New Kid On The Block: Omar Courtz

Joshua Omar Medina Cortes, best known as Omar Courtz, has reason to celebrate since signing with Pitbull’s record label Mr. 305 Records to kickstart his music career with his single “Dime,” which debuted in February 2020.

The Puerto Rican singer started off pursuing his dream at the early age of 10, writing a full 12-song album. In 2018 released his first single, “Volvemos Otra Vez,” which had a significant impact on the SoundCloud community and his hometown Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Courtz starts now his pro career with the release of his latest single, “Desorientada,” a catchy song that invites us to dance, especially in these times of social distance and pandemic.

In conversation with CONTRAST, the songwriter talked about passion for music, the new road on the music industry and his dream projects for this artist’s future. 

You’ve been making music since you were 10 years old. Where does your passion for music come from? I come from Carolina, Puerto Rico, I thinks it’s something cultural here on the island. My hometown it’s where the biggest artists are born. Also, my uncle has an urban clothing store and since I was little we used to go to the projects and the hoods to sell clothes, movies and music albums on a SUV. I made a lot of connections with the artists here and that’s how we started.

Tell me how your caught Pitbull’s attention leading to you being signed to Mr. 305 records! I started to produce music when I was little but on my first year of college is when I made the decision to get my music out to the world. My first song on SoundCloud blew up on Twitter, and my manager Od Entertaiment with Rauw Alejandro’s manager Eric Duars were the ones that linked me up with the Mr. 305 Records. Everything was very organic, just getting my music out there and the people started to accept my music and share it. 

Not gonna lie. ‘Son Pale$’ has been on repeat. Should we expect more dope covers and remixes like this? SON PALE$ is one of my favorite songs, I saw the opportunity because Drake and Chris are one of my top inspirations in music even tho I’m a Latin artist. I saw them together and I saw the perfect opportunity to bring my roots out, combining streets with R&B melodies. It is a fire mix. You guys can definitely expect more remixes like that.

The world is in a re-set moment culturally, racially and in so many other ways. How are you playing your part in highlighting and being a part of this change as an artist? I think that as an new artist in the music industry you need to have versatility because the music is constantly changing and mixing. I believe that growing up on artists like Arcangel, Don Omar, that are melodic artists, but still they can do “malianteo” or any type of music basically, that opens my mind to do any type of music. Especially by writing for other people and genres taught me to do any type of music and that’s a mayor key for the new artists. 

You recently released visuals for “Disorientada.” Walk me through the inspiration for the video! The Desorientada video was inspired by nightlights especially on Miami nights. I saw the perfect opportunity to mix the streets or urban style that represent me with the 305 vibes. 

As an artist gaining some traction on radio, tell me some of your dream collaborations. Dreams collaborations for me has to be Don Omar, Daddy Yankee, Drake and Tego. If we talking dreams you have to go big.

What do you want your music to be known for? What’s the legacy you want to leave behind? I want that when people hear Omar Courtz, they can feel exactly how I’m feeling when I wrote the song. I want to transmit real emotions through my music to make real connections with the people. Music saved me from my darkest moments and I want my music to do the same with the ones that hear me.