's one that's spelled different, so, you know.
- At that point in your career,
when you start to see these major artists begin
to break through in other markets,
what was it like seeing that?
- It was just amazing for us to be great in Puerto Rico.
When you start like growing up as, you know,
a Puerto Rican, a Latino,
I think in those days you had a certain limit
to where you think you could grow.
And I think the States were
something that, you know, was far away.
And to see that, you know, Daddy Yankee comes out
with "Gasolina," and it's just this
craziness and such a classic song.
You start to see, OK, this is just mind blowing.
Like, we never thought that would happen.
We never thought to see that one of our artists
is going to sell a million copies.
To get to see that happen and then to see
Don Omar and Tego Calderón, Wisin & Yandel
do it at the same time?
It was just too much to absorb.
- [Dometi] For "I Like it"
with Cardi B, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny,
you sample a popularly known record.
When did you realize you were making a hit?
- I knew it was going to be a great song,
I just didn't know how successful it was going to be
because it was going to be on Cardi's album
and that was the only song that I heard.
People know me as a reggaeton producer, like that was it.
But I know I could do more, I could grow as a producer.
I can, you know, go into different genres and you know,
at least try. I'll do it and it's wack,
but you know, I gave it a chance and I tried it
'cause I'm such a fan of music in general.
And to see that that one was successful,
it was everything to me,
'cause you know, it opens so many doors.
- You go on to create so many more records
with J Balvin and Bad Bunny.
Y'all got so many hits together.
How did that relationship continue to grow?
- [Tainy] When I started, there was an age gap
between me and the established artists.
Like I was just 14, 15 years old.
They were already in their late twenties.
But I get to work with these guys
and we grew up listening to the same things
and liking the same things
and probably having the same influences.
There's a friendship connection also,
aside from, you know, the creative part of it.
And you know what? Bad Bunny, he's a huge fan of rock, too.
So, you know, that, when me and him was like, you know,
instant connection of like,
OK, we like the same things and we're in the same genre,
like, how can we bring some of that into our music?
You know, to see him embrace it and do it,
for me it was an amazing experience,
and you know, a goal that I wanted to achieve
to be able to, you know, blend into those areas
and bring it into our music and,
you know, make it something big.
- Yo, you talked about translating sounds for new audiences
and you quite literally did that for Selena Gomez,
executive producing her first
Spanish language EP, 'Revelación.'
How did you and Selena first meet?
- We were working with Interscope at that time.
And you know, I brought this song that we created
just for her, just to see if she liked it or anything.
And the next day, Benny Blanco has the same meeting
over there at Interscope.
And you know, the guys just show him
this track that I brought, and he was like,
oh yeah, I've heard of this kid.
And like, to me, like Benny Blanco knows who I am?
Like, that's crazy.
(laughter) - Right.
- [Tainy] But he listened to the song and he loves it.
So they hit me up next day, like Benny Blanco
and all the team at Interscope.
And they're like, yo, let's work on this track together.
and let's bring it to Selena and see what she thinks.
She hears the track, she loves it.
And then, you know, they just want to blend both worlds.
So, you know, who better than to bring
that song to life than J Balvin.
And so, you know, we create "I Can't Get Enough,"
and you know, I first meet her at the video set.
Like it's a huge, huge bed, like kinda like
a 'Toy Story' kind of feeling.
So, you know, she was such
an amazing person, like, her vibe.
After that, you know, we started talking a lot more
and you know, we did interviews,
we did a lot of things like, together,
but in terms of her, like,
sending the first vocals of when she recorded
the first two tracks, it was just mind blowing.
I thought I would have to like come in and say,
OK, no, you gotta do this like this,
this has to be pronounced like this, you gotta do this.
But the entirety of the song was amazing.
So, you know, it was really special to see
that she's such an amazing artist.
Like, she doesn't just like, go in and sings whatever.
She really goes into it to be perfect.
And that's special to see that she's
all in and she's giving everything to her fans.
She's just not sitting down and doing whatever.
- [Dometi] What were some of those decisions you had to make
executive producing a project like this?
- [Tainy] I had a little bit of, you know,
knowledge of probably what to do.
But you know, at the same time, it's Selena Gomez.
It's something that's a totally different monster.
So, you know, it was intimidating,
but at the same time, exciting
to see, OK, we could probably try this with her
because it's something that people
probably won't expect at all.
But I feel that with her vocals, knowing her music
and what I can do production wise,
I think this could combine amazing.
And you know, that's how like "Baila Conmigo" comes to be.
'Cause, you know, "Baila Conmigo"'s kinda like a reggaeton
like, down-tempo, that's something that,
you know, is really Puerto Rican.
It's something that we do a lot over there
'cause you know, it makes the song a little bit more sexy.
You know, it's kinda like a slow vibe,
but at the same time, it's hard.
You can play it at the club.
So I know her vocals would sound amazing to it.
It was just a matter of, you know,
everybody trusted me with that.
- And then you'll got a track like "De Una Vez"
which kicks off the project, where you let the track breathe
to complement Selena's vocals skills.
['De Una Vez' by Selena Gomez plays]
- [Dometi] What was her reaction
when she first heard that record?
- [Tainy] That was the first one that she connected to.
That was it.
We want to make, not a drastic change
from what she's already been doing,
so I really wanted something that she could sing
and you can appreciate her vocals, and you know,
the lyrics and something that, you know,
it's a message that really resonates with her -
rather than just doing something for the club or whatever,
because she really has these songs that have messages and,
you know, storylines that really are authentic to who she is
and what she's living and what she's been through.
So I wanted the instrumentation and, you know,
the chorus to bring that emotion out and, you know,
combine with her amazing vocals.
So I think it was something more of an introduction,
which ended up being, like,
the first track that she released.
But you got to, like, get her message.
You got to, like, pay attention to her
rather than just being overpowered with music.
Hard-sounding, you know, drums or, you know,
something that would probably make you want to dance,
but just sit down and listen to her.
- You reconnected with your OG,
Yandel, came back with 'Dynasty.'
How did you decide on the vibe
that you were going to go with for that?
- It's just an amazing, you know, moment
when I get in the studio with Yandel,
all the ideas that come to mind.
It's crazy to see the journey
and the different vibes that we've been able to create.
I just wanted to bring a little bit of that
into this and, you know, give people a little bit, you know,
about the old sound,
like the old vintage Yandel.
But also give you an updated of version of him,
like, what's sounding now with the new generation.
Not specifically like, do everything reggaeton,
but you know, bring a little bit of, you know,
Afrobeats to it, which is something that we both enjoy
and we want to bring to the table.
['Deja Vu' by Tainy and Yandel plays]
- For us, it was special
working on all these tracks, like,
him trusting me and the team
on, you know, creating this music.
And it's just amazing vibes every time we're together.
And you know, I'm happy that we were able to do it
'cause you know, it's a long-lasting, you know,
connection and something that, you know,
I know that people have been seeing for years,
you know, to get this project of us,
to combine doing what we love.
It was amazing just to work with a legend, like Yandel is.
- You've had this career that has allowed you
to work with the vets, but also has put you in a position
to invigorate the careers of new artists.
Why was it important for you to start a platform like
Neon16, which is helping to develop Latin creatives?
- It's something that I always had in mind,
but I didn't feel I was in the position.
I feel I needed to, you know,
prove myself a little bit more, to grow more as a producer.
And planets started aligning themselves,
you know, for it to happen.
So, you know, I meet Lex [Borrero],
who is my partner in Neon,
you know, we just had the same mindset and same goals.
We wanted to create a group
that had the same creative vision and keep growing,
not just the music side, the business side,
and everything all around it.
We just wanted to make that moment where, you know,
you have the Star Trak, and you know,
you have G-Unit and you have, you know, Bad Boy.
We wanted to create something like that
that, you know, we really didn't see as much
growing up as Latinos.
So we wanted that crew that probably represent, you know,
this generation and, you know,
gave them a sense of what we are
and how we look and how we project ourselves,
and what else we want to, you know,
achieve in this lifetime and this moment that we have.
- So true, setting up a foundation
for the next generation -
which makes me wonder, what do you want your legacy to be
when this is all said and done?
- Dream bigger, that's what I want.
I want the other kids to, like, not have that box
limit that I had when I started,
where making a song and having Wisin & Yandel sing it
was everything, like, that was our limit.
And get to see that now, like getting a Hot 100 track,
like, it's something that's possible.
And working with established pop artists
like Selena Gomez or like, you know, Justin Bieber -
that's something that's possible
for a kid from Puerto Rico, to have an album
you know, have all these artists,
no matter the genre,
just go into different sessions and work with you.
That's what I think my legacy, I want it to be.
It's just being a guy that helped, like,
push certain, you know, doors and boundaries
and just open them up.
And probably, I'm not the one
that gets like, to certain points,
but the door is open for the other kids to do it.
Just doing everything I can because, you know,
it's what I owe the people for it
because that's why they have me here.