Famouz

On August 22, 2017, Cortez signed with the label Universal Music Latino under the House of Haze movement in alliance with the producer Fino como el Haze, who also produced his first single "Donde No Se Vea", released later in the year. The following year, Cortez worked on the composition of various songs such as Yandel's "Mi Religión", Daddy Yankee's "Otra Cosa" and the collaboration "Criminal" by Natti Natasha and Ozuna.[3] Prior to the released of Famouz, Cortez released the nine-track EP Eyez On Me on May 18, 2018.[4]

A special edition of the album was released on January 24, 2020 as Famouz Reloaded composed of the songs from Famouz alongside five additional songs, two being original songs, "Déseame Suerte" with Karol G and Haze, and "Como Se Siente", and three being remixes of songs previously featured in the original album, "Imaginaste" with Wisin & Yandel, "Easy" with Ozuna and "Subiendo de Nivel" featuring Myke Towers.[5]

The first single for the album was "Costear", with Cuban rapper Almighty, released on October 31, 2018.[6] The second singles was "No Me Conoce", released on February 22, 2019, a remix of the song with Bad Bunny and J Balvin was released later in 2019.[7] The remix was commercially successful, peaking at number 4 and 71 at the Hot Latin Songs and Billboard Hot 100 charts, respectively, being Cortez first appearance on both charts.[8][9]

To promote the release of Famouz Reloaded, two singles were released, "Deséame Suerte" with Karol G and Haze on August 30, 2019, and the remix of "Easy" with Ozuna on November 19, 2019.[10][11] Both "Costear" and "Deséame Suerte" were certified gold in United States while the remix of "No Me Conoce" was certified platinum selling over a million of copies by 2020.[12]

American magazine Rolling Stone included the album in their list of Best Latin Albums of 2019, placing it at number four, writing that "while the music landscape is littered with the bodies of hit-writers who have attempted to transition to solo stardom, Cortez made the switch look easy this year", they also commented that the album was "tenacious and hummable throughout, incorporating bracing production from Tainy (on the imperious "Imaginaste") and Taiko ("Easy")".[13]