Peso Pluma is on the radar…

The 23-year-old Mexican singer/songwriter, at the center of today’s Regional Mexican music wave, is officially part of the Spotify RADAR program, which is dedicated to spotlighting and supporting emerging artists at all stages of their development.

“It’s pretty big to me because I’m the first Mexican artist to do this. I’m so proud and very thankful,” says Peso Pluma of his selection. “It’s big for the country, the genre and the industry in general. We’re doing pretty good and we’re going to keep working to share our music.”

In the past, the program has provided a platform for artists across the globe, including The Kid LAROI, Zach Bryan, Doechii, Quevedo, PinkPatheress, and over 500 others since its start in in 2020.

For many, Peso Pluma appeared out of nowhere. “Ella Baila Sola,” Eslabon Armado’s smash hit with Peso Pluma, was as explosive a collaboration in the Spanish-language music space. Peso Pluma quickly became the de facto face of a movement overnight, much to his own surprise.

“I knew this was gonna happen, but I didn’t know at what level and what speed,” he tells Billboard. “I knew I was gonna do good in Mexico and the Spanish-speaking countries, but this went worldwide [so fast]. I’m thankful for that.”

For his early fans, Peso Pluma has been creating earworm collaborative anthems for a handful of years, through early hits like “El Belicón” alongside Raúl Vega  – which went viral on social media and brought in 10 million views on YouTube in a single month – and projects including his debut set, Ah y Qué?

To date, “Ella Baila Sola” has secured a number of firsts, most notably becoming the first regional Mexican song to reach the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart — peaking at No. 5 – and the first to top Billboard‘s Streaming Songs chart in its 10-year history.

Peso Pluma and Eslabon Armado also broke a number of Spotify records, becoming the all-time most-streamed música mexicana track in one day globally and the most streamed Latin track in the U.S in one single day last month.

“Música mexicana is no longer regional – it’s global,” says Spotify head of U.S. Latin artist partnerships Eddie Santiago, noting the genre’s growth of 431% over the last five years. “It’s been incredible supporting Peso Pluma’s meteoric rise, and look forward to this next phase of his career.”

While the effect of “Ella Baila Sola” has led to unprecedented global attention on the regional Mexican space, it’s important to note that the regional Mexican genre isn’t exactly a genre. Encompassing an array of unmistakably Mexican styles of music, including norteño, corridos, banda, rancheras, mariachi and more, regional Mexican serves as an overarching umbrella term for a set of genres that had never before been afforded nuance on a mainstream level.

Growing up on artists like Ariel Camacho, Peso Pluma, born Hassan Laija, developed his love for música mexicana as a kid spending his early years growing up in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Later, the influence of hip-hop and reggaeton also found their way into the songs he’d write. Today, he painstakingly stitches together 19th century Mexican sounds with modern genres, bringing both to the Spotify stage ahead of his upcoming debut album, and a single that he’s been teasing on social media.

So what does Peso Pluma want to do next?

“I just wanna go to the Grammys and win something, you know? There’s too many things I wanna accomplish,” says the artist. “I want to have my album be welcomed by the people, I want it to have the same streams as singles do. I’m showing another part of la doble p to people.”