Nicky Jam Joins Forces With Cuban Newcomer El Shadow on 'La Foto'

Nicky Jam has released "La Foto," a collaboration with Cuban newcomer El Shadow, premiering exclusively on Billboard on Wednesday, Aug. 12. The track, issued through labels Plus Media and EMM, blends acoustic guitars with rhythmic Afrobeats — a sound rooted in Latin Afrobeats, the cross-genre wave folding African percussion into Spanish-language pop and reggaetón. El Shadow, whose real name is Raudel Gómez Hernández, composed the song. Billboard

The story behind the collaboration began on Instagram. In February, El Shadow shared a snippet of "La Foto" on his account and asked followers to tag Nicky Jam in the comments. Nicky Jam replied within hours. At the time Billboard published its article, El Shadow had roughly 15,000 Instagram followers — a number that places him among the most grassroots collaborators the reggaetón star has worked with in recent years. Billboard

El Shadow is 26 and lives in Camagüey, Cuba's third-largest city. He started making urban music at 15 and cites Colombian hitmaker Kapo as his idol. Billboard named him an On The Radar Latin artist, a spotlight the publication uses to flag rising acts in the genre. Lyrically, "La Foto" is about crushing on someone and finding the nerve to make the first move. Billboard

For Nicky Jam, the collaboration extends a pattern of working with emerging Cuban artists. He previously teamed up with the Cuban duo Charly y Johayron, and earlier this year released "Babylon," a collaboration with Colombian newcomer Venesti whose music video was filmed in Rome. Billboard

Nicky Jam's track record in Latin music runs deep. His song "El Amante" appeared among Latin artists' entries on YouTube's Top 25 Global Songs of all time, and his video for "Brillar" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards. Billboard Billboard

What makes "La Foto" stand out is the gap between the two artists' profiles. Nicky Jam is a established name with Latin Grammy nominations and billions of YouTube views. El Shadow, by contrast, was working from Camagüey with a small but growing social following when a single Instagram post brought him to the attention of one of reggaetón's most recognisable voices. The music video was filmed together earlier this year, as reported by CiberCuba in June. CiberCuba

The song is now available through Plus Media and EMM.