Pink Tape (EP) - Jay Cortez
Artwork - Pink Tape
In the past couple of years, I’ve made it a mission to expand my music palette. I’ve listened to almost every genre consistently (Tennessee boy loves him some Country now), but I didn’t feel like I was really tapped in with anything below the surface of what was popular, and I didn’t really have that much of an eclectic musical influence in my house. I had to get any sort of media outside of my upbringing from either my friends or from the radio/MTV, which is how I got introduced to people like Omarion, Missy Elliot, Gwen Stefani, and it was a lot of different things sonically, that when I listen now, are drenched in nostalgia.
Portland native Jay Cortez is having his coming-out party. Back in January, the only thing we had was an anonymous person sharing some incredible self-produced RnB demos that featured everything from sultry RnB ballads to bouncy, 2000s-era hits featuring an unmistakable voice, only known as Jay. Fast forward to the present, Jay. has been unveiled as Jay Cortez, and those demos have formed into his first project, Pink Tape.
The best part about Jay Cortez? His sound is his, not a cheap knockoff. That aforementioned blend of sounds really allows him to step into different bags in the R&B realm while still maintaining his autonomy sonically, and “Deep In Love” is a great introduction to Jay’s signature sound. The movement from this to “IFUREADY” is a dexterous change of pace, really flexing his creative muscles at a different tempo. He released this one as the single for his project, accompanied by a sped-up version of the track, which I initially took a real liking to, but hearing the original in the context of the whole project really made this one stick with me harder. That tempo is picked right back up with “Body Conversations” and I’ll highlight this one to comment on how Jay utilizes the spacing in his tracks, while also showing off his ability to write a really catchy hook. “Nobody But You” feels like a nice, romantic reset, maybe a little more carefree than the others, but I think this one is my favorite. From the production to all the ways Jay contorts and layers his voice to create all these different levels. “The One” feels like a natural conclusion and really ties the knot for me on this as a full-circle moment. I know a lot of people want to put all their best music on their projects and not care too much about how it tells the story, but everyone forgets that all great stories have an ending or at least some sort of finish line and I’m glad I felt this project had a natural beginning, middle, and end.
Lately, I’ve really tapped in with a bunch of underground artists and the gospels they preach, but I’ve come to another question. Who’s going to last? Who actually has the chops to maintain interest like a major artist? Who could hold attention spans and break through the noise of all the great music being made by millions of talented people?
Jay Cortez can.
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