Tainy Reflects on First Grammy Nom as a Lead Artist: ‘I Can’t Say It’s Overdue’

Tainy is not a new face for the Recording Academy. His work has been nominated in the past, and just last year, he won his first Golden Gramophone for his participation on Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, which won best música urbana album.

But this year, the Puerto Rican hitmaker earned his first-ever nomination as a lead artist with his debut album as artist-producer called DATA — a nom he felt was “far-fetched.”

“It’s special. I’ve been working for awhile,” he tells Billboard. “In music, you always see the Grammys like a stamp. … This is my first project. I can’t say it’s overdue because it’s so new. For me, growing up in Puerto Rico, it wasn’t in our goals or in our minds of things we could accomplish. Just seeing the American Grammys seemed so far-fetched. It wasn’t even in my mind, and for it to happen, is not easy to digest and understand  at the moment but I’m blessed to be around all these people who I admire and inspire me in a certain way.” (Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito won the 2024 Grammy, against DATA and Rauw Alejandro’s Saturno.)

DATA laces his unmatched skills, good music taste, and A-list artist friends such as Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, Julieta Venegas, and more. For Tainy, “it’s super personal.”

“When I started doing music, the people I admired growing up, that’s what they used to do,” he explains. “All these amazing producers would do their own albums and everyone would just hop on and try to do the best track possible. To me, as soon as I became a fan of music and beats, that inspired me so much. I came into the game getting opportunities and working with these artists, and as the genre evolved, those albums didn’t happen anymore. Music changed so much.” 

In the latest Billboard News episode, Tainy shares his strongest song on the set, producing Selena Gomez’s first all-Spanish-language project, and helming his very own concert in Puerto Rico’s coveted Coliseo venue.  

“I’m still growing, I’m still a student of what I do,” he notes. “There’s a lot of things I want to keep on tapping and trying, just give myself a shot and see what happens.”