Peso Pluma’s Génesis Proves Why He’s the Poster Boy of Regional Mexican Music’s Revival

It’s a Wednesday afternoon, the day before Peso Pluma’s highly anticipated album Génesis drops, and the Mexican regional artist is as chill as can be. Talking over Zoom in a logo-print Burberry t-shirt and a backwards black fitted hat, covering his notable “Peso Pluma cut” (a mullet with a sideburn fade), he looks comfortable in his new role as one of the leading Mexican artists of his generation. “I'm not nervous at all. I'm actually pretty excited,” he says calmly.

He’s not the only one. There’s a lot of excitement around the Guadalajara-born artist's musical ascension. Peso Pluma is, in many ways, the poster boy for regional Mexican music’s revival. Although regional Mexican, which encompasses genres like banda, rancheras, and corridos, has been around for centuries, its marked horns and percussions have largely been relegated to family house parties; the ones where the elders are dancing in the living room, while the cousins of various ages are listening to hip-hop and reggaeton in someone’s room. Not anymore. Peso Pluma’s raspy voice and mix of corridos tumbados with Latin trap is heard from clubs, to car speakers, and now, to U.S. arenas. As we talk, the talent is getting ready for a show in New Orleans. 

“I’m doing my first U.S. tour — and we’re doing arenas now. We’re not doing theaters anymore,” he says, which is a testament to how much he’s grown. “I’m so grateful that every show has been sold out and how every city shows so much love and support.” 

The people love him. He has the numbers and virality to show for it. His notable collab with Eslabón Armado for “Ella Baila Sola” trended on TikTok before it made its way to the Billboard 100, making history as the first regional Mexican song to reach No 1. From popping out on the main stage at Coachella as Becky G’s surprise guest on weekend 1, performing their song “Chanel” together for the first time, to becoming the first regional Mexican artist to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2023 has encompassed many firsts for the rapper, singer, and songwriter. 

While the 24-year-old rising star seemingly feels like an overnight sensation, he has been releasing music since 2020. Dropping previous albums Ah y Que? and Efectos Secundarios, respectively, his first taste of virality came in 2022 with his single “El Belicón” with Raúl Vega, which has garnered 222 million views on Youtube at the time of writing. A narcocorrido — a corrido about narcos that glamorize drug trafficking — the song has been highly criticized by Mexican folks for romanticizing the drug lord lifestyle. Recently, when the Los Angeles Times asked him about it, Peso Pluma made it clear it’s a topic of discussion he doesn’t want to have. No, really. He said “nah” and hung up on the journalist.

The artist is open to talking about his new music, though. He dropped Génesis, a 14-track record sprinkled with features from Junior H, Tito Double P, Jasiel Nuñez, Eladio Carrión, Natanael Cano, Luis R Conriquez, and more, on Thursday under his new label Double P Records, in partnership with music executive George Prajin. “This project took several years to put together. There are songs on the album that I had saved for two-to-three years because I wasn’t ready to release them yet. I worked on this album a lot. I wanted to give my people a project that is extraordinary — an album that took a lot of work, effort, and hours of people that are really important in order to complete the album.”

According to Doble P, there are songs for everyone on the LP. “What I want people to take away from it is this: to simply enjoy all of it,” he says, talking about the album and life overall. “If you want to cry, you will see songs that want to make you cry. If you want to dance, there are going to be songs that will make you want to dance. The energy of this album is very different. It's for people of all ages, and I think that's the most important thing. It's a very good mix in general, and I appreciate all the support that people are giving me. I want the people who have been supporting me to receive the good vibes from the album.”

As a young kid growing up in Mexico, Pluma, born Hassan Laija, had big dreams of being a soccer player before turning to music. “[Soccer] was part of my daily basis. Es algo muy normal en México. You wake up, live, and eat soccer. I lived this way since I was a kid, but once I got older, I realized that I wanted to 100% dedicate myself to music. I didn't know if it was to be a singer, a producer, or manager, but I knew that I wanted to dedicate my time to it.”

Musically, he says he’s been most inspired by Puerto Rican reggaeton legends, like Daddy Yankee and Don Omar, as well as Black American artists like Dr. Dre and the polarizing Kanye West. He says these sounds shape his style of regional Mexican music. He’s not alone in making genres long relegated to older crowds cool again to young people. Artists like Natanael Cano, Junior H, Grupo Frontera, and many others have created a lane for themselves in música regional mexicana, too — and Pluma now calls many of them friends. “Two people really important to my career, who I learned alot from, are Luis R Conriquez and Natanael Cano. They are my friends. I have a great relationship with them, and I’ve had great moments with them in my career. They've both helped me grow a lot as an artist and also as a person.” 

And he has been growing, with his popularity reaching far outside of Mexico, Latin America, or even the United States. When asked about feeling any pressure of being today’s poster boy of Mexican regional music, he, still poised, says he’s not really fazed; somehow, his rise keeps him grounded. “I think pressure is gonna always be there. Pressure is necessary. Without that pressure, I'd be very relaxed. Music today gets consumed so fast. People can be listening to a song today and then two days later a different song, forgetting about the first song. So that's why we keep working; that's why we don't stop.” He really doesn’t. While on tour and celebrating the release of Génesis, Doble P is already working on his next project. “We're never stopping, and that's part of the pressure that goes with being [a part of this world].” 

As his sound continues to evolve, he commits to staying true to his roots, no matter who he works with. For instance, in “PLEBADA,” his latest dembow collab with Dominican Republic's El Alfa, he sprinkles in Mexican slang, taking a cue, of course, from the one who first started doing lo que dio la gana, Bad Bunny.

“Little by little, that’s how people are going to understand our culture, lingo, and the vocabulary that we utilize," Peso Pluma says. "I think my identity has always been muy única, very original, and there are people who are copying my style. But that just means I am doing things right. I’m proud things are turning out this way.”