A futuristic mélange of sonic vignettes about love, loss, and heartbreak permeates Jay Wheeler’s latest offering, Música Buena, Para Días Malos. Throughout the project’s 13 tracks, the 30-year-old Puerto Rican superstar interpolates ethereal, ultra-modern beats as lyrical tales of longing come to the surface. Take, for instance, “En Tu Mente,” which details his inevitable pull on a lover — despite, perhaps, not treating her well. Yet the truth is, both protagonists are at fault as they cling onto their libidos and attraction for each other: “Yo sé / Que aveces soy un cabrón / Pero tú has sido peor, reconoce / Que nadie to lo hará mejor/Si te vas, yo se que vuelves / …Baby, yo siempre estoy en tu mente.”
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Amid voracious sexual appetites, there’s the somber “14 15 Febrero,” where Wheeler sadly croons over a love that left a sour, bitter taste in his mouth. Then there’s “Otro Más,” a relatable song to anyone who has felt abandoned by a former partner. Though he acknowledges that he’s just one of many, he misses her: “Y todavía tengo tu foto en mi espejo / Para sentir que no estás tan lejos.” Despite his feelings, she ghosts him and leaves him on read. He makes romantic misfortune his muse. But it’s that vulnerability that’s signature to Wheeler’s sonic modus operandi that resonates so deeply with us.
“I made this album exactly for when people have bad days and feel sad,” he tells Refinery 29 Somos over the phone from Orlando. “I want them to understand that they are not alone. I want them to know that even artists — though people think we are larger than life — have bad days.”
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"I made this album exactly for when people have bad days and feel sad. I want them to understand that they are not alone. I want them to know that even artists — though people think we are larger than life — have bad days."
Jay Wheeler
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Part of the album’s allure is that it sonically sits atop the themes of alternate realities, the future, and resurrection. The poignant intro track paints a beautiful picture of traveling back in time, final goodbyes, love, and death while reviving Jay in 2099.
While he plays with time, Wheeler also reminds us that we can’t control time to lessen the pain. Instead, all we can do is let time heal us.
“El tiempo dicen que todo lo cura, también nos aleja de lo que más queremos / Nadie tiene la oportunidad de volver atrás / Para decir su último adiós, para dar ese último abrazo o para sentir ese último beso,” the intro track’s narrator says.
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Similarly, Wheeler wishes he could go back in time and say goodbye to his grandmother. “My grandmother’s death made me a better, stronger person,” he says. “At the same time, I would’ve liked to give her that last kiss, that last hug because I don’t remember when I said goodbye. If I could go back to that time and come back to this current year, that would be incredible.”
Death is unfortunately inevitable, and it hurts. Yet his religious beliefs help alleviate the pain. Wheeler indeed believes there is an eternal afterlife that comes after death. “I believe there is heaven and God will welcome you into that paradise if you behave here on Earth,” he says. “After death, God will decide where you need to be. I have my own beliefs, but it doesn’t mean you have to believe them. I believe in what I believe in because that’s how I was raised.”
Born José Ángel López Martínez, Wheeler grew up in Salinas, Puerto Rico, where he played music at church. He was a shy kid who got bullied throughout middle school and high school, but he used music as a refuge to mask those negative experiences. His musical prowess would eventually pay off and even help him find love along the way.
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"The only way you can get by in life and challenge yourself as a person is by having someone by your side. But it does require you to have an elevated mindset, more than you would if you were single."
JAY WHEELER
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He is now happily married to singer Zhamira Zambrano, a feat that has brought him so much joy. “My wife is the most important thing that has happened to me,” he says. “She’s made me a better man and has given me this sense of balance in life that I needed. Now, thanks to that balance in my personal life, I have more of a balance in my professional life. It’s the most beautiful thing. I recommend to anyone that is in a relationship to always aspire to get married.”
He advocates for a world filled with love, and wants young people to believe in marriage and having a family. “Young people say, ‘No I don’t want to get married; that’s not for me,” he adds. “I think that’s a very cowardly way of thinking because the only way you can get by in life and challenge yourself as a person is by having someone by your side. But it does require you to have an elevated mindset, more than you would if you were single.”
In addition to his relationship, his first love, music, makes him feel complete. He uses it as a form of therapy on bad days. “Making music takes me away from all the problems of the real world,” Wheeler says. “It makes me feel like I’m living inside a video game.”