A 17-year-old Inderkum High school student has more than a quarter-million Instagram followers, his Latin pop songs can be found on all major streaming platforms, he’s a heart-throb actor on a major YouTube TV series, and his voice recently was likened to Justin Bieber’s in a Sacramento Bee story.
Google Jay Ulloa’s name and 1.5 million results pop up.
Check him out on YouTube.
Check him out on Spotify.
Check him out on Google Play or iHeartRadio.
Ulloa clearly is an up-and-coming Latin teen star, but there’s a lot more to him than that: He’s an outstanding student in Inderkum’s California Early College Academy (CECA), which allows students to earn college credits while attending high school. He plays seven instruments. He’s a varsity Tiger soccer player and swimmer. And he’s determined to attend college, perhaps to study robotics engineering.
Ulloa said it’s important for him to be the first member of his family to get a college education, adding, “I want to set that bar for my little brothers, as something they can look up to — and (they can) go to college as well.” Inderkum teachers have prepared him well, he said, adding “I’m super ready for college.”
Life is a little crazy for him these days, Ulloa said, as he juggles Inderkum classes with independent study, and he juggles education with his budding singing and acting career.
“It gets really hard at times, but (then it’s important to) remember where you come from and how hard you worked to get there,” he said. “And the sacrifice your parents made.”
On the YouTube TV hit, “Chicken Girls,” Ulloa plays the role of Drake, a “hunky” love interest to headliner Rhyme. The teen show by Brat digital network, which has 2.7 million YouTube subscribers, revolves around a group of young dancers navigating life, love and high school.
Music is Ulloa’s first love, however, and he recently released a Spanish-language pop record, “Malas Noticias,” that is winning applause from Latin music lovers, A video of one of the record’s four tracks, “Manos Al Aire,” is available on YouTube here. Ulloa hopes to go on tour once he graduates from high school.
The Tiger senior said he feels extremely honored — “it’s mind blowing” – on the many occasions when fans recognize him, inside or outside school, and ask for an autograph or photo.
“It’s amazing to see the reaction, when they hear your songs or when they see you – it’s super crazy to me, seeing them so happy,” he said.
Ulloa began singing in his church choir at age 9, and he plays the guitar, bass, drum, flute, piano, trumpet and ukulele. He’s also a songwriter who speaks Spanish as well as English. In his spare time, Ulloa said he loves to produce EDM music, short for Electronic Dance Music.
The Inderkum teen got his start in the entertainment world in 2016 by appearing in “La Banda,” a Univision show produced by Simon Cowell and Ricky Martin. Musicians competed to join a Latin band, MIX5. Ulloa, then just 14 and known by his formal name of Jesus, made it through La Banda’s auditions and first round of cuts but was not chosen for the band.
Asked to describe himself, Ulloa smiles. “I’m usually pretty shy, the first time I meet you, but once I get to you know I’m super annoying.”
Regardless where his career takes him, Ulloa said, his life will be a success “if I set my priorities straight.”
Learn more about Ulloa and his music on his YouTube page here.
