Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessie Co
Hi Jessie Co, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story. Can you briefly tell us your story—how you started and got to where you are today? You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
I was born in Minnesota. I grew up mainly in North Minneapolis on the edge of Colombia Heights until I was 13 years old. I am a first-generation American; I am 100% Mexican through both of my parents, my first language is Spanish, and I spent at least one month out of every single year of my life in Mexico, which means I grew up for a good chunk of my life in Mexico. The area where I grew up was safe. Still, it was pretty rachet– I had my bike stolen from my house, my toys stolen from my back yard, random people knocking at my door at night, neighbors smoking weed heavy every day, drug dealers at the gas station, an abandoned church a couple houses away, and grew up right next to MN State Highway 47. There was no wall to protect us from the noise on my side of the street, so I would regularly wake up to cars zooming by with obnoxious exhausts and other minor inconveniences that are funny to look back upon. I was an only child for the first ten years, so I spent much time playing alone and in my head. As a kid, I dreamed of being a star; however, I have always been fascinated with being a superstar musician like Justin Beiber.
Throughout elementary school, I made some friends and was always friendly with people, but the “popular” kids never seemed to accept me, always tried to block me out of their circle, and treated me weirdly. I attended Adams Elementary and Coon Rapids Middle School. In 6th grade, I started writing songs for girls I liked and my girlfriend. I remember it getting leaked to some people, and people in my school ridiculed me. In 6th grade, I also started playing the viola, not the violin, because I wanted to be different. I had a good amount of friends and girlfriends in middle school from 6th to 7th grade, who often left me for some other guy, but older students frequently bullied me. I remember this kid stole my shoes off my feet and ran away from them and other embarrassing things. I didn’t grow up wealthy, so most of my wardrobe consisted of Old Navy, Gap, Converse, and Abercombie, if lucky. I did not have any skinny jeans, Jordans, Nike, or things of that sort. I remember people in middle school making fun of me for wearing “grandpa” clothes, which I often thought was pretty cool, but obviously, kids at my school made me change my mind.
Since around 5th grade, I have been going to work with my dad as well. He works in Construction. I spend most of my time picking up their trash and painting for 20ish dollars a day. Regardless, I ended up moving away from Colombia Heights and switching schools to a place about 40 minutes away in Eden Prairie, a much nicer area. This was important because it gave me a new start, and I began to craft my identity. I showed up at this new school and instantly made tons of friends. I also had many more girlfriends in 8th grade. I experienced heartbreaks, from getting left for another man, being in an unfulfilling relationship, getting left right before Valentine’s, and my first on-and-off relationship where I had one of the most mentally draining and traumatic love experiences in my life from 8th-9th grade. I also experienced hate, a lot of it. I was hated incredibly by many guys from my new school, many of whom I never spoke to or much to; I’m not sure what their deal was. Their hate towards me was carried with them from 8th to 12th grade. I started high school at Eden Prairie, one of MN’s most renowned high schools. I played the viola up until 9th grade. I had to stop playing because I wanted to take a college class in 10th grade, and that is when I broke my connection with music.
I continued having relations, “things” (situationships), and how we would say it in our school, “pulling h*es” (pardon my language) throughout high school. I experienced a ton relationship-wise in high school: getting cheated on, cheating myself, getting dumped, getting rejected. Often, a girl with the face of an angel ended up having the heart of a demon in my relationships. I admit I had great experiences and memories in my relationships. However, some of them were the lowest points in my life, emotionally and mentally, which is what led me to have 42 relationships before the age of 18! It’s ridiculous, I know. I do not say it to boast, but it drove me to start making music. I was so hurt in my life, suicidal at one point, yet I had so many good memories with the same people who hurt me or who I hurt that I wanted a way to talk about it. I initially started writing in a journal all about how I felt in 2020 in 10th grade. I eventually began to freestyle along with music I would listen to in the shower, and I started doing that every day. One day, I began to search for beats and try to rap over them. I started doing that every day as well. I stayed that way for 1-2 years, and at the end of my senior year of high school, I began to think about releasing music. I was terrified to do it. However, I had dabbled on YouTube throughout high school, making prank videos, podcasts, challenges, and even PC building. I was not a stranger to putting myself out there.
I graduated from high school on 17 June 2022. I started my music career in summer 2022. So, in July of 2022, I released my first song ever titled “Lover Boy,” which, in essence, is what I am. I released it on SoundCloud in the same way everyone else does. I followed it with a different style of song called “Turn Me Up” to get some of my frustration out. I started my modeling/acting career in the summer of 2022. I want to write this chronologically; however, it would confuse the story. Long story short, I model for an agency named “Wehmann,” one of the largest agencies in Minnesota. I have modeled/acted for Target, Best Buy, VICE, Jostens, The University of Minnesota, Jostens, Great Clips, etc. I still model/act to this day! I’m happy to say I’ve made thousands of dollars from my short, successful modeling career and can’t wait to continue growing it. I officially started college at the University of Minnesota in Fall 2022. I was tired of being just like any kid in school who makes music on the cloud, so I released my first single on all platforms named “LISA,” which was received very well by my small community at the time. What made the song special was that it was the first song I ever spoke Spanish in, which became a trend I have never stopped doing. At the end of 2022, I decided to embrace my identity as a first-generation American, a Mexican, a Spanish speaker, and a Latino in my music. I realized that my identity, mixed with my crazy love-sick past, could interest people. Since then, I have made bilingual music, mainly focused on the Latin Genre “Reggaeton.”
I released a small amount of 3 songs in the five months I made music in 2022. In 2023, I followed with “IRIS,” a song dedicated to a girl I love. I released various other songs that year; however, I only did a little and released four songs in 2023. My low output was definitely due to the sheer learning curve of making music and learning mixing and production. However, I faced many challenges, including the suicide of my mom’s brother, the death of my grandma, and a terrible job over the summer that took around 10 hours of my day, Monday through Friday. That summer, I decided I was never going to allow myself to spend the rest of my life working in an office, and I was going to work until I made my crazy dream of being a Latin-American Superstar become reality. However, in 2024, my music career started to change. I received a single called “DIME,” the first song I fully self-produced, mixed, and made the cover art.
I followed that release by working on another track called “AIR KOREA,” which was released in late April of 2024 and was the best release of my career. AIR KOREA is a reggaeton song in Spanish and English about a relationship. I used my experiences in Seoul, South Korea, to write metaphors about a wild relationship I experienced. I produced AIR KOREA; however, I contacted friends Sebas Osorio and Jasper Bickers to help me polish up the song (both are producers). I received over 2 million views on Instagram from videos promoting the song organically, with zero dollars spent on ads in the first month. My followers grew nearly 2x in a couple of weeks, and there were thousands of comments, likes, and shares—– wow. It was not all sunshine and rainbows; however, many people did not like the song (from the videos). However, the love outdid the hate because I now have a solid, engaging fanbase eager to see my next move and support hard.
AIR KOREA was my most significant release yet. It led to dozens of other artists and engineers contacting me to collaborate and work together. I now have three features on the way and 2 solo songs in collaboration with other producers on the way. I am venturing into “Corridos Tumbados,” a genre that has received much attention from the Latino community, and my fans have been asking me for it since I started teasing AIR KOREA. I am very excited to continue collaborating, releasing more music than I ever have, earning millions of views and thousands of more followers and listeners, producing more, learning how to play corridos, writing better music, and moving my career forward by listening to my fans and working every single day. I plan to release another Reggaeton hit in late May or early June and follow it with my first solo corrido tumbado. I aim to release my first-ever EP during the summer of 2024 with the help of newfound producers, artists, and engineers. I am also very excited to continue modeling & acting and growing my career. Thank you, God, for everything, and I can’t wait to see what you have planned for me.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an Artist (singer-songwriter) and Producer. I create music, mainly Urban Latin music (reggaeton). I write in both Spanish and English. I’m known for making music and modeling! I am proud to be Mexican, American, brown, and have curly hair. My identity is essential because it defines a large chunk of who I am and how I relate to the world. Through my identity, I have lived many unique experiences that I wouldn’t change for the world. What sets me apart from others and those with a similar identity is that I have lived so much at such a young age. I am still 19 years old. Yet I have been in 40+ relationships and have traveled to Europe, Mexico, South Korea, and Japan. I have an ultra-resilient and driven attitude where even if the whole world tells me I can’t do it, I will still try and win one way or another. I also firmly believe in God and owe all of my success to God. I am a big dreamer, and not a day goes by when I do not move a step closer to my dream of being a Young Latin-American Superstar Artist.
Do you have any big plans?
*MENTIONED IN THE STORY SECTION, BUT I WILL COPY AND PASTE THE ANSWER*
I now have 3 features on the way and 2 solo songs in collaboration with other producers on the way. I am venturing into “Corridos Tumbados,” a genre that has received much attention from the Latino community, and my fans have been asking me for it since I started teasing AIR KOREA. I am very excited to continue collaborating, releasing more music than I ever have, earning millions of views and thousands of more followers and listeners, producing more, learning how to play corridos, writing better music, and moving my career forward by listening to my fans and working every single day. I plan to release another Reggaeton hit in late May or early June and follow it with my first solo corrido tumbado. I aim to release my first-ever EP during the summer of 2024 with the help of newfound producers, artists, and engineers. I am also very excited to continue modeling & acting and growing my career. Thank you, God, for everything, and I can’t wait to see what you have planned for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.linktr.ee/JESSIECO
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessiecojc?igsh=MWZ3bHI5ZzV3ZG02&utm_source=qr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@JESSIECOJC?si=t0MrisUe71Y8lJ3B
Image Credits
Curtis K
