Peso Pluma Knew His Voice ‘Was Right’ for Regional Mexican: ‘Had a Gift’
Peso Pluma, 24, sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about his record-breaking year, saying his musical pursuits are “for the culture and for nothing else.”
“To be recognized as a Mexican artist across the globe is something big,” the singer explained. “That alone makes me proud, and it’s not just me here doing this.”
This year, the Zapopan-born star saw “Ella Baila Sola” become the first Regional Mexican song to top the Billboard Global 200 chart. He also became the first of his genre to grace Jimmy Fallon‘s stage back in April. He’s not done dreaming, though: “When I imagine myself with a Grammy in hand, that’s like me saying, ‘Arriba, Mexico!'”
Throughout the interview, Peso Pluma gave us tons of gems, including how he knew Regional Mexicana was his destiny. His main indicator? Well, his trademark, naturally “hoarse” voice.
“I pursued regional Mexican music because I knew my voice was right for it and I knew I had a gift for composing in that style,” he recalled. With tracks like “Ella Baila Sola,” “La Bebe (Remix),” “QLONA,” and his Bizarrap session all reaching the Top 5 on Spotify’s Global chart, Peso Pluma’s gift just keeps giving.
Peso Pluma said that Regional Mexican stars have “been paving the way for a long time”
While the corridos tumbados singer is hard at work in his Doble P tour, his success isn’t lost on him. “It’s been huge, filling arenas, filling stadiums.”
In fact, touring is his favorite part of the job. “For each show to be sold out and for each city to have people showing up with their full heart and soul is what I’m enjoying most out of this.”
However, his biggest pinch-me moments involve collaborating with major artists like Becky G, Natanael Cano, Bizarrap, El Alfa, and more. He explained, “When I have special guests, that’s when I really feel how far we’ve come.”
“When I was a kid, I never imagined having these huge collaborations with people that I listened to,” he added. “Now, being able to have people from different countries and cultures that I’ve recorded with makes me happy.”
And while some may see Regional Mexican music’s global rise as an overnight phenomenon, it’s far from it. As Peso Pluma explained to Rolling Stone, “I think we’ve been paving the way for a long time.” He then named notable acts like Natanael Cano and El Camacho.
Describing musicians who have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the genre, Peso Pluma continued, “So many artists worked for this to get to the level where it is, and now we’re each lending each other a hand to make things happen.”
Continuing, “A lot of artists did their part for this to happen globally.”
In essence, for the “Quema” singer, one of the best parts of singing Regional Mexicana tracks is the comunidad that comes with it.
“I’m happy I get to say there’s a community within regional music,” he said. “We all want to be there for each other and represent Mexico.”
The singer said he is “grateful” to Eslabon Armado’s Pedro Tovar for “Ella Baila Sola”
Peso Pluma always knew he had “the voice” for Regional Mexican music, describing, “[I knew] I could launch a career doing corridos and other Mexican sounds.”
However, he also listened to reggaeton and hip-hop growing up and loves collaborating with artists in those genres. “That’s what I’ve been doing, collaborating with artists I’ve enjoyed and people I have chemistry with.” So far, that list includes El Alfa, Jhay Cortez, Karol G, and several more.
Still, there’s no doubt Peso Pluma’s hit collaboration with Eslabon Armado, “Ella Baila Sola,” became his golden ticket. He now looks back, “I’m so grateful for everyone who played a role in that song, especially Pedro Tovar, who wrote the song and, as part of Eslabón Armado, performed it.”
The 24-year-old singer looked back at the process of making the hit song — and how he knew it had “global” potential.
“We met up in a studio in Los Angeles, Pedro from Eslabón Armado and me,” he remembered. “What he kept saying to me was that he wanted to bring out the particular sound of my voice, which is unique.”
By that “unique” and “special” quality, Peso Pluma spoke about his emblematic, raspy vocals. “Because my voice is hoarse, they like that it’s natural and I’m not trying to oversing; it’s just my voice.” Once the song was done, he remembers telling Tovar, “We’re going to go global.” Peso Pluma, a psychic king!
Still, the singer asserts he recorded the song because he “adored” it — not because he thought it would be successful. “I knew it had a potential to go global, but independently of what ended up happening, I just adored that track…It was a huge source of pride to be able to represent.”
Also seen in Rolling Stone’s print magazine? Well, apparently, Peso Pluma really loves his mom’s home-cooked food, especially sopa de fideo, machaca, and asado sinaloense:
As one X user recently noted, Peso Pluma’s success, along with the global rise of música Mexicana, is a huge deal. “Being Sonorense this means a lot to see Mexican Regional on stage like this for such a big audience in the U.S.”
“For Peso Pluma to break the barrier and make it here is huge for the culture.”
