Speaker 1: Welcome back to another Icons in the making, where instead
Speaker 1: of looking back, we're taking a little look forward.
Speaker 2: And it's one of our favorites to be honest.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So join us one more time as we peer
Speaker 1: into the future to talk about a new generation of icons.
Speaker 1: These icons are all about fancy, fast cars and drinking
Speaker 1: Don Perignon, Lady.
Speaker 2: Gaga and that's rich bitch. I'm your host, Lilianavosca and
Speaker 2: I'm Joseph Carrio and this is Becoming an Icon.
Speaker 1: A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on
Speaker 1: how today's most famous latinv stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2: And given the world some extra leuble. Sit back and
Speaker 2: get comfortable.
Speaker 3: Because we are going in the only way we know
Speaker 3: how with Buena's with us, whenasriesas some es, and a
Speaker 3: lot of opinions, as we relive their greatest achievements on
Speaker 3: our journey to find out what makes them so iconic.
Speaker 1: Okay, Joseph, So, just like we did a few moons
Speaker 1: ago with the future Queens of Reggaeton, today we're going
Speaker 1: to take a peek into the future of the ones
Speaker 1: responsible for making Musika Mexicana affectually known as Gorridosumbus and.
Speaker 2: You already know we're not doing this alone.
Speaker 1: Hanging we are stronger as three, and one of our
Speaker 1: favorite journalists is here with us, joining us today on
Speaker 1: becoming an icon is Thomas Mire, who is a staff
Speaker 1: writer at Rolling Stone, where he covers some of the
Speaker 1: biggest names in pop and Latin music and of course
Speaker 1: all things trending now. Before he worked at Rolling Stone,
Speaker 1: Thomas was a digital music writer at People and an
Speaker 1: intern at the La Times and also fact he was
Speaker 1: also an intern at The Today Show and helped produce
Speaker 1: an amazing interview with John Legend. For me, one of
Speaker 1: the best things about the Moss is he's Mexicano, just
Speaker 1: like Joseph and I. And to be honest, you guys,
Speaker 1: he's one of the best and just truly the brightest
Speaker 1: in the music industry right now.
Speaker 2: I am so excited to see where he goes.
Speaker 1: And Joseph the Moss is on the show with us
Speaker 1: a few times, right, honey.
Speaker 3: He has been here to spill the he and share
Speaker 3: his music wisdom and to show us the future of
Speaker 3: Latin music. So we love to have him with us,
Speaker 3: and he's already pretty much part of the family.
Speaker 1: He's basically our third co host, so the mass me
Speaker 1: welcome back to becoming an icon.
Speaker 4: Hey y'all, how y'all doing. I feel like that meme
Speaker 4: of when they walk into the room and they're.
Speaker 2: Like, hey, I.
Speaker 5: Keep coming back.
Speaker 2: I know, it's like it's you again. We love you.
Speaker 1: Right, It's like your brims that like are always at
Speaker 1: your house and you're like, you don't live here, and
Speaker 1: they're like, oh.
Speaker 2: I don't live here. Yeah, just expect.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: Last time we heard from you, Thomas, I think we
Speaker 1: were right in the middle of our season and we
Speaker 1: had been talking about Guanga, Celia, Selina and I think
Speaker 1: since then we've also covered Christina Aguilera, Mana Vicente Fernandez, Willi, Colonne,
Speaker 1: and Talia. And you actually told us one of the
Speaker 1: most moving stories I think I've heard ever on this
Speaker 1: show about your experience with Digres del Norte.
Speaker 2: You actually used.
Speaker 1: Their song to create some connection and comfort in coming
Speaker 1: out to your dad.
Speaker 5: Right, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4: That song brings me back so much joy and thinking
Speaker 4: about it always makes me super emotional.
Speaker 1: I can't really listen to that song without thinking about
Speaker 1: you and also really thinking about how that isn't obviously
Speaker 1: it's such an important memory for you, but that's probably
Speaker 1: a shared experience for a lot of young Latinos like
Speaker 1: I you know what I mean. I think so many
Speaker 1: people have found connection through that song, and it's kind
Speaker 1: of like, I think that's the purpose of songwriting, right,
Speaker 1: It's like to give people a way to connect outside
Speaker 1: of just using their words. It's like you use their
Speaker 1: words to find connection with the people that important in
Speaker 1: your life. So I think think it is in Northea,
Speaker 1: I mean, have brought people together in so many ways
Speaker 1: unexpected for some right, but whether they're telling the stories
Speaker 1: of got pacinos or factory workers, or helping you connect
Speaker 1: with your father on coming out. You know, like Mexican
Speaker 1: and Latinos in the US have always seen their life
Speaker 1: really being represented through these biggest songs.
Speaker 2: But now the landscape has changed.
Speaker 3: There's a new generation of icons in the regional Mexicano scene,
Speaker 3: the ones breaking the charts for their corridos to battles.
Speaker 3: So what are your thoughts on the regional Mexicano scene
Speaker 3: the mass You.
Speaker 4: Know what, We've talked a lot about this in the
Speaker 4: industry and among journalists and people within the people that
Speaker 4: are making the music about changing the word that we
Speaker 4: use to describe Mexican music, and now there's this term.
Speaker 4: It's very simpleman. So it's just Mexican music as as
Speaker 4: an overarching term for the different genres that come out
Speaker 4: of Mexico, because the term dejonal might suggest like coming
Speaker 4: from certain regions in the country, which is true, sure,
Speaker 4: But since Mexican music has become so global now, it's
Speaker 4: become this like giant entity with so many of these
Speaker 4: of these different branches, and it's pretty sick to see
Speaker 4: something like Corridos Tombalo's grab what's been built and run
Speaker 4: with it and become what's introduced Mexican music to a
Speaker 4: massive global audience.
Speaker 3: Wait, one of the craziest things is that I don't know, Liliana,
Speaker 3: if you know this or not, but you were at
Speaker 3: a contract and I was obviously stalking your Instagram and
Speaker 3: you saw bestl Pluma and I had no idea who
Speaker 3: that was.
Speaker 2: And you were like talking about pestol Ploma like I should.
Speaker 3: Have because like we have a podcast about Mesic and
Speaker 3: I had no idea. But what contract was this that
Speaker 3: you had seen him? Or why did you see pestl ploma.
Speaker 3: I just want to remember.
Speaker 5: I think it was that he had little bit of
Speaker 5: like an Amazon Music event.
Speaker 4: He was doing a big concert for that first album
Speaker 4: that he made, and it was a way of like
Speaker 4: bringing together like this big impact that he had with
Speaker 4: Ami La Sola, his song with Iso, that was the
Speaker 4: one that completely took over and kind of propelled the
Speaker 4: genre to the height that it is right now, for sure.
Speaker 2: And really quickly.
Speaker 1: We are actually going to get to this later in
Speaker 1: the episode, right We're going to be talking about.
Speaker 2: Fesl, Plumaira and Nada.
Speaker 1: But do you think there was a pivotal moment that
Speaker 1: allowed you know, call it Mexican music or specifically these
Speaker 1: corridos umbos, Like do you think there was that one
Speaker 1: moment and was it Besso's moment that really accelerated the
Speaker 1: pace of the acceptance of this music on a more
Speaker 1: global scale, Because for me, the answer is yes. Like
Speaker 1: when I saw him on with Jimmy Fallon, I thought,
Speaker 1: what in the fuck, Like I've grown up with this music.
Speaker 1: I never thought I would see the day were those
Speaker 1: kinds of songs that like Mike Yos listened to at
Speaker 1: the Gannasada would now be on the Tonight Show with
Speaker 1: Jimmy Fallon, like that was a really big deal, And
Speaker 1: I just want to talk about for you as a journalist,
Speaker 1: did that feel as significant for you as it did
Speaker 1: for me? Or did you think did you see this
Speaker 1: coming long before it happened.
Speaker 5: No, I think you're definitely right.
Speaker 4: I think that moment on on like Late Night Show,
Speaker 4: it was a Late Night Show history moment, you know,
Speaker 4: having a Mexican artist on a platform that big, not
Speaker 4: just performing but doing a full interview, and it was
Speaker 4: bringing what my parents were listening to in my at
Speaker 4: the Carnasada, but propelling it to a new generation of
Speaker 4: listeners that are born in the US like I am,
Speaker 4: and are listening to music in both Spanish and English,
Speaker 4: but are still connected to those deep Mexican roots. And
Speaker 4: I think that's what makes this different. It's not Lostida's
Speaker 4: at northey're born in Mexico making music for Mexican people
Speaker 4: who now live here. It's the kids of Lostida's at
Speaker 4: Norte making music for kids who born here.
Speaker 5: And I think that that's what I'm saying now right, And.
Speaker 3: You know it's funny you saying that, because I feel
Speaker 3: like it's also helping the Leonosabo kids learn Spanish just
Speaker 3: you know, because they know some words, but they're just
Speaker 3: getting a little bit more familiar with singing it because
Speaker 3: the sound is cool, like as opposed to being embarrassed,
Speaker 3: where you know, someone might have felt like that before
Speaker 3: because the music wasn't ass popular.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's always this kind of you know,
Speaker 1: when you're first generation, like I am right born here,
Speaker 1: both my parents not born here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're kind of like ni that, yimi that yem.
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, That's what I'm saying, you know, And sometimes
Speaker 1: you're like, but am I American?
Speaker 2: Or am I Mexican? Can I be both?
Speaker 1: And so to have this music Gomas, like you said,
Speaker 1: that's really derivative of our parents' generation, but first and
Speaker 1: foremost created for this generation, it feels like we now
Speaker 1: have something of our own, and I think that's a
Speaker 1: really beautiful.
Speaker 2: Space to exist in.
Speaker 1: And I do want to quickly do a Gorrillos bumbados
Speaker 1: one oh one, because a lot of our listeners like
Speaker 1: this could be the first time they're really assigning the
Speaker 1: genre to hearing that music, You're like, well, I've heard it.
Speaker 2: I like it, but what exactly is it?
Speaker 1: So if you're listening and you're not too familiar with
Speaker 1: the genre, So these songs come from classic Mexican gorridos, right, which,
Speaker 1: like Domas was saying, is kind of this like subgenre
Speaker 1: of regional Mexican music, and gorridos umbados kind of combine
Speaker 1: the sounds of regional Mexican music with more modern sounds,
Speaker 1: so things that you might hear in more urban music,
Speaker 1: whether that's like hip hop or tracked.
Speaker 2: Right. And when you look at lyrics right.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you see a lot of explicit content in there,
Speaker 1: not gonna lie, and they do address a lot of
Speaker 1: like common themes that you used to see present in
Speaker 1: Mexico and across Mexico, so like violence, life in different
Speaker 1: types of neighborhoods. There's a lot of references to firearms.
Speaker 1: Domas and I leave anything out like goes that a
Speaker 1: good explanation of what it kind of is.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 4: I think if you think of corridos, the classic corrido,
Speaker 4: it's storytelling at its finest. It's telling a story about
Speaker 4: what happened in your pueblo that you want to share
Speaker 4: with another bueblo. That's how they would get stories across
Speaker 4: and tell the stories of their communities in Mexico.
Speaker 5: And so now we bring that to the.
Speaker 4: Twenty first century with the existence of rap and hip
Speaker 4: hop and also the changing landscape of like nacuoculture in Mexico,
Speaker 4: and it's now kids singing about their current lifestyles and
Speaker 4: what they're going through and they're living today. So it's
Speaker 4: bringing those like that same sort of storytelling but to
Speaker 4: the twenty first century and with a touch of like personality.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I was going to say, I kind of
Speaker 3: feel like sometimes the song can feel a little emo
Speaker 3: like emo, like how Juice World had emo rap totally,
Speaker 3: Like I kind of feel like they talk about like
Speaker 3: it's a little more emotional than just like what it
Speaker 3: used to be the corridos that we heard before, Like
Speaker 3: these guys are also just kind of like, oh well,
Speaker 3: I'm kind of going through.
Speaker 2: This where it wasn't really like that before.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you'll here, of course, like how Leanna was
Speaker 4: saying about there being parties and drugs maybe in violence.
Speaker 4: But there's also a lot of the Emao songs of
Speaker 4: like I Miss You So Much. There's one Vessel Pluma
Speaker 4: song called Lagunas where he sings with this songwriter Hasel
Speaker 4: Nunez about swimming through lagunas like these poles of water
Speaker 4: in my brain of how much I love you and
Speaker 4: miss you and and it's like these displays of affection
Speaker 4: that you see in Mexican telenovela, but you're hearing them
Speaker 4: in a corrido tumbalo maybe.
Speaker 2: H yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean that's what I found about it, And I
Speaker 1: think it's so important that you brought that up, because
Speaker 1: I do think that storytelling is at the forefront, right,
Speaker 1: like when you think of the word gorrido, right, Like
Speaker 1: we're literally running our stories from town to town, and
Speaker 1: now these kids are using a different medium to tell
Speaker 1: those stories, right, Like they didn't have TikTok back then.
Speaker 1: Like now we're sharing this socially, right, We're able to
Speaker 1: share these stories digitally with each other. And I think
Speaker 1: that has really led to this explosion of this music,
Speaker 1: because you can live in the farthest end of the
Speaker 1: world and still be able to hear a story that
Speaker 1: you connect with musically, which I think is amazing. But
Speaker 1: I also from a fashion perspective, what I think is
Speaker 1: amazing is when I think about Lospiga's right I think
Speaker 1: of like a very classic Mexican dress, right, Like I'm
Speaker 1: thinking of the jeans, the bortas, like the big belt buckle,
Speaker 1: the sombreros.
Speaker 2: Like there's horses in the videos.
Speaker 1: These guys like Beeso Pluma Nada. That's not how they're dressing.
Speaker 1: I mean they are in like head to toe designer.
Speaker 1: They're like cruisin on ATVs in the desert. They have
Speaker 1: really adopted a very different set of visuals to represent
Speaker 1: their music. Do you think that's also helped really popularize
Speaker 1: the genre as well?
Speaker 5: I think so.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think it's part of that's just part
Speaker 4: of their lifestyle now. You know, you see kids in
Speaker 4: Mexico and they're not going to be wearing sombreros and
Speaker 4: writing horses, you know, like a mixed no. And it
Speaker 4: goes back to those hip hop influences a lot of
Speaker 4: the times as well. You think of somebody like Naa
Speaker 4: Nata who came to the US, or for Satahia that
Speaker 4: grew up in southern California surrounded by these neighborhoods that
Speaker 4: were probably Black dominated. We're black and Latino dominated, and
Speaker 4: those two cultures come together to produce what we're seeing now.
Speaker 4: With with the Corrios Tomlos that connects specifically with the
Speaker 4: kids that were born over here, you know, and those
Speaker 4: no kids that you were mentioning Jessin do.
Speaker 2: You know Sabo, No question about it.
Speaker 1: And I think with this explosion in their popularity, I
Speaker 1: want to get into them specifically.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: We keep saying the same three names because those are
Speaker 1: the ones that keep coming up for us, so besl Pluma,
Speaker 1: Natan and Sara Hida. And as we were producing this
Speaker 1: episode and writing it, we're like, we need to get
Speaker 1: themas in here to really fill us in on how
Speaker 1: they started and most importantly where they're going. Right, we
Speaker 1: want to know what the future is going to look
Speaker 1: like for them. So let's kick it off with bessel Pluma.
Speaker 1: How do you think Besl became the face of this
Speaker 1: genre the mus.
Speaker 4: I mean, that's that's such a loaded question, you know,
Speaker 4: because it took four or five six bezol Pluma before
Speaker 4: bezl Pluma for us to get the one that would
Speaker 4: really propel the genre. And it was in part are
Speaker 4: very much thanks to a by La Sola, which is
Speaker 4: actually a Laos song that besil Bluma's featured on, but
Speaker 4: around the time that that song took off.
Speaker 5: Bessel Bluma had another song, lave Bee, which is.
Speaker 4: More of a song that he was on love that
Speaker 4: song that was also taking off, So it just propelled it.
Speaker 5: You know, he really blew up and it was top
Speaker 5: of the charts.
Speaker 1: You know, I mean not just top of the charts,
Speaker 1: you guys, I mean he actually was the most stream
Speaker 1: artist on Spotify in March twenty twenty three, meaning he
Speaker 1: surpassed bad Bunny, who was one of I think our
Speaker 1: opening icon when we started this series. So even though
Speaker 1: it might have felt, you know, to the Maass's point
Speaker 1: like overnight, it wasn't. There was a lot of foundational
Speaker 1: that allowed him to kind of step into this role. Now,
Speaker 1: what do you know about bessel Pluma's background that might
Speaker 1: be interesting to our listeners? The must that we may
Speaker 1: not know because I know you've done a lot of
Speaker 1: writing about him. I know you've covered an his album
Speaker 1: in great detail. So what are some interesting things about
Speaker 1: him as a person that could be interesting to us totally?
Speaker 4: Well, everybody, if you think of bessel Pluma, you think
Speaker 4: of his haircut.
Speaker 5: Yes, the haircut was an accident, accident.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he said before that he got a haircut and
Speaker 4: it like the guy like walked away or something and
Speaker 4: he saw he was like, wait, I'm just going to
Speaker 4: keep it like that, So it wasn't meant to be,
Speaker 4: and then he kept it and now he's back to
Speaker 4: this like sexy best of Bluma like that you would
Speaker 4: never expect. But Besol grew up in Walladajda surrounded by
Speaker 4: a lot of musical friends. He was in those environments
Speaker 4: that maybe weren't the safest and that really played a
Speaker 4: role in the sort of music he started to make.
Speaker 4: Really early on, he connected with a lot of artists
Speaker 4: that he's still connected with today, back when they were
Speaker 4: not famous at all. I mentioned this songwriter, Hacier Nunez,
Speaker 4: who is kind of his like right hand pen, you know,
Speaker 4: he's his songwriter.
Speaker 5: He's now signed to his label.
Speaker 4: And they met really early on when when Bessel was
Speaker 4: a teenager and maybe had like one YouTube video out,
Speaker 4: and they quickly built a friendship and have been together
Speaker 4: through the ups and downs and most recently the ups,
Speaker 4: you know, of building this career. So I think it's
Speaker 4: really cool to see how they've built family within the
Speaker 4: genre and like have used each other to really like
Speaker 4: grow and propel their careers together.
Speaker 1: And Somas where do you see him going? Like, what
Speaker 1: do you think is the next natural evolution for him
Speaker 1: as a musician. Do you see him continuing to stay
Speaker 1: kind of honest and true to this genre or do
Speaker 1: you think he has aspirations to step out of this.
Speaker 4: I think it's a good mix because I think he's
Speaker 4: always going to be a corrio tumlo artist. He's always
Speaker 4: going to be making Mexican music. I think he shines
Speaker 4: sometimes when he steps out of his comfort zone. He
Speaker 4: has a song with Kayli Uccis or his voice is
Speaker 4: like it's not on a pop song and I'm like,
Speaker 4: holy smack, Like why why is my gay radar is
Speaker 4: like ooh, this is music?
Speaker 5: I like, you know what I mean?
Speaker 4: Like It's like I can sometime I feel like I
Speaker 4: would tune into my Mexican radar and then my gay one.
Speaker 4: When I listened to Kylie wach Is the gay one,
Speaker 4: and I'm like, here's special coming into that world and
Speaker 4: it works. It makes sense because Besil has such a
Speaker 4: distinct voice, but he can play around with it and
Speaker 4: really do something special.
Speaker 2: I love that. I can't wait to see what he does.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I mean, I really think even watching interviews, like
Speaker 1: I remember watching him in an interview when he was
Speaker 1: a guest with Becky g I think you were at
Speaker 1: his Coachella set with her, and I remember watching an
Speaker 1: interview and thinking, Wow, he really needs some media training.
Speaker 1: Like he could I could tell that fame was really new, right,
Speaker 1: this was like an unchartered waters for him, and watching
Speaker 1: him recently, he's really stepping into his own and it's
Speaker 1: incredible to watch the growth that has happened. I mean
Speaker 1: that was literally a year and a half ago, and
Speaker 1: I feel like so much has changed for him musically,
Speaker 1: and we just can't wait to see what happens next.
Speaker 1: Somebody else that we've got to talk about is a
Speaker 1: Natano who is affectionately referred to as Nata.
Speaker 2: So share with us a little bit about his background.
Speaker 1: We know that he moved to La to start his
Speaker 1: music career when I think he was just seventeen, But
Speaker 1: what is his kind of space and what is the
Speaker 1: territory that he really dominates in this genre?
Speaker 4: If you ask pessol Pluma who the king of corios
Speaker 4: Tomos is, it's natan Cano. He is the person who
Speaker 4: like baptized this genre as corrio tombalo.
Speaker 5: He's the one who created this. So the movement starts
Speaker 5: with Nata.
Speaker 4: Well, actually I would say aria caa macho, who is
Speaker 4: an artist that came before Natanel Well maybe the godfather
Speaker 4: who like introduced what would become asquiral toumbabo. But in
Speaker 4: its essence, Natano is that artist that really created this
Speaker 4: genre and this space for artists who who live that
Speaker 4: like in between line between him pop trap and corridos
Speaker 4: and combine the.
Speaker 5: Two super effortlessly.
Speaker 4: And he was the first one to collaborate with Bad
Speaker 4: Bunny really way before we had Mickel Porciento, like before
Speaker 4: all of that. Really yeah, Bad Bad Bunny believes in
Speaker 4: not Acano's vision and joined him for a remix because
Speaker 4: he knew.
Speaker 5: This was going to be it.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. I had no idea.
Speaker 1: I thought that was the first time Bad Bunny had touched,
Speaker 1: you know, like you said this the genre. I didn't
Speaker 1: realize that they had collaborated even earlier than that.
Speaker 2: Also, not even that, No pressure, how old is this guy?
Speaker 2: Twenty four?
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a young one, and he's literally called the King,
Speaker 4: Like okay, he's like, yo, get over here.
Speaker 1: But also smart on Bad Bunny, and I also think
Speaker 1: that this is why we opened our entire Becoming an
Speaker 1: Icon's podcast with him is because I think his ability
Speaker 1: to see the future musically and not just see it,
Speaker 1: but provides support and like a hand to these artists,
Speaker 1: Like it's one of the loveliest things about him in
Speaker 1: this business.
Speaker 2: So I love, I absolutely love hearing this.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Bad Bunny's not the only collaborator
Speaker 1: that Nata has had.
Speaker 2: We're talking Snoop Dogg, Steve Aoki.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's really gone across so many different genres
Speaker 1: and when asked about why he did this, he said, quote,
Speaker 1: I did those collapse for the culture and for people
Speaker 1: to know who I am, so that people would understand
Speaker 1: this Corridos Umbado's movement and that we're on the same
Speaker 1: level as them.
Speaker 2: Boom. I mean we're here for that.
Speaker 5: That's it.
Speaker 3: That's all he had to say, because it's true, like
Speaker 3: if you're working with that person, it's because you're you're there.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Domas, how would you describe not that's vibe like
Speaker 1: his visual vibe totally.
Speaker 4: I mean in gate terms, he's a twink. I'm just
Speaker 4: like ah built man, which I think changes up the
Speaker 4: aesthetic that you think of when you think of maybe
Speaker 4: like a strong Corrillo singer.
Speaker 5: He's like thin, a little smaller, but he dresses in me.
Speaker 4: He's like like Gucci brought up big brand names. So
Speaker 4: bringing it back to that hip hop culture that I
Speaker 4: mentioned earlier, and I feel like that's been a really
Speaker 4: big part of what's propelled this genre.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, this seems to be like the
Speaker 3: style like that they're all kind of wearing totally.
Speaker 4: It's like the big jewelry, the hoods, the snapbacks. That's
Speaker 4: been all of it, and that started with this artist.
Speaker 4: His name is Codisiato. He was in a group called Colisiato,
Speaker 4: and he's known for being the first Directorona Act to
Speaker 4: be like I'm gonna wear my street fashion even though
Speaker 4: I'm making Mexican music. And so it started with Goliato
Speaker 4: on the looks, and then nothing else can really built
Speaker 4: that up and continued it with his style and how
Speaker 4: he looks, and now everyone does it.
Speaker 5: It's not even like a question anymore.
Speaker 2: No, Like I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 3: I need to actually get some of those outfits because
Speaker 3: I think I would look super delicious in them.
Speaker 2: I think you would look so good in them.
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys aren't exactly like the same vibe,
Speaker 1: but I do feel like you are one of those
Speaker 1: fashion chameleons who can kind of pull off any look.
Speaker 1: But I think for me, when I really first started
Speaker 1: seeing what these guys were wearing and the brands they
Speaker 1: were pulling, I thought, there's a real study and contrast there, right,
Speaker 1: And I think it also shares and shows how important
Speaker 1: the visuals of who these guys are and what they
Speaker 1: represent means to the genre, because if you just listen
Speaker 1: to the music, you have an idea of what they
Speaker 1: might look like historically based on what these guys have
Speaker 1: looked like, right, But then you see them, and then
Speaker 1: instantly the music feels modern, it feels cool, it feels
Speaker 1: current because of how they visually represent themselves. And I
Speaker 1: think it's so cool that they're able to really take
Speaker 1: this very kind of like old, deeply rooted in history
Speaker 1: and culture when it comes to the sound, and move
Speaker 1: it forward and advance it just with the way that
Speaker 1: they produce the songs, but also how they produce themselves visually.
Speaker 2: I think it's so cool to watch it.
Speaker 3: Nothing says modern Life, head to toe, Birdberry, Gucci.
Speaker 1: Prontclair says, nowadays nothing says get that new money, honey.
Speaker 1: Now we cannot continue without talking about Forsa Rehida. Now
Speaker 1: talk to me about them because they are very much
Speaker 1: American but so very Mexicano, which is exactly what you
Speaker 1: were saying earlier. This is music that our parents listened to,
Speaker 1: but really driven by our experiences as being American first
Speaker 1: by birth right totally.
Speaker 4: I mean that's probably that sign of like like born
Speaker 4: over here with these Mexican roots, grew up watching YouTube.
Speaker 5: These guys have a super interesting story.
Speaker 4: So the front man, his name is Jops is what
Speaker 4: it spells out to, but you call him Jop, that's
Speaker 4: the street name. And he's somebody who who really like
Speaker 4: started on the vlockspace on YouTube. So as he was
Speaker 4: trying to build his band performing at local shows, King
Speaker 4: Signeta's weddings in San Bernardino County where he's from, he
Speaker 4: was building up a fan base online through these YouTube
Speaker 4: flogs and he was able to combine the two and
Speaker 4: that's how started to become the band that we know today.
Speaker 1: Now for sarahid that for me, I think they're this
Speaker 1: example of like you said, started really small right with
Speaker 1: can you imagine you like had them play your King Signetta?
Speaker 3: Like just as I was literally like also what I
Speaker 3: love about that we keep talking about all these icons,
Speaker 3: Like most of their assess was really up in the
Speaker 3: in the King Signetta as in the local bars, like
Speaker 3: to be those people that like you you had them
Speaker 3: at your Kintanneta, Like, yeah, you had.
Speaker 1: Them at your King sit two years ago. But now
Speaker 1: they're signed to Sony Music USA. I mean that's a
Speaker 1: big leap in a very short.
Speaker 2: Amount of time.
Speaker 1: The most, how do you find that these labels are
Speaker 1: expanding their roster in this space? Like do you feel
Speaker 1: like they're out there looking for these bands playing at
Speaker 1: Keene says being like who's going to be the new
Speaker 1: for Sarahida? Or do you feel like they're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're at capacity. We already have enough. Like where do
Speaker 1: you feel the A and R side and the label
Speaker 1: side is like are they are they bullish right or
Speaker 1: are they bearish on this category of music?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 4: The record labels are putting the eggs in the Mexican basket.
Speaker 4: They're getting Mexican chickens, Mexican eggs, and putting them in
Speaker 4: the Mexican basket. And I say this because you've been
Speaker 4: seeing it in a lot of really huge label signings
Speaker 4: over the last few years. My brain goes to the
Speaker 4: singer Hobby who has this iconic song that was released
Speaker 4: in the last year called who signed to Innerscope Records
Speaker 4: in this like really massive deal for a small artist.
Speaker 4: They signed him before he was big, developed him over
Speaker 4: two to three years and then bam drops the song drops.
Speaker 4: Another one gets top of the charts and becomes this
Speaker 4: like staple of the genre super quickly. And you saw
Speaker 4: that with the treatment of Natanaelkano before having this other artist,
Speaker 4: Ivan Cornejo, who's also massive, was signed to Interscope, and
Speaker 4: it showed the people within the labels that this is
Speaker 4: where the money's at, Like, yeah, if you tap into
Speaker 4: Mexican people, we will buy tickets to your show, we
Speaker 4: will be streaming the music, and we're going to be
Speaker 4: supporting along the way.
Speaker 5: And that's I think what they're tapping into now.
Speaker 4: And you see a lot of Latino slash Mexican artists
Speaker 4: who don't necessarily make music in that space now being
Speaker 4: supported as they pursue music in that space because the
Speaker 4: labels are understanding, oh, this is real and this is
Speaker 4: going to be here to stay period.
Speaker 1: And to that point, let's talk about el Hefe featuring
Speaker 1: because there we have somebody, I mean, I think to
Speaker 1: your point though us right, it's you see somebody like
Speaker 1: Shakidah who by the way, can make her own music.
Speaker 1: She doesn't need to collab with anybody, like she stands
Speaker 1: on her own like she's shocky right. And she also
Speaker 1: is somebody who I think is a true musician at heart.
Speaker 1: So when you listen to these corridos like this is
Speaker 1: real music, right, this is a it's a band, right
Speaker 1: like this, there's the sound there. This is even though
Speaker 1: it can be very produced, the core of this is
Speaker 1: the musicality of it. What did you think of el Hefe,
Speaker 1: because that I think is probably Reida's most mainstream song yet.
Speaker 2: Did you love it or did you hate it? The
Speaker 2: must that's a good question.
Speaker 5: I liked it. I don't think I loved it.
Speaker 4: I think it was in my opinion, more of of
Speaker 4: for sa Rahida giving Shakira space within the Mexican music
Speaker 4: genre to build on that because on this album that
Speaker 4: Shakida dropped, she also worked with a group of Fromtera,
Speaker 4: so she was definitely dabbling in the Mexican music space
Speaker 4: and as opposed to it helping Forsa.
Speaker 5: I think it was Shakira coming into a space.
Speaker 4: That was new for her and I really enjoy when
Speaker 4: when artists, and usually the ones to take the risk
Speaker 4: are female artists.
Speaker 5: I will say, so her doing that, I'm all here
Speaker 5: for it.
Speaker 4: I saw my favorite song of hers, definitely not my
Speaker 4: favorite for Sara Hida song who in the last year
Speaker 4: have become like these like symbols of like making banger
Speaker 4: after banger. They also have a song with Marshmallow that's
Speaker 4: gone really huge that I think really like encapsulates what
Speaker 4: their whole energy is in the space and how they're
Speaker 4: building it beyond just Mexican people.
Speaker 1: Well, on that note, talk to us a little bit
Speaker 1: about what you see as the future of Corridos bumbados
Speaker 1: and how do these three players really fit into that vision.
Speaker 5: That's a good question.
Speaker 4: So I just did an album review about bessel Pluma's
Speaker 4: second album, Exolo, and I will say that I feel
Speaker 4: like I was a little bit harsh on them on.
Speaker 5: Him because.
Speaker 2: You know what, now that I'm reflecting back you.
Speaker 1: Know what's so funny is you know you you're because
Speaker 1: you guys are listening to Thomas and we're looking at
Speaker 1: him and he has like the sweetest baby face. He's
Speaker 1: so kind, he is warm and like just pure like
Speaker 1: joy and love. But then give that bitch a pen
Speaker 1: and like he will cut some one.
Speaker 2: He is so precise. He is so honest.
Speaker 1: And that's what I think it stands out about your
Speaker 1: writing is that it's really truthful and it's authentic and
Speaker 1: it's real and you come at it with heart.
Speaker 2: So definitely read his article. But tell us now what you.
Speaker 5: Said, Thank you. I appreciate that.
Speaker 4: No, I stand by what I wrote, and what I
Speaker 4: said in the X of the review was that I
Speaker 4: wish Besel had taken the extra step. I could see
Speaker 4: him trying to combine like different sounds like EDM or
Speaker 4: electronic music in goridles, but he would just like just
Speaker 4: go back to what he knew. And he separated his
Speaker 4: album too, so he had like eight songs that were
Speaker 4: reggaeton or outside of the genre, and the rest of
Speaker 4: the album was all corridos and Mexican music, but there
Speaker 4: were elements of electronic music, elements of hip hop in
Speaker 4: the other music that I wish had just.
Speaker 5: Been infused completely.
Speaker 4: But then for Rechi that dropped their most recent album
Speaker 4: and they penned this term called Jersey Corridos. Not yeah,
Speaker 4: like it's like it was basically like house music, but
Speaker 4: with the gorrillo sound and the corrido lyricism, and in
Speaker 4: my personal opinion, that album did not land at all.
Speaker 4: But I really really commend for Khida for taking that
Speaker 4: step and being like, you know what, fuck it, let's
Speaker 4: just do something completely new and completely different and put
Speaker 4: it all out there. And they did exactly that that
Speaker 4: with this last album. It's probably gonna be one of
Speaker 4: those albums that they're gonna look back and be like,
Speaker 4: remember when we did this, you know. And there's one
Speaker 4: or two songs that do stand out for me, but
Speaker 4: overall it was too far of a stretch, Like for
Speaker 4: Best Of was like, just do a little more, and
Speaker 4: then fore was like, oho, you know. So I think
Speaker 4: meeting it in the middle is going to be, in
Speaker 4: my opinion, the future of the genre, finding ways to
Speaker 4: incorporate it with other.
Speaker 5: Genres and also building on.
Speaker 4: That foundation that we already have, which I think is
Speaker 4: already really really strong for sure.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about dream collaborations because you have such a
Speaker 1: wealth of musical knowledge. I had learned so much from
Speaker 1: you every time you were on the show with us.
Speaker 1: So I want you to put your like you know,
Speaker 1: future hat on and think five ten years down the road. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you could have these artists collab with anybody in
Speaker 1: the music industry, who would it be and why?
Speaker 2: Let's start with Bessel Pluma.
Speaker 5: Ooh oh my gosh.
Speaker 4: Beessill has already done really big collapse Carol g He's
Speaker 4: done Kaalie Uccis as I mentioned, But I would have
Speaker 4: liked to see him with like post Malone or somebody
Speaker 4: along those lines, because you know how post Malone just
Speaker 4: did his little country flair.
Speaker 5: So I would love to see post Malone.
Speaker 4: Step into like a musika meh Khana vibe, and I
Speaker 4: feel like they would become good friends.
Speaker 1: Wow, I love that pairing. Let's make it happen. From
Speaker 1: your lips to God's ears. Okay, what about nat Don
Speaker 1: who is on the collab dream list?
Speaker 2: For him?
Speaker 4: This one's crazy, but one of his biggest songs is
Speaker 4: called Madonna. I yes, and so I was I could
Speaker 4: see Natan Nael tapping or madonna'ld be like, who is
Speaker 4: this guy?
Speaker 5: You know, who is this guy? Let me do a collab?
Speaker 4: Like because she's cool like that she is exactly So
Speaker 4: I could see that happening for Nathan I and.
Speaker 2: For for who is their dream collab in your eyes?
Speaker 4: So when I got to interview Jop, he kept bringing
Speaker 4: up Little Baby.
Speaker 5: He's like, I love little Baby.
Speaker 4: Little Baby's an icon, Like that's somebody that I really
Speaker 4: really admire. So I want to continue manifesting that for him,
Speaker 4: and I hope he gets that dream collaboration because it's
Speaker 4: out of the ordinary, but it is fusing that hip
Speaker 4: hop and Mexican music feel that we were talking about earlier.
Speaker 4: And I think he'd be down.
Speaker 2: I think he'd so, I mean, he'd be dumb not
Speaker 2: to be down. I think it's what you said.
Speaker 1: It's the same thing that the record labels see, right,
Speaker 1: Like I will say that Latino's generally over index and
Speaker 1: it comes to consuming content on streaming channels, whether that's
Speaker 1: your Netflix or Spotify or YouTube. We love it. We
Speaker 1: love the content content the better. We're also really loyal.
Speaker 1: So if you follow that money, you're following it to latinos.
Speaker 1: And if you're really getting specific, like Mexikanos in this country,
Speaker 1: like we're going to be the majority. So you want longevity,
Speaker 1: you want cash, you want streaming numbers, like, come get it.
Speaker 2: We're here for you.
Speaker 1: Okay, guys, get out your pens and pencils or just
Speaker 1: your notes app and your iPhone because this is one
Speaker 1: of our favorite things to do with the Mass, because
Speaker 1: this is truly going to change your next playlist.
Speaker 2: We like to play a game called sipe Gusta.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna give you some really popular songs by
Speaker 1: some of the three different artists we talked about today,
Speaker 1: and the MASS is gonna tell us who we would
Speaker 1: like in that same space. Okay, So sipe Gusta, Tommy
Speaker 1: and Pamela, it's Beecil Pluma featuring.
Speaker 5: Oh my God.
Speaker 4: Okay, I did prepare for today's episode the share I
Speaker 4: will say for that song, I think Keenya Os is
Speaker 4: somebody that we're just not paying attention to as much
Speaker 4: as we should.
Speaker 5: So best of Pluma.
Speaker 4: Tapping her in Mexico she's massive, but in the US
Speaker 4: she needs to have her moment.
Speaker 5: So listen to Os.
Speaker 4: But if we're going to choose a different artist. There's
Speaker 4: also this other cunty girl. Her name is Yerimir right.
Speaker 4: She's so she's so cute like that, she's very silly,
Speaker 4: she's hilarious and she makes kind of like those tongue
Speaker 4: in cheap, tongue in cheek kind of songs.
Speaker 1: Her song is yeah, exactly, great answer, I'm writing it down, okay,
Speaker 1: see Gusta three hundred notes, which is not that I
Speaker 1: don't off featuring Belinda.
Speaker 4: And this one's a classic. And she's been around for
Speaker 4: a really long time. But her last album was so great.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say Dana formerly known as Dana, don't call
Speaker 4: her more though.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, so we can't call her Anna Paula.
Speaker 5: No girl.
Speaker 4: She she put out the statement that she is gone.
Speaker 4: It's not just Dana. But her latest album was really
Speaker 4: really good. The album cover is beautiful. It's like her
Speaker 4: above these like demon creatures like and the album is
Speaker 4: called child Star about her experience like going through being
Speaker 4: a child star and and and all of that. And
Speaker 4: the album is really really good. That's why I would suggest,
Speaker 4: especially if you like the Belinda side of that song.
Speaker 3: I did the cover of her makeup for El Mexico
Speaker 3: by the way.
Speaker 5: Oh I saw that. Why do you think I mentioned
Speaker 5: in MoMA there you go.
Speaker 2: It looks so good. She looks so good.
Speaker 1: She did look absolutely beautiful. You did such an amazing
Speaker 1: job on that. What she was really really, really nice.
Speaker 1: She was like singing we were listening to her album.
Speaker 1: She had just come out with the album at the time.
Speaker 3: And they just weren't sure what to do with and
Speaker 3: this guy had tattoos and so he put the photographer
Speaker 3: was just kind of like, why don't you put your
Speaker 3: hand on her face?
Speaker 2: It would it look like tattoos? And that was like
Speaker 2: the shot. And she was just so sweet about everything.
Speaker 2: She was like in hedgetuble garis or whatever. She's shak
Speaker 2: She's done it. Get it chic chic shake. Okay. Last I.
Speaker 4: Mentioned hav earlier, and while he does have two songs
Speaker 4: that are massive, I think we're still waiting for him
Speaker 4: to break with that debut album. So if you're here now,
Speaker 4: tap into the heavy hype now so when the album
Speaker 4: comes out, you're ready to just embrace it.
Speaker 5: His voice is incredible.
Speaker 4: He reminds me of best of Pluma in a lot
Speaker 4: of ways with the raspiness of his vocals, but he's
Speaker 4: also a songwriter, and he's one of those artists that
Speaker 4: I think I'm definitely eyeing for being the next best
Speaker 4: of Plum.
Speaker 5: Did I say that? Oh?
Speaker 2: Whoa wait, I.
Speaker 1: Just I just wait, hold on, I just I just
Speaker 1: posted that on Instagra, just tweeted that.
Speaker 2: And don't forget I also do.
Speaker 5: Yeah, turning my notifications off.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is why we love having you here.
Speaker 1: I feel like you make me infinitely cooler just by
Speaker 1: listening to what you have to say on what's happening
Speaker 1: in the industry, what's coming in the industry, who to
Speaker 1: listen to, why I should listen to them. I really
Speaker 1: feel like you should have your own podcast. iHeart thank
Speaker 1: you coming give it to him. He is, let's manifest
Speaker 1: this for you. Speaking of what are you working on
Speaker 1: right now, because rumor has it you are perhaps in
Speaker 1: the talks to do some big interviews here in La.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, well, you know I love to be
Speaker 4: around town that I'm talking about the Grammy Museum in
Speaker 4: downtown La tonight. This will probably happen before this episode
Speaker 4: comes out, but I'm doing an interview with Orville Peck,
Speaker 4: who is an amazing gay country singer. So I've been
Speaker 4: doing a lot of these live interviews with musicians and
Speaker 4: having a conversation about the records, and we might have
Speaker 4: one pretty cool with another artist that I enjoy, and
Speaker 4: you both are invited.
Speaker 5: Joseph fly Down said.
Speaker 4: Don't start, because I will. I'll be there and we'll
Speaker 4: go to Clube Temple together.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, no please. But also before you go,
Speaker 3: what are where can we find you? Where are your
Speaker 3: social handles?
Speaker 4: Yes, so I'm at Thomas Underscore meed on x and
Speaker 4: Instagram and at Thomas Meed on TikTok, and then you
Speaker 4: can read my stories at Rollingstone dot com.
Speaker 2: And your only fans. You forgot to leave the lank.
Speaker 5: My all is linked in my bio. My venno is at.
Speaker 1: I love it well, Thomas. As always, it is such
Speaker 1: a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for sharing all
Speaker 1: of your knowledge and your wisdom and your wittingness with us.
Speaker 1: We are not worthy and we cannot wait to have
Speaker 1: you back. Have a wonderful day. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see you on that stage at the Grammy Museum.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I love you, guys. I really appreciate joining
Speaker 5: the show.
Speaker 1: On the next becoming an icon. It's time for the
Speaker 1: season finale. Join us as we relive the best moments
Speaker 1: from our second season.
Speaker 2: The tea will be typing hot Hanging.
Speaker 1: Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael
Speaker 1: Duda podcast Network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast