Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija is having his moment. Better known as Peso Pluma, the young singer from Jalisco, Mexico, has embarked on his first U.S. tour that should solidify him as one of the biggest names in music, no matter the language or genre.
Commercially, there is little doubt that Peso Pluma is in a class of his own. “Genesis,” his third album in his short two-year career, has enjoyed one of the best releases, in terms of streams on Spotify and Apple Music, in the history of Mexican regional music.
He has 25 songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart at once and former President Obama included his tune “Le Bebé” on his summer playlist.
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Aside from the gaudy numbers, the key ingredient to Peso Pluma’s success has been his ability to mix elements of traditional Mexican music with more youthful influences from this side of the border, like trap and hip-hop.
During the second of two sold-out shows at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, he showed his fans why he’s at the top of the charts from the moment he stepped on stage in all black with a black Dodgers baseball cap, in contrast to the more traditional look of sombreros and boots used by other artists in the regional Mexican genre.
And while he spoke to the crowd in Spanish, many in the audience chose to respond in English which showed the cross-cultural impact that Peso Pluma’s music has had on U.S. Latinos.
The set list was centered on the corridos tumbados, an offshoot of the narcocorridos popularized by veteran acts like Los Tigres del Norte and Los Tucanes de Tijuana and with topics focused on the Mexican drug trade. The lack of electronic instruments and percussion while highlighting the style of the Sierreño acoustic guitars played perfectly with Peso Pluma’s vocal stylings, interspersed with elements of hip-hop.
Musically, Peso Pluma has pushed the boundaries of the genre by placing more emphasis on the trombone while playing a repeating line of almost hypnotic trumpets inspired by Sinaloa banda style. This can be intoxicating or can feel repetitive depending on the tastes of the listener.
In Inglewood, it was clearly the former as evidenced by the reaction to one of his more controversial songs, “Siempre Pendiente.” The song features references to the drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán and the video was censored by YouTube because it showed Peso Pluma with a gun while singing next to the songwriter Luis R. Conriquez.
There were nods to the more traditional spaces within the corrida movement, especially with the appearance of the accordion player José Darey Castro on the songs “VVS” and “Mala rachas.”
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Later, two other songs with clear references to the Guzmán clan — “El Gavilán” y “El Gavilán 2,” highlighted the voice of Peso Pluma’s main songwriter and cousin Roberto “Tito” Laija.
Aside from the controversial lyrics to some of his songs, the performance seemed to only flirt with the forbidden, siding more with the fascination of those on the margins of society as opposed to openly reveling in the illegality.
Still some groups in Mexico have taken note of the line Peso Pluma has tried to walk with the darker elements of society. During a show in Culiacán, Mexico, in 2022, the Colectivo de Mujeres Activas Sinaloenses, A.C. protested his performance over the imagery of El Chapo during his concerts.
Thursday’s concert at the YouTube Theater was not only composed of the narcocorridos. Perhaps it was a sincere attempt by Peso Pluma to expand his range or a shift toward more commercial material, but there was a clear desire to give wider acceptance to other styles and types of lyrics.
No better example of this was his biggest hit so far, “Ella Baila Sola,” which deals with romantic conquest. The song, performed with the band Eslabón Armado, rocketed Peso Pluma into the stratosphere after he performed it on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon” in April.
But Peso Pluma is also able to show his romantic side. Midway through the show he showed his range with the song “Luna,” a melancholy ballad sung over a quiet acoustic guitar. And later both “Bye” and “Por las noches” gave the show its quieter moments.
Reggaetón made an appearance with “Le Bebé” and proved to be one of the highlights of the show as Mexican rapper Yng Lucas came out to perform the song with Peso Pluma.
Musically, Peso Pluma has been compared to the legendary Chalino Sánchez, which implies he lacks vocal range. But at the YouTube Theater he adapted without problems to the different styles and never lost the potency of his voice.
The most impressive aspect of his performance was his constant movement, his ability to reach deep into the crowd and his dance moves inspired by hip-hop. It was clear he didn’t lose any fans after the two Los Angeles area shows.
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