\n<\/p>\n
Backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, at the Prudential Center in Newark, the out-of-nowhere Mexican superstar Peso Pluma gathered his band for an inspirational talk. That night, he was to become the first Mexican artist to ever perform on the show, but before the dress rehearsal of his song \u201cLady Gaga,\u201d<\/a> he set aside around 10 minutes to reminisce with the musicians who have been with him for years, telling them how none of his success would have been possible without them. At the end, almost the whole band walked out of the room in tears.<\/p>\n Peso was in a reflective mood because of the milestone he was about to achieve. But some somberness was in the air, too. That morning, there were news reports from Mexico about banners posted in Tijuana, signed with the initials of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a powerful rival to the Sinaloa Cartel. They demanded Peso cancel an upcoming concert<\/a> in the city, threatening his safety if he were to perform.<\/p>\n A handful of personal security guards were milling about, but at the moment, there wasn\u2019t much to do besides press on. Before Peso hit the red carpet, he and his manager, George Prajin, huddled quickly, to talk about how to handle any questions about something other than music. Then, he stepped out in front of the paparazzi phalanx, playfully jabbing out his tongue, Jagger-style, and sidled into cheerful interviews with \u201cEntertainment Tonight\u201d and \u201cEl Gordo y La Flaca.\u201d<\/p>\n The following day, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Peso woke up late after a long night at his V.M.A.s after-party. But he was alert, and pointed in underscoring the importance of the prior night\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI took it as an opportunity to show the world what I had,\u201d he said. \u201cI just wanted all these artists to get to know me. To get to know what I do, and to get to know better the genre that I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Peso, 24, is the reigning king of corridos tumbados, a modern version of traditional Mexican music, which has found great success over the last couple of years. Peso sings and raps in a fashion indebted to contemporary hip-hop and reggaeton over production that holds close to traditional forms. (Peso Pluma is both his stage name and how he refers to the musical project and band as a whole.)<\/p>\n In July, \u201cG\u00e9nesis\u201d \u2014 Peso\u2019s third studio album, but his first since refining his sound and growing his ambitions \u2014 made its debut on the Billboard all-genre album chart at No. 3, the highest position ever for an album of regional Mexican music. And it\u2019s had staying power \u2014 more than a dozen weeks later, it remains in the Top 10. On Spotify alone, his songs have been streamed several billion times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There have been occasional moments of Mexican American musical crossover in this country \u2014 the gangster rap of Kid Frost, the emotional ballads of Selena, the lite R&B and hip-hop of Frankie J and Baby Bash. But Mexican performers have largely been relegated to, and musically remained faithful to, the traditions of what is termed regional Mexican music, an umbrella term that encompasses varying styles from different parts of the country and the southwestern United States. Peso has reframed this music from regional to global. He has collaborated with artists from across the Spanish-speaking world \u2014 the Puerto Rican rapper Eladio Carri\u00f3n, the Dominican dembow star El Alfa, the superstar Argentine producer Bizarrap. And his song \u201cElla Baila Sola\u201d \u2014 a collaboration with Eslabon Armado \u2014 was the first Mexican song to hit the Top 5 on the Billboard all-genre Hot 100<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Peso \u2014 whose real name is Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija \u2014 was born in Guadalajara, and sometimes spent time in Sinaloa with family as a child. He found inspiration in the work of Chalino S\u00e1nchez, a seminal singer of narcocorridos, which tell stories about the Mexican drug trade. Peso fell for \u201chis raspy voice, his very unique way to sing corridos, his very unique way to sing romantic songs,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen this type of music was playing in the car, I literally took my earphones out to hear what he was saying.\u201d<\/p>\n Peso also gravitated to Ariel Camacho, a rising young star of the 2010s known for impressive guitar playing. (Sanchez was murdered in 1992; Camacho died in a car accident in 2015.)<\/p>\n But even though Peso enjoyed that music, he didn\u2019t feel particularly connected to its aesthetics, which tend toward crisp Western wear, embroidered suits and cowboy boots.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I was a kid, my favorite genres have always been reggaeton and hip-hop,\u201d he said. (He spent some of his teenage years in San Antonio and New York, where he found himself gravitating to the likes of Kanye West and Drake.) \u201cThat\u2019s why I don\u2019t wear the sombreros. I don\u2019t wear the boots. I\u2019m not that.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he dresses like a rapper \u2014 loud designer clothes, expensive jewelry and watches that a member of his entourage is tasked with carrying around in soft blue cases from the Atlanta celebrity jeweler Icebox<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On the V.M.A.s stage, he was dressed in all black, like a luxury spider \u2014 wide and angular puffy vest, shamelessly wide and crinkly pants, short leather gloves and boxy sunglasses. Backstage, he gamely stood for a signature antic TikTok interrogation about his outfit from the social media personality Christoosmoove, a clip<\/a> that was viewed over 10 million times.<\/p>\n