Single Review: Los Bo — Jhay Cortez & Myke Towers

By: Matt Miller

If humility is a virtue, Myke Towers and Jhay Cortez epitomize vice in “Los Bo.” They remind us that we are mere subjects of “los reyes de la nueva,” left to observe the opulence, swagger, and apparent success that have befallen our royalty.

El bo is a colloquial term in Puerto Rico for boss, a title which confers power, influence, and wealth. “Los Bo” makes clear, in both title and lyrics, that Myke Towers and Jhay Cortez are, or at least consider themselves to be, los bo. “Los Bo” might as well have been titled “Los Boasts,” yet the song’s boastfulness hasn’t turned away listeners. This recent collaboration between these self-proclaimed “reyes de la nueva” (more on that later) racked up an impressive 7 million views on its music video in only a week. Though Jhay and Myke have linked on a few remixes and features before, this seems to be their first original, equal-footing co-production.

En Breve:

Overall, “Los Bo” is a great song with an invigorating energy and innovative instrumentals. Yet, the song feels hollow with its repetitive flexing, which wades too deep into shallow rap. Hopefully Cortez and Towers, whose voices mesh well, collaborate again. This prospect seems promising, as they call themselves “los reyes de la nueva” in the track’s outro. These new kings seem to be at peace with their royal predecessors like Bad Bunny and Anuel, who have both decidedly stepped back from the music world, as Cortez gives a nice shoutout to el Conejo’s “Otra Noche en Miami.” Nonetheless, as Towers and Cortez suggest in the outro, los reyes “muertos son como los libros — historia.” Myke and Jhay assert themselves as the Jordan and Pippen to Bad Bunny and Anuel’s Magic and Bird. Myke and Jhay see themselves as timeless legends of immortal musical greatness. “Los Bo” is their first real dance together, their 1991 championship if you will, but expect plenty of Towers x Cortez collabs to come.

Matt’s Musings Musicales:

In “Los Bo,” I see three key patterns:

1. An embrace of the rap genre

2. Simultaneously exciting and off-putting flexes

3. A rushed urgency

1. An embrace of the rap genre

Prior to “Los Bo,” Towers and Cortez dabbled in reggaetón, trap, and rap, mixing them effortlessly in songs like Towers’ “Si Se Da” and Cortez’ “Cómo Se Siente.” “Los Bo,” however, is unapologetically a rap song. Produced by Ambezza and Smash David, who have worked with the likes of Future and Big Sean, the song’s rap beat and bass are clean and catchy. One could easily imagine a rap giant like Drake crushing the brass melody and going off on the bass drops.

Cortez and Towers’ embrace of rap fits with their lyrical theme of excessive flexing. Whether it’s Jhay talking about his house worth “dos Phantom,” Myke claiming his wealth is on par with Neymar’s, or the chorus’s line about, well, interacting with multiple women at once, these boasts situate “Los Bo” in a subset of rap I call “flex rap,” with lyrical tropes emphasizing wealth, superiority to rivals, and debauchery. For example, Meek Mill’s 2015 diss of Drake for allegedly using a ghostwriter seems to find new life in Cortez’s dig at Bryant Myers: “no vamos a guerrear con nadie que no escriba lo de ello.’” Bad Bunny, like mainstream rappers, is foundational to this trend of boasting, with album titles like YHLQMDLG and songs like “El Mundo Es Mío” inspiring artists like Cortez and Towers to rap their dominance into existence.

Stylistically, the song’s fast rap verses maintain a flow and flashes of lyrical cleverness. Towers especially has some memorable, confident lines such as “resucitaré si nacen raperos mejores,” which he delivers with ease. With memorable references and couplets, Jhay and Myke pull off some of the fastest raps of their young careers in a way that remains smooth and understandable. Only time will tell if “Los Bo” previews a heavier focus on rap from Cortez and Towers in their forthcoming albums. Though Myke has leaned into rap before, Jhay hasn’t quite committed to a genre. We can only await the releases of Towers’ Lyke Myke and Cortez’ Timelezz, both plugged in the outro, to find out whether both artists wade deeper into rap.

2. Simultaneously exciting and off-putting flexes

In their earlier discography, Cortez and Myke both express humility and struggle, making it easier to relate to their vulnerabilities. For Cortez, that relatability comes in “Subiendo de Nivel,” in which he confesses to a slower beat, “Baby, te pienso cuando enrolo / sabes que no me gusta estar solo,” a very different vibe from the womanizing habits he asserts in “Los Bo.” Likewise, Towers’ earlier songs like “Amor Juvenil” speak candidly about relationship challenges. “Los Bo” conveys a thematic message of infallibility unrecognizable in both artists’ earlier, humbler work. Cortez quips that “estas putas son mías’’, while Towers gloats “no me relaciono con los cerdos / desde arriba los observo.” Myke himself mimics the dominance of another legend — Michael Jordan — whose jersey he sports on the cover and whose likeness he emulates in Lyke Myke, a name inspired by Jordan’s highly successful advertising campaign. These displays of power have taken over both artists’ styles over time.

The song’s unwavering focus on flexing both artists’ success is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, fans can taste Myke and Jhay’s alluring power merely by listening to the lyrics, which can provide an inspiration to work toward the same levels of success and excellence. While the song’s hyperbolic lyrics, a clinic in flex rap, may confer strength, they also have an unsettling side. When one rethinks the song’s cocky glorification of its artists, it seems that Towers and Cortez have fallen together into the world of hedonism and hubris. “Los Bo,” then, feels like Towers’ and Cortez’ simultaneous peak and moral demise. They may flex their overflowing bank accounts, but their consistent boasting could suggest a certain moral bankruptcy to listeners who look for humility and relatability. The track’s principal line “Estos cabrones me lo tienen que mamar,” repeated 14 times, is initially fun to hear and comically savage but ends up feeling pompous and overdone by the song’s end. “Los Bo” may serve as a pump up before a soccer game, but its moral value is up for debate.

3. A rushed urgency

The song is fast in every sense of the term. The brass trumpets slow briefly at points, but only to pick up again. There are no natural breaks in the song save a short stretch where the beat cuts out for a pause in which Jhay epically states “Y si no fue Michael Torres… fue Jhay Cortez.” After a minute of the song at full speed, a longer pause would have provided more variety and better accentuated the chorus. While the overall intensity of “Los Bo” lends the song its hype and excitement, the monotonous pace makes it feel rushed in comparison to a Towers song with more variety like “Estamos Arriba.” Cortez and Towers sound stressed and pressed. Both artists seem almost insecure in their hurry to tell the world about all they have achieved.

Musicólogos Score: 7/10