Ja'Cory Cortillian Cortéz Lavine was born January 24th, 1997 in Port Arthur, TX. Lavine was the middle child as well as the only boy of a total of three children from mother, Rhodessia Hemphill. Lavine’s immediate family was all full of artistic abilities and creative, yet determined mindsets; something Lavine acquired rather quickly. Lavine’s older sister, Ja'Nay Worsham was a poet, sketcher and scholar. His younger sister, Fadria-Lynn Lavine had a beautifully acquired voice just like her mother. Ja'Cory, on the other hand, loved to draw. He was smart and quiet, but very artistic and creative in most things he did.
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In 2008, Ja'Cory had developed a love for singing, writing, and recording his own music due to the many different influences that surrounded him. From bands like Fall Out Boy, Evanescence, Paramore and Linkin Park to classic artists such as Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Etta James and more, Lavine was surrounded by musical talent that helped shape his music abilities and tastes today. Starting as the writer, singer, pianist and guitar player for a band he tried to develop in middle school, Ja'Cory took heavy and painfully obvious inspiration from bands like Paramore, The Fray and 3 Doors Down. After teaching himself to play his favorite instruments by ear, Ja'Cory eventually broke away from his first band and moved from Los Angeles, CA to Galveston, TX, a small island located in the South East gulf coast of Texas. It was here, where Ja'Cory really got his musical start.
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In October of 2010, Ja'Cory met his best friend, Cassie Olguin, as well as a few other classmates that would go on to form his second band, “Drowning at Dawn”. The band kept the same influences and became more real in their song recording. Ja'Cory taught himself to use his first studio software and made the band’s demos himself, writing songs, singing and filming playful videos to go along with the songs on the side. In June of 2011, Ja'Cory moved to Houston, TX, where the band underwent a few personnel changes. Eventually becoming a duo, Cassie and Ja'Cory renamed the band “Erasing Insane” and recorded 15 new acoustic demos as they prepared to record their first official album with producer, Brian Lanese of the band, Permanent Ability. In November of 2013, Ja'Cory moved back to Galveston, where the duo tried to continue the band. Unfortunately, they’d silently agreed to break up and move on musically.
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Later, Ja'Cory recorded his first full length solo album entitled, “Speak.” and released it on July 25th, 2014. Upon the release of this record, Ja'Cory’s senior year of high school came along and brought about a numerous amount of changes in writing style, musical genre and influences. In February of 2015, he released the “Young Love” EP, collaborating with local Galveston rappers, Peej (then “R-Teist”) and RandomArtistE. He then released the “I Been Ready” Mixtape in June of 2015 (after graduating). The mixtape proved to be more R&B-esque with a touch of pop to prove to people he wasn’t just a boy from a rock band as well as to stray away from the electronic dance sound he’d acquired from his first solo record.
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After the success of his first mixtape, hitting over 4,000 copies within its first few months of release, Ja'Cory took a break from music, only releasing covers, snippets of songs and collaborations afterwards. He’s taken over a year and a half to find himself musically and make songs that he can really connect with, but he is now back with new music, a new attitude, new hair and the name, Cortéz. The single, “B.E.D.”, is his first major release under the new artist name, making his mark and reintroducing the world to a boy who’s been around the block a few times when it comes to music, love, pain and more. Come 2017, Cortéz intends to have the world know who he is. 6 months.