Peso Pluma Breaks Down ‘Éxodo’ Songs

peso pluma breaks down Exodo songs

In less than a year, Peso Pluma became the biggest Mexican music artist in the world: The superstar born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija pushed corridos, or folk songs from his native Mexico, into the mainstream, and now leads the wave of trap-infused corridos. tumbados. 

His resounding success in the charts and in culture, however, has also attracted strong criticism: the 25-year-old singer has become a lightning rod for controversy around the historical link between corridos and narco culture.

Peso Pluma Breaks Down ‘Éxodo’ Songs

And now, Peso Pluma unveils “Éxodo” (“exodus”), his fourth album and the ambitious follow-up to 2023’s Grammy-winning “Génésis.” Peso talks about his newfound fame while showing another side of his artistry, exploring genres like hip-hop and reggaeton. But he's certainly not turning his back on the sound that created him. The corridos that dominate the first part of this record are more fiery, fearless and bélico (Mexican slang for “tough guy”) than before.

Peso Pluma: Exodo [Double P]

Genesis Peso earned Pluma her first-ever Grammy Award and several other record-breaking moments, but it also raised eyebrows on some lyrical subjects, prompting alleged death threats from a cartel. With Éxodo's double album follow-up, the Mexican corridos tumbados star crafted "a direct response to the negative press" to explain "why we do what we do and why we sing what we do," he said. Rolling stone. To show off his range, Peso Pluma breaks down ‘Éxodo’ songs, using the first disc from Éxodo to further explore the regional Mexican music and corridos tumbados he is known for, and the second disc to tap into Latin trap and reggaeton with features from Cardi B, Anitta, Quavo and others.

In “Hollywood,” a swaggering collaboration with Esteban Plazola, Peso Pluma glorifies the difficulty of staying at the top. “I live very fast, the life of an artist / Drugs and women / Another one for the list,” he sings in Spanish. Peso reunites with Eslabon Armado – the Mexican-American group with whom he scored a worldwide hit in last year's “Ella Baila Sola” – and Junior H for the brassy “La Durango,” where they sing about partying with women, bottles of Don Julio and pastel pink (slang for “pink cocaine”).

There are also love songs, enveloped in dreamlike soundscapes. He convincingly shifts into sierreño mode with the genre's resident sad boy, Ivan Cornejo, on the haunting "Reloj," where he seems to discuss his breakup with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole: "That you loved me / I swallowed this story / There are no more reasons to cry for you.”

In the second part of “Éxodo”, Peso completes the connection of corridos with the hip-hop loop. On Cardi B's hit collaboration "Put Em in the Fridge," horns and sharkto guitar colorfully collide with bass-heavy trap beats, the duo unloading deadly rhymes on their enemies. The crossover, however, is not as smooth in 'Gimme a Second' with Rich the Kid: Peso doesn't really find his place on an entirely trap song.

Later, he gets into the reggaeton groove while giving a sexier edge to his raspy vocals, turning up the heat with Brazilian pop star Anitta in the seductive “Bellakeo,” their ode to the perreando, or squeak, on the dance floor. Peso even brings up an infamous sex tape with the sultry reggaeton “Tommy & Pamela” featuring Mexican pop princess Kenia Os.

With “Éxodo,” Peso Pluma proudly continues to expand his vision of Mexican music, continuing his corridos crossover agenda while proving he has become a global pop star. The big changes he undertakes not only pay off, but they showcase his uncompromising spirit.