Peso Pluma

Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija (born 15 June 1999), known professionally as Peso Pluma, is a Mexican singer and rapper. Learning to play the guitar during his early teens, he developed his craft by writing songs inspired by regional Mexican music. He achieved moderate success with his first two studio albums, Ah y Qué? (2020) and Efectos Secundarios (2021), which were published under the label El Cartel de Los Ángeles. He followed the albums with the singles "Por Las Noches" and "El Belicón" (with Raúl Vega), with the latter selling 480,000 units and being certified octuple-platinum in the Latin field by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He followed up his success with the EP Sembrando (2022) and the 5× Platinum Latin-certified controversial duet "Siempre Pendientes" with Luis R. Conriquez entering the Billboard Global 200.

His collaborations with Natanael Cano, "AMG" (alongside Gabito Ballesteros) and "PRC", became massive hits in the Latin music community after their use on TikTok, both charting on the Billboard Hot 100. In April 2023, Pluma and Eslabon Armado made history with "Ella Baila Sola", being the first regional Mexican song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at number four. The commercial growth of the song boosted the popularity of the singer worldwide, simultaneously placing eight songs on the Hot 100 in the week of 29 April 2023, becoming the Mexican act with the most Spanish-language entries in the US. At the end of 2023, the song was revealed by Spotify to be the 5th most streamed song worldwide. His third studio album, Génesis (2023), won the Grammy Award for Best Música Mexicana Album (including Tejano). His fourth studio album and double album Éxodo (2024) attained further success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200.

Having a distinct musical style dominated by corridos tumbados (Sinaloa-style sierreño corridos with elements of Latin urban music; specifically Latin hip hop and reggaeton), Pluma is considered to be a major contributor to the revival of corridos. With his crossover appeal, Pluma is the most streamed artist of all time in Mexico.

Hassan Kabande Laija was born on 15 June 1999, in the municipality of Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico to Hassan Kabande and Rubi Laija. The relatives of his mother were residents of Badiraguato, Sinaloa. Both parents were born in Mexico; his father was born in Chiapas and is of Lebanese descent. Growing up in Guadalajara, he began playing the guitar at age 15 by watching videos on YouTube. Pluma started writing songs in a diary, admitting to being ridiculed by peers. Describing his initial approach to songwriting, he explained how writing became his therapy: "That’s where I’d write how I was feeling, then I realized some stuff would rhyme. I kept practicing and became better with time."

After years of writing music together, Pluma worked with his cousin, fellow singer and songwriter, Roberto "Tito" Laija Garcia, also known as Tito Double P, on releasing two live albums, Disco en Vivo on 21 February 2020 and Disco en Vivo, Vol. 2 on 4 July. Published by the independent label El Cartel de los Ángeles, the collections consisted of recordings of his performances around Jalisco. In April 2020, he released his debut studio album, Ah y Qué? featuring twelve songs and collaborations with El Choforo, Lalo Reyes, and Jorge Morales El Jilguero. Pluma published his live recording with Decreto Real of "Relajado Voy" to streaming platforms on 7 October as his first single release. He followed up with the singles "Mil Historias" with Hector Rubio on 13 November and "El Petter" with Decreto Real on 4 December before deciding to work on a new body of work.

Pluma published his second studio album, Efectos Secundarios, on 19 March 2021, preceded by the singles "Con Dinero Baila el Perro" and "Lo Que Me Das", a music video for the latter, as well as songs with previous collaborators El Choforo and Hector Rubio. Focusing on building his sound, Pluma issued the single "Por Las Noches" on 11 June, a slowed-down sierreño track about an unintended breakup. Pluma's "Todo Es Playa", a song about smoking marijuana, was his last single with El Cartel de los Ángeles before he switched labels to Prajin Records under George Prajin. To mark this shift, the singer published the socio-political track "Spiral" on 25 November.

On 4 February 2022, Pluma teamed up with Raul Vega on the single "El Belicón", a corrido anthem on the local narcoculture. Working on-hand with the song's production, Pluma and Vega played the roles of members of a drug cartel for the song's music video directed by Barush, instantly going viral among locals. The track gained momentum after its usage in TikTok and Instagram, with its music video racking 10 million views on YouTube in one month and gaining a lot of playlisting on Spotify. In April, "El Belicón" debuted at number 50 on Billboard Hot Latin Songs, peaking at number 46 two weeks after and becoming Pluma's first entry on the charts.

Pluma released Sembrando, an extended play containing "Signal" with five new songs, on 20 April in celebration of his fans and the recreational holiday. A six-part thematic and fictional story, the singer explained how the EP was recorded simultaneously, with themes "specifically for that day (420)". Upon its release, the EP was credited on solidifying the singer's contribution on the rise of corridos tumbados, a fusion of regional Mexican elements with trap music. He teamed up with Tornillos and Polo Gonzales on the song "Sentosa" for the Latin American esports division of Garena Free Fire. On 3 June, the singer published "30 Tiros", an acoustic corrido about his success story, along with an accompanying music video directed by Barush surrounded by women and luxuries.

The singer collaborated with Luis R. Conriquez on the song "Siempre Pendientes" released on 15 August. The track immediately attracted controversy among news outlets for glorifying labor for drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, containing the lyrics "JGL, traigo en las cachas orgullosamente" and "Cuido la plaza del señor Guzmán". A music video directed by Cesar Acosta starring Pluma and Conriquez holding rifles in the desert supported by a large crew was uploaded to YouTube upon its release, receiving 2 million views in its first 24 hours and being removed from the platform three days later due to public outrage. On 1 October, Pluma sang the song live onstage at the 8 Music Fest in Culiacán, serving as a replacement act for Junior H after his sudden cancelation from the event. In celebration of the city's 491st anniversary, an image of El Chapo was projected on screen for the entirety of his performance, attaining backlash from the audiences, organizers, the city council, and netizens for allegations of promoting drug trafficking. El Colectivo de Mujeres Activas Sinaloenses, A.C. (CMAS AC) publicly denounced the act, claiming how the performance went against the goal of the festivities to mark "the beginning of the end of drug culture in Culiacán". On the association's official Twitter account, they claimed accountability from municipal president Juan de Dios Gámez to apply sanctions on the singer "to guarantee non-repetition", attaching an excerpt of Article 254 of the Penal Code for the State of Sinaloa and indicating the application of up to two years in prison for the accusation. In defense, the city council declared that while it disapproved of the projection of the drug leader's image, the municipal authority was "in favor of the freedom of expression of all artists", also considering how the singer was a last-minute addition. Pluma's songs have also led to threats from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, a rival to the Sinaloa Cartel.

In retrospect of the incident, Pluma defended himself in a 2023 interview with Pepe Garza on YouTube: "They tried to smear me there, but [it's] nothing that cannot be fixed. I kept going forward with my career." He denied rumors of actual connections to the cartel, clarifying, "I am an artist, and we do nothing more than appear on stage and sing what we write." The incident gave attention to the rise of the genre narcocorrido, which comprises ballads dedicated to themes of marijuana and the illegal drug trade. "Siempre Pendientes" peaked at number 27 in Hot Latin Songs, 155 on the Global Excl. U.S., and number 174 on the Global 200, becoming Pluma's first global hit in the Billboard charts. The track was the artist's first entry in Mexico Songs, debuting at number 9 on the week dated 3 September and charting for 20 weeks. Pluma announced "El Gavilán" as his next single due on 21 October, working with Tony Aguirre and becoming his second collaboration with Conriquez. The song rose to number 41 in Hot Latin Songs by the end of the year. On 18 November, he released "Ando Enfocado" with Jaziel Aviles and Codiciado.

Natanael Cano and Gabito Ballesteros co-released "AMG" with the singer on 24 November, marking the highly anticipated first collaboration of Cano and Pluma as forefront figures in the subgenre of corridos tumbados. Written by Tito about the path to success and named after the Mercedes-AMG G 63, a music video was uploaded on Cano's YouTube channel featuring the trio partying in the Mexican city nightlife, splicing in between footage of Mexican brass players. "AMG" debuted at number 25 on Mexico Songs on 17 December. The singer partnered with Alemán on "Delivery" on 9 December, setting an experimental shift in his sound with the prominence of hip-hop beats. On 30 December, American regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida released their album Pa Que Hablen (2022), containing the track "Igualito a Mi Apá" with Pluma.

"AMG" climbed to number 10 in Mexico Songs on the chart dated 14 January 2023 as the singer's first top-ten hit. The song rose to number 3 in the following week after receiving placements on major playlists on Spotify, the premiere of the "Igualito a Mi Apá" music video directed by Miguel, and the announcement of a new collaboration between Pluma and Cano titled "PRC". With 5.8 million US streams, "AMG" debuted at number 92 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart ending on 4 February, marking as the singer's first Hot 100 entry. "AMG" ascended to number 10 on Hot Latin Songs and surged to number one on the Mexico Songs chart dated 25 February, becoming his first chart-topper. On 20 January, he began his nationwide tour for the year at the Camara Sonora in Guadalajara, Jalisco. He concluded the Mexican tour on 26 April to a sold-out audience at the Palenque ExpoGan in Hermosillo, Sonora.