The fact that Peso Pluma has become a driving force in the growth in popularity of regional Mexican music is a sign of how much the centuries- old genre has evolved in recent years.
“He looks like a rocker; maybe he could be a rapper,” Peso’s manager, George Prajin, says of the 24-year-old artist. “The last thing he looks like is a regional Mexican singer.”
Born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, Peso attended high school in Texas, but spent a majority of his early up bringing in his family’s home in Guadalajara, Mexico. His influences include everything from reggaeton to hip-hop, trap to the traditional Mexican folk songs — or corridos — he grew up hearing at home. That distinct combination of sounds, just as borderless as they are genre-bending, has landed him and acts like Eslabon Armado, Junior H and Fuerza Regida on the upper reaches of the U.S. charts for the first time in Mexican music history.
For older generations, música Mexicana — comprising corridos, banda, norteño, mariachi and sierreño, among other subgenres — was weighed down by its “regional” label and widely viewed as one-size-fits- all. Even in Mexico, the genre was stigmatized as poor man’s music, with traditional corridos catering to farmworkers and border communities. But the appreciation for the many varieties of regional Mexican music gained momentum toward the end of the past decade, when acts like Natanael Cano began pushing the boundaries of the genre’s traditional sound by blending in hip-hop beat patterns, raps and street slang.
Krystina De Luna, head of editorial for música Mexicana for Apple Music, describes the genre — and Peso’s impact — as more of a “cultural movement.” Gen Z artists have shifted and broadened the genre culturally, too, with female and LGBTQ artists, including Conexión Divina, Michelle BI and Michelle Maciel, marking their entrance.
“Artists in the genre have always pulled inspiration from traditional sounds, which has allowed this music to connect generations of listeners,” DeLuna says. “Artists like Natanael Cano, Peso Pluma and Carin León have taken that connection and amplified it.”
In 2020, Peso Pluma (which translates to “feather-weight”) began releasing songs about love and heart- ache while also making controversy-stirring nods to the gangster lifestyle in Mexico. Within the first six months of him partnering with Prajin, who has a long history in the biz, the pair agreed to renegotiate Peso’s deal to make him his business partner.
The decision, Prajin insists, was no vanity move, given Peso’s production, songwriting and A&R skills. In fact, the artist had expected to become a producer or an engineer, and began making his own music along the way, recruiting his cousin Tito Laija to compose his songs. Earlier this year, Prajin and Peso jointly launched Double P Records, a label the latter says was born in order to connect and amplify his circle of artists, songwriters and producers. Naturally, Peso is Double P Records’ head of A&R and oversees other creative responsibilities (and Laija is signed to the label).
“These artists and composers started as my family, but we’re in business together now,” Peso says. “We’ve known each other for years, and more than launching a career, I feel it’s only natural to uplift new talent.”
Prajin similarly felt an obligation to nurture Peso’s business acumen. “At that point, we’re not just developing an artist — there’s bigger potential there,” he says. “Today, artists have an opportunity to be really tapped into their business, and they should be. It’s rare to find an artist in the position
that Peso is in now, but there are probably a lot of artists that have that similar drive and skill set. Unfortunately, they’re not in the right situations. So I do my best to push his interests forward.”
In their earliest days together, Prajin recalls tasking Peso with writing a list of his dream collaborators. The pair sat down and organized the names according to who they would reach out to first, starting with música Mexicana artists. Reggaeton, trap and rap artists would come later.
“I told the whole team, we’re going all in — whatever it takes,” Prajin says. “Fortunately, we didn’t have to offer crazy money for verses or anything like that. But even if I had to, I would have bet every- thing on the kid.” Adds Pluma, “Not all collaborations are good. But Mexican artists were lacking in supporting one another. What we needed was to get together and present Mexico to the world.”
A majority of Peso’s biggest hits this year have featured Mexican artists across the country’s sub- genres, from reggaeton to corridos. “La Bebe,” with Yng Lvcas, and Eslabon Armado’s “Ella Baila Sola,” are both in the Hitmakers Top 25.
Along with topping the charts in multiple Spanish-speaking countries, Pluma’s album “Génesis” debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in June and has remained in the Top 10 for most of the 20 weeks since its arrival. It also spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the publication’s Top Latin Albums chart, the most for a regional Mexican album.
“We see people at Peso’s concerts that don’t even speak Spanish,” Prajin says. “That level of appreciation and understanding is the goal for any artist.”
The U.S. has responded to the success of música Mexicana’s 2023 ambassador by expanding its stake in budding artists. Warner Music Mexico has recently strengthened its música Mexicana division by adding new label heads in Los Angeles, while Interscope won a highly competitive bidding deal for 19-year-old Ivan Cornejo.
“I think that we’re kind of coming toward the end of a chapter with música Mexicana, and what follows is more innovation and variety,” says Nir Seroussi, executive VP of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. “You’re always going to have your more traditional artists. But then on the other end, you’ve got special cases like Ivan Cornejo, who to me sounds like a mixture of Johnny Cash and Billie Eilish over those signature regional guitars.”
Since Peso’s ascent, new artists have emerged with regional-inspired projects, creating an endless list of sonic combinations. Cornejo, for example, is credited with putting pop-rock sierreño on the map. The communities within the genre are vast, and the fans are highly engaged.
“At the end of the day, I connect with the people who send me messages every day. The fans who have supported me from the beginning — since I had 1,000 listeners,” Peso told Variety in April. “They have always been there and still continue to support us. That’s very real to me, and everything else is a bonus.”
