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From the anthemic “EA” to the resilient “Pissy Pamper” — the latter of which never saw an official release due to sample clearance issues, but still thrived through repeated unofficial streaming uploads — Young Nudy has been helping drive the culture with his rap music for the better part of a decade. Between his idiosyncratic beat selections and bouncy cadence, Young Nudy has cultivated a sound that smartly balances ominous grit with genuine, unadulterated fun.
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Currently, he’s enjoying his biggest hit to date, with “Peaches & Eggplants” becoming Nudy’s first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist. Boosted by its popularity on TikTok, its tongue-in-cheek take on sex-rap and “boaw boaw” ad-libs, the track from his February album, Gumbo, has spent six weeks on the all-genre songs chart.
“Peaches & Eggplants,” which features Grammy-winning rapper (and Nudy’s cousin) 21 Savage has reached a No. 61 best since its June entrance, tying for Nudy’s second highest-peaking Hot 100 hit. Previously, his first appearance on the chart came in 2019 as a featured artist on Dreamville’s Grammy-nominated posse cut “Down Bad” (No. 64); the following year, he returned with two more entries thanks to Lil Uzi Vert’s “Money Spread” (No. 89) and 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’s “Snitches & Rats” (No. 61); last year, Nudy reunited with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage on “Umbrella,” a track from the former’s Billboard 200-topping Heroes & Villains that gifted Nudy his highest Hot 100 peak yet (No. 23).
According to Luminate, “Peaches & Eggplants” has collected 78.9 million official U.S. on-demand streams and 3,000 digital downloads, as of July 18. As the song continues to build at radio, Billboard caught up with Young Nudy to chat about his Hot 100 success, the track’s music video and what comes next for the rapper.
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Tell me a bit about the creative process for “Peaches & Eggplants.”
I ain’t even gonna play like I was on some intentional s—t — it was just me playing around in the studio and being goofy. I was just being silly with my buddies.
How did you know that 21 Savage was the right choice of collaborator for this song?
Honestly, that was his choice! He wanted to hop on the motherf–ker. He heard it and was like, “What’s that lil “boaw boaw” song that you got? Let me hop on that s—t,” and we just made it happen.
The song has had a relatively slow rise — did you always know that this was a special one? Or did this level of success come as a surprise to you?
It was more a surprise for me. In my mind, when it comes to my music, I’m not really one of those types of people that’s concerned with numbers. I like to feed my fans, because I know I’ma do numbers regardless. When I seen how people were reacting to [the song], I was kind of shocked, like “Oh, this that radio type of music that they like.”
Why did you wait to drop the music video?
I don’t like to drop the song that everybody wants first. That wouldn’t make sense. I like to let my other songs get a little shine too. That’s why I dropped “Pancake” first, before I dropped “Peaches & Eggplants” — the one everybody was waiting on.
The music video looked like a great time. How did that come together?
That s–t ratchet! (Laughs.) That motherf–ker was lit though! It really wasn’t even that many people at first. I was like, “You know what? I’m finna make this s–t public for everybody to come.” Because I just want everybody to have fun. I’m a down-to-earth type of person, so I don’t really care about having a lot of people around me who just wanna kick it, when it comes to certain situations.
What was your reaction when you first saw people using “Peaches & Eggplants” on TikTok?
When I first saw it, it really ain’t hit me like that for real. When it first came out, I was getting videos with all my damn music, so I didn’t even really know when it first started to pop.
Have you started eyeing your next single off Gumbo, or are you thinking of moving on to another project?
I’ve probably got about two more videos I’m a shoot. I’m finna shoot “Passionfruit” and “Okra.” I just shot “Portobello” like two weeks ago. “Portobello” [is gonna] come out next after “Peaches & Eggplants,” then I’m a hit them folks with “Passionfruit” and “Okra.”
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You pick really unpredictable, eccentric beats. How did you go about matching each beat to its eventual food-centric title? What was your process for crafting and sequencing Gumbo?
When me and Coupe get together, we do magic. Really with any producer, I can lock in. If I don’t lock in with them, then s–t don’t come out the way I want it to sound or feel.
How are you handling your profile rising even more thanks the success of “Peaches & Eggplants?”
It’s really nothing that’s too new to me. I tell anybody — I been selling out shows, I been making a lot of money off this music s–t, so I ain’t even really tripping. But I’m grateful for it.
“Peaches & Eggplants” sits alongside some other spicy rap hits like “Slut Me Out” and “Pound Town” where they’re sexy, but they’re also kind of funny. What do you think about this recent wave of songs?
It’s a lot of freaky ass people out there in the world! [Laughs.] I been in the freakiness since “Yeah Yeah” though!
What does the Billboard Hot 100 mean to you? And what does it mean that you now have your very first hit on the chart as a lead artist?
I guess I’m really just grateful and thankful for it. I don’t really know too much what to say. I’m not trying to compete with no song or all that type of s–t. I’m a just keep making music and keep going hard. That’s all there is to it.
Do you have any more goals you’d like to hit with “Peaches & Eggplants”?
Hell yeah, I’m trying to get a No. 1! I wanna see how that feels. I get my No. 1, I might have a lot s–t to say to everybody on the Internet. [Laughs.]
A version of this story originally appeared in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Since the rise of digital music technology in the 1990s, royalties from online music have proved bountiful for star performers.
But back then, forward-thinking music industry executives and musicians helped make sure that non-featured performers on recordings, like session players and backup singers, could also share in digital music royalties. One of those income streams — the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution (IPRD) Fund, which marks its 25th anniversary this year — reports paying out $650 million to date to such artists.
For the 12-month period ending March 31, 2021 — the most recent full year for which its finances are available — the nonprofit fund has distributed $57.2 million to eligible performers.
Most of the fund’s revenue comes from SoundExchange, which collects royalties for every song played on digital radio like Pandora, webcasters like iHeartRadio and satellite radio services like SiriusXM. Those royalties are split: 50% to the record label, 45% to the featured artist and 5% to non-featured performers.
Fund participants span a spectrum of musical skills and styles. They include vocalists such as Carmen Carter (who has recorded with Beyoncé, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston and Luis Miguel), Wendy Moten (Carrie Underwood, Buddy Guy, Cece Winans) and Dan Navarro (Dolly Parton, Julio Iglesias, Neil Young), as well as musicians like guitarist Michael Landau (Enrique Iglesias, Diana Ross, LeAnn Rimes), keyboardist Greg Phillinganes (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder) and drummer Abraham Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus), among many others.
But while collecting royalties from Sound Exchange is easy and many musicians are easy to find, tracking down every performer who should get a cut can be a challenge. Though the fund paid out royalties to some 27,000 non-featured musicians last year, many are still unaware of its existence — or that they might have royalties to be claimed, says fund CEO Stefanie Taub.
“The big thing for us is we really want to make sure that the non-featured performers are aware that we’re here and there is this money source for them,” says Taub, a 25-year AFTRA and SAG-AFTRA veteran who prior to leading the fund sat on its board of directors.
The SoundExchange royalties paid to labels and performers are the result of the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recording Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which between them amended copyright law so that, among other things, digital and satellite radio services pay royalties for recorded music. (Terrestrial radio doesn’t make any payments to record labels and performers but pays royalties to songwriters and music publishers.)
As part of the revamped copyright law, AFM (American Federation of Musicians) was designated to be the agent to pay out half, or 2.5%, of the 5% due to non-featured musicians on songs played on digital and satellite radio, while AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) was designated to oversee the other half (2.5%) of the royalties for non-featured singers.
The two unions agreed to collaborate on a single administrator to collect and pay out the royalties. Thus, the AFM & SAG-AFTRA IPRD Fund was born.
“Back then, it made sense to create this fund so they didn’t waste money with duplicate efforts,” Taub says. “So it’s very unique that these two completely separate unions came together to create this fund.”
Stefanie Taub
Courtesy of AFM SAG-AFTRA Fund
How do you view this anniversary of the fund?
We’re very proud of the fact that we paid over a half-billion dollars to non-featured performers in our 25 years. We’re in a unique space because many people are aware of how featured artists — name artists on recordings — get paid for their music. But there’s not as much awareness that our fund exists and that it pays the non-featured performers. People really don’t know we exist, especially when we first started out. Back then, we were collecting a very small amount: under $100,000 a year. Nowadays, we collect more than $50 million a year. So that is something we really want to promote: This money is there for these performers, and we are here to pay it to them.
Does a musician need to be in the union to qualify for funds?
That’s a misconception. Even though the unions created this fund, their executives sit on the board, and our name includes the unions; the fund distributes to all performers without regard to union status. We’re required by law to distribute to everyone [regardless of] status.
Where does the Screen Actors Guild, which represents and pays actors, come into the picture? Are its funds blended into what you collect?
SAG represents mostly actors but also other performers in film and TV, [so] if a singer did a song in a film, that would be represented by SAG; if they do a record, they are represented by AFTRA. But the SAG funds are completely separate, and what we collect is completely separate from anything that the unions do on their own.
Your financial statement for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, shows that the fund collected $63.1 million in royalties. How much came from SoundExchange?
It fluctuates, but it has been around $50 million or more for [each] of the past five or six years.
Foreign royalties also flow into the fund. What’s the source of those monies?
They are due to copyright treaties and to reciprocal agreements with collection organizations in other countries — and those royalties consist of many different things, including what they call “private copying”; in some foreign countries, they collect a royalty on devices like iPhones and iPads and things like that. Some countries do pay the U.S. [royalties] on broadcast terrestrial radio and even [on] what they call “communication to the public,” like songs played in nightclubs and restaurants. Every country is a little bit different in what royalties they pay to the U.S.
So, percentagewise, what would you say the breakout is from SoundExchange versus the other sources of income?
I would say SoundExchange is about 80% of what we collect. But we’re growing in the international space every year, and we’re hoping to increase that as time goes on. We had a very good year last year. Our financials are not showing yet for that, but we collected over $25 million internationally last year.
Are there other challenges your organization faces in paying out royalties?
When we reach out to people [eligible for payments], some don’t believe us because no one has ever gotten a secondary income stream from their recordings. Of course, we need to verify their identity and we ask for certain information. And these days, everybody’s concerned about their privacy, so they think it’s a scam sometimes. But the more we can get our message out, the more that creates awareness, so [that] people actually do sign up for us.
How do you reach musicians who might be due money?
We have a whole department called artist relations, and their only job is to either take incoming inquiries or to actively search for folks where we’ve seen their names on credits but need to find them. We use all types of resources, whether it’s the internet, social media or other publicly available information. We also try to get other participants who have been paid to let their friends know about our fund.
A big question for funds like yours is, how much of what you collect do you match with eligible recipients and pay out every year?
Our current percentage is about 82% payout, and we are reducing the unmatched number every year.
And your administrative costs are about 14% of your revenue.
We have an obligation to make sure we’re doing the right thing with other people’s money. It’s not my money, so I always look at the most efficient way to get the job done so that as much of what we collect as possible can go out the door to the performers.
What if the album credits don’t specify who played on what song?
When we get the money from SoundExchange, we do our research on a track-by-track basis and by individuals. It’s very difficult because, depending particularly on the age of the recording — or where it was done — sometimes there’s no information at all. That’s why we really encourage people to also look at the list on our website of all the recordings that we have money for. If they make a claim on a recording, then we always require proof that shows they are on the recording. That proof could be a union contract, liner notes or something printed somewhere on the internet. And we cross-check multiple sources to make sure that everything’s matching.
What if the featured artist says, “Yeah, he played on my track”?
We accept that, too. Or often there might be other side musicians on the track who vouch for the third, and we will accept that.
How many titles do you research and pay out on?
In April 2023, the fund distributed royalties on 50,000 titles. And we’re increasing that every day. But it’s very time-consuming to research non-featured artists, especially now when there is often no printed [credits] because there is no physical recording. But there’s a current drive to get more metadata to be included in a lot of [digital] tracks.
It’s the record labels that should make sure songwriters, publishers, side musicians and singers are listed.
Yes, and they’re not as driven to make sure that the non-featured artists are getting credit.
There have been some recent grievances with the fund, including a suit over $45 million in undistributed funds and another complaint about a data purchase and service fee paid to the unions. What has happened with those complaints?
The former was settled in November 2020, and the latter was resolved in March 2022. We welcome the resolution of these matters so we can focus our resources on what we do best, which is putting money into artists’ pockets.
Are there any other messages you would like to get out?
Just to let people know that they should take a look at our website and make sure that if they’ve done any non-featured work on songs, they should sign up and create an account so that we can find them and pay them. That’s the whole reason we exist — to pay performers. We want to make sure that we’re creating that awareness.
This story originally appeared in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
So strong and deep is the tradition of the cantautor, or singer-songwriter, in Latin music that the Latin Recording Academy is carving out more space for such multifaceted artists. This year, it debuts its best songwriter of the year category as part of the also newly created songwriting field. As with the mainstream Grammy Awards, the category recognizes songwriters credited as writers or co-writers on at least six tracks where they are not the performer, producer or engineer.
In addition, another new category, best singer-songwriter song, will fall under the singer-songwriter field (which has existed since the inception of the Latin Grammy Awards almost 25 years ago and has included the best singer-songwriter album award). To be eligible for this new award, at least 51% of the lyrics on singles or tracks must be in Spanish, Portuguese or any native regional dialect and must be from a singer-songwriter album competing in the best singer-songwriter album category that year. Below are six songwriters who stand a good chance of landing in one — or both — of the newly unveiled categories.
Elena Rose
As fans wait for Elena Rose to drop her long-awaited debut album, the Venezuelan singer-songwriter has kept busy with a string of singles recorded under her own name, plus a plethora of hits in the pop and urban realms. As one of the first women to actively collaborate with reggaetón stars, Elena Rose has opened the door for a new generation of women songwriters — making her a prime pick for the first class of best songwriter of the year nominees. The prolific collaborator has co-written massive hits like Karol G and Becky G’s “MAMIII,” Bad Bunny’s “Party” and, this year, TINI and Maria Becerra’s “Miénteme.”
Edgar Barrera
Perhaps the most versatile songwriter in Latin music today, Barrera has spent over 100 weeks on Billboard’s Latin Songwriters chart, second only to Bad Bunny, thanks to credits on cross-genre hits. In the past 12 months alone, the 32-year-old has worked with regional Mexican act Grupo Frontera on all of its hits, including blockbusters like “un x100to” with Bad Bunny and “Frágil” with Yahritza y Su Esencia. He also boasts credits on Manuel Turizo’s global smashes “La Bachata” and “El Merengue,” as well as multiple singles performed by longtime collaborators Maluma and Christian Nodal, among others, making him a shoo-in for the best songwriter of the year category.
Edén Muñoz
The former frontman of norteño group Calibre 50 has emerged as a successful solo artist and a sought-after songwriter for artists like Pepe Aguilar and Christian Nodal, among others. In June, the SESAC Latina Awards honored Muñoz as regional Mexican songwriter of the year for the fourth consecutive year thanks to a long string of hits. At this year’s Latin Grammys, Muñoz may be a contender in the best singer-songwriter album and song categories with his first solo studio album, Consejos Gratis (for which he wrote 13 out of its 14 tracks), boasting clever lyrics full of wordplay with uptempo fare and romantic ballads.
Gale
The Puerto Rican singer-songwriter got her start writing for other artists while she honed her solo chops. Now, in the wake of the release of her debut album, Lo Que No Te Dije, Gale could be nominated in all three songwriting fields. Her personal strain of alt-rock and pop was highlighted throughout her album and best heard on the uptempo, rock-leaning “Problemas” (making her a likely nominee in the best singer-songwriter album and song categories). She could also be a contender in the best songwriter category thanks to co-writes for the likes of Manuel Turizo and Marshmello (“El Merengue”), Juanes (“Ojalá”) and Aitana, Emilia and Ptazeta (“Quieres”).
Juanes
The Colombian veteran arguably reshaped the singer-songwriting mold when he burst on the scene with his 2000 debut album, Fíjate Bien. In 2023, he’s still innovating, albeit in a more collaborative fashion. On his new album, Vida Cotidiana, Juanes brings in many co-writers, including Tomás Torres and Alexis Díaz-Pimienta. But the album’s standout song, “Gris,” a revealing look into his longtime marriage, is his alone. A Latin Grammy favorite, Juanes is a contender for the best singer-songwriter album and song categories.
Keityn
The Colombian songwriter-producer was ASCAP’s 2023 songwriter of the year — a perfect setup for his inclusion in the inaugural group of best songwriter nominees. A favorite co-writer for two of the biggest Colombian stars of the moment — Shakira and Karol G — he worked alongside Bizarrap and Shakira on the surprise smash “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” which spent five weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart earlier this year. Keityn also has songwriting credits on Shakira and Karol G’s “TQG,” which peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100. It’s no small feat for a 26-year-old — nor is regularly writing hits for Manuel Turizo, J Balvin and Maluma (including the global smash “Hawái”).
This story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Regional Mexican music — an umbrella term given to the broad range of subgenres with folk roots that include banda, mariachi, norteño and corridos — has long been absent from the main categories of the Latin Grammy Awards. Though regional Mexican has its own field with five categories, a living regional Mexican artist hasn’t taken home the trophy for album, record or song of the year in the 23-year history of the Latin Grammys. (Juan Gabriel won posthumously in 2016 for Los Dúo, Vol. 2.)
The absence reflects an unspoken stigma: Regional Mexican is considered unsophisticated music for the masses and, therefore, unworthy of a win in the Big Four categories. Only one act associated with the genre — Monterrey, Mexico, DJ collective 3BallMTY — has won a Big Four award (best new artist), and that was over a decade ago in 2012.
But now, with a 42.1% increase in consumption of regional Mexican music year over year, according to Luminate, the genre’s crossover may be impossible to ignore. The growth started in May 2021, when Gera MX and Christian Nodal’s collaboration “Botella Tras Botella” became the first regional Mexican song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in its 63-year history. Two years later, regional Mexican is the dominant Latin genre on the Hot 100: For the week ending June 25, 13 of the 17 Spanish-language tracks on the chart fell under the regional Mexican umbrella as acts like Grupo Firme and Fuerza Regida sell out arena tours alongside veterans like Pepe Aguilar. Also in June, Génesis, the new album from ascendant superstar Peso Pluma, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
“Regional Mexican is no longer seen as the ugly duckling,” says Maria Inés Sánchez, head of marketing at AfinArte Records and a vocal advocate of the genre, on its potential presence at the Latin Grammys. “This will definitely be the year — and it’s just the beginning.”
Following are 10 regional Mexican acts that have a chance at a main-category nomination.
Yahritza y Su Esencia
The Washington state family band is fronted by Yahritza, whose glorious voice floats over the guitars of her brothers Mando and Jairo. Nominated last year for best new artist, the trio stands a chance in the song and record of the year categories this year, with a new Columbia Records deal and a poignant single, “Frágil,” featuring Grupo Frontera.
Carín León
León’s velvety voice, melodic approach and outside-the-box collaborations with C. Tangana and Matisse make him better known in pop and alternative than other regional Mexican acts. His new album, Colmillo de Leche, arrived in May just ahead of the eligibility cutoff, making him a top candidate for an album of the year nod.
Eslabon Armado
Last year, the Mexican American group known for its romantic sierreños was shut out of the Latin Grammys, even though the band’s 2022 album, Nostalgia, became the first top 10 regional Mexican title ever on the Billboard 200. This year, the act returned with a vengeance: Its runaway smash, “Ella Baila Sola” with Peso Pluma (a No. 4 hit on the Hot 100), should be a contender for both song and record of the year.
Edén Muñoz
The former Calibre 50 frontman has emerged as a formidable solo artist who collected his fourth consecutive SESAC Latina songwriter of the year award in June and is also making waves as a producer. (Credits include Ángela Aguilar’s “Qué Agonía.”) His first solo album, Consejos Gratis, arrived in October and could be a contender.
Grupo Frontera
The sextet from the border town of McAllen, Texas, got its start late last year covering pop songs to its Mexican cumbia beat, but with the help of a mentor in songwriter-producer Edgar Barrera, the band has quickly evolved. Hit singles with Bad Bunny (“un x100to”) and Carín León (“Que Vuelvas”) should give the act a shot at both song and record of the year, as well as best new artist.
Ángela Aguilar
The 19-year-old daughter of ranchera icon Pepe Aguilar lost best new artist to Karol G in 2018, but that hasn’t stopped her from bringing traditional Mexican music to the masses. In the five years since, she has become a fixture of the Latin Grammys telecast, while also touring alongside her famous father and releasing major collaborations with artists like Steve Aoki and Fito Páez. “Qué Agonía,” her successful duet with Yuridia, could get a nod for song or record of the year.
Fuerza Regida
The quintet from San Bernardino, Calif., is known for bold music that straddles Mexican and U.S. sensibilities, mixing tuba and guitars with delicious crunch. Although the act’s in-your-face sound and cheeky lyrics may not suit all voters, Fuerza Regida has a finger on the pulse of the streets — don’t discount the group for album of the year with its back-to-back releases Pa Que Hablen and Sigan Hablando.
Peso Pluma
The 24-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, is the genre’s current golden boy, debuting just one year ago and already charting 11 tracks on the Hot 100 and 20 on Hot Latin Songs. A disruptor who collaborates both within and outside the genre, Peso Pluma could take home best new artist.
Natanael Cano
Since bursting onto the scene three years ago, the 22-year-old has been considered by many to be the originator of the current corridos tumbao movement — and yet he has not received a single Latin Grammy nod. While his new album, Nata Montana, released in June, didn’t make the deadline, a trio of singles on the Hot 100 do: “PRC” (with Peso Pluma) and “Pacas de Billetes” and “AMG” (with Peso Pluma and Gabito Ballesteros).
Christian Nodal
Widely seen as a successor to the grand ranchera tradition of Alejandro and Vicente Fernández, Nodal may be the most versatile regional Mexican singer today. Although he has already won Latin Grammys in the regional Mexican field, newfound awareness (including a single with Romeo Santos, “Me Extraño”) may boost his chances at main category nods.
This story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
The Recording Academy has added three new categories for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, which are set for Sunday Feb. 4, 2024 — best African music performance, best alternative jazz album and best pop dance recording. This brings the total number of categories to 94, the highest total since the number reached an all-time peak of 109 in 2010.
“By introducing these three new categories, we are able to acknowledge and appreciate a broader array of artists,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “We are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recordings in these categories, while also exposing a wider range of music to fans worldwide.”
Here’s a closer look at the three new Grammy categories. —Paul Grein
Best Alternative Jazz Album
From swing to bebop to fusion, evolution has defined jazz throughout its history. The Grammys’ new best alternative jazz album category acknowledges that constant change, as a new generation brings the storied genre into the 21st century.
In recent years, the Grammys’ existing best jazz instrumental album category has recognized esteemed musicians of yesteryear, awarding the likes of Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea — who all played with Miles Davis in the late 1960s and early ’70s. By contrast, less conventional jazz artists such as Kamasi Washington and Makaya McCraven, and bands such as Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming (both led by acclaimed British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings), have remained absent from the category’s nominees. Robert Glasper, the genre-hopping musician who has played with artists from Herbie Hancock to Mac Miller, received a single jazz category nomination in 2016, but snuck into the best R&B album category last year; his surprise win with Black Radio III caused fellow nominee Chris Brown to infamously remark: “Who the f–k is Robert Glasper?”
In its announcement of this new category, the Recording Academy noted that alternative jazz “may be defined as a genre-blending, envelope-pushing hybrid that mixes jazz … with other genres,” including R&B, hip-hop, classical, rap and dance music. As genre distinctions become less rigid, the category’s value rests in how it will allow musicians like Washington — who earned recognition outside the jazz community for his contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album, To Pimp a Butterfly — to be honored without conforming to more traditional conceptions of jazz.
Contenders may include Dinner Party, the collaborative project of Washington, Glasper and fellow jazz-meets-hip-hop traveler Terrace Martin; Angel Bat Dawid, the clarinetist-composer signed to influential contemporary jazz label International Anthem; saxophonist Sam Gendel, a prolific puveyor of ambient jazz; and the trio comprising Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily and Arooj Aftab for Love in Exile. (Aftab was nominated for best new artist and won for best global music performance in 2022.). —Eric Renner Brown
Best African Music Performance
From Afrobeats crossover hits like Burna Boy’s “Ye” and Wizkid’s “Joro” in 2018 and 2019, respectively, to more recent smashes like Rema’s “Calm Down” and CKay’s “Love Nwatiti,” the myriad sounds of Africa have become increasingly dominant in the U.S. and U.K. mainstream markets. After the broad best global music performance category flattened the diversity of non-Western musical stylings, the Recording Academy’s new best African music performance category aims to respond to the explosive growth of the continent’s music.
In 2021, the Grammys awarded the inaugural best global music performance trophy to Arooj Aftab’s “Mohabbat” — a shock to those betting on Wizkid & Tems’ “Essence,” by far the most commercially successful song in the category. The following year, “Bayethe,” a collaboration among South African artists Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode, beat out Burna Boy’s cultural and commercial juggernaut, “Last Last,” yet another marker that an adjustment was needed to properly recognize Afrobeats and its impact.
From its inception, the global music category was an attempt to recognize hundreds of genres across a plethora of languages, cultures and countries. But the rise of Afrobeats, Afro-pop and, more recently, amapiano, has become undeniable. Thanks to a Selena Gomez remix, Rema’s “Calm Down” holds the longest reign on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart (45 weeks and counting, as of the July 15 chart).
On the Hot 100, it peaked at No. 3. In July, Burna Boy became the first Nigerian artist to headline a U.S. stadium with his stint at New York’s Citi Field as a part of his Love, Damini tour.
The new best African music performance category seeks to honor “recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent, highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions.” The award will highlight subgenres including, but not limited to, Afrobeats, Afro-fusion, Afro-pop, alté, amapiano, genge, fuji, Ghanaian drill, Afro house, South African hip-hop and Ethio-jazz.
As the eligibility period draws to a close, keep an eye on these potential best African music performance nominees: “2:30” by Asake; “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” Burna Boy; “Charm,” Rema; “People,” Libianca; “Unavailable,” Davido & Musa Keys; “Soweto,” Victony; “Party No Dey Stop,” Adekunle Gold & Zinoleesky; “Reason,” Omah Lay; “Mnike,” Tyler ICU, Tumelo.za, DJ Maphorisa, Nandipha808, Ceeka RSA & Tyron Dee; and “Amapiano,” Asake & Olamide. —Kyle Denis
Best Pop Dance Recording
The Recording Academy has long attempted to cram dance and electronic music’s disparate styles into an all-encompassing pair of categories: best dance/electronic recording and best dance/electronic album. The collision of house, EDM, intelligent dance music and other subgenres has made for strange nominee bedfellows over the years — like in 2022, when Tiësto’s pop-centric crossover smash, “The Business,” competed against the delicately experimental “Loom” from Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds featuring Bonobo.
But nowhere has the Grammys’ dance/electronic culture war been so acute as with pop dance (or “dance pop,” as it’s more commonly called), the style that rides the line between the two genres with big melodies, center-of-attention vocals and traditional pop structures. In 2005, Britney Spears’ “Toxic” triumphed over songs like The Chemical Brothers’ “Get Yourself High” for best dance recording. While the categories started shying away from pop stars amid the EDM boom of the 2010s, the pop structures inherent to EDM presented their own challenges.
The dance screening committee, which employs a panel of experts to review submissions to the two dance categories that may be better suited elsewhere, historically struggled with where to place dance pop songs. A source on this committee says it was always hard to classify songs with, for example, a house beat but otherwise fully pop production. Which is why the Grammys have taken an overdue step in their acknowledgment of the music’s wide appeal with its addition of best pop dance recording. The change also earns the genre at large a greater Grammys presence with the addition of five more nominees.
The pop dance category would neatly fit a few early front-runners, including Illenium and the output from his self-titled rock/EDM hybrid album and Jessie Ware’s disco-infused set, That! Feels Good! The category will also likely be the new home for major pop stars making dance-centric songs, with Kylie Minogue’s thumping “Padam Padam” a contender for 2024. While the dance genre is dizzyingly eclectic, the addition of pop dance is one thing everyone can agree on. —Katie Bain
This story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When the nominations for the 66th annual Grammy Awards are announced Nov. 10, Taylor Swift and SZA are each likely to receive nods for album, record and song of the year. It will be a bit harder to crack the Big Four categories than it was the last two years: The Recording Academy is cutting the number of nominees in each of those categories from a bloated 10 to eight, which was the magic number from 2018 to 2020. (Before that, it was generally five.)
And this year’s eligibility period closes two weeks earlier than usual, running from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 15, 2023. Following are Billboard’s best bets for who will be in contention.
In a welcome change, the academy reinstituted a baseline of involvement needed to receive a nomination in this category. Credited and featured artists, songwriters, producers, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers must have worked on at least 20% of an album’s playing time to receive a nod. This is up from no baseline the last two years, when the academy handed out nominations in this category like they were Halloween candy.
Boygenius, The Record
The trio, consisting of Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, co-produced its long-awaited debut album with Catherine Marks. Previous “supergroup” collaborations to be nominated in this category include Crosby, Stills & Nash; the all-star Trio consisting of Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris; Traveling Wilburys; and The Three Tenors. Billboard 200 peak: No. 4.
Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss
This year’s 50th anniversary of hip-hop has received yearlong coverage, which boosts the already good chance that at least one rap album will make the finals. Her Loss was up for album of the year at the BET Awards in June. This would be the third album of the year nomination as a lead or co-lead artist for Drake (following Views and Scorpion) and the first for 21 Savage. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (one week).
Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Del Rey’s ninth studio album could yield her second nod in this category, following Norman F–king Rockwell! four years ago. Del Rey co-produced the album with Jack Antonoff, Benji, Zach Dawes, Drew Erickson and Mike Hermosa. Billboard 200 peak: No. 3.
Foo Fighters, But Here We Are
One of the Grammys’ favorite bands collaborated with one of the Grammys’ favorite producers, Greg Kurstin, a two-time winner for producer of the year, non-classical. The Foo Fighters’ 11th studio album — their first since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins in March 2022 — could yield their third nod in this category. Billboard 200 peak: No. 8.
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
Rodrigo’s upcoming second album could very well follow her debut, Sour, to an album of the year nod. It was produced by Dan Nigro, who also did the honors on Sour. This would be the second time Rodrigo has been nominated alongside one of her idols, Taylor Swift, in this category. Sour competed with Swift’s evermore two years ago.
SZA, SOS
This tied for album of the year at the BET Awards with Beyoncé’s Renaissance (a Grammy nominee in this category last year). SZA’s second studio album had multiple producers, including Babyface, Jeff Bhasker, Benny Blanco and Shellback. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (10 weeks).
Taylor Swift, Midnights
This would be Swift’s sixth nomination in this category, which would put her in a tie with Barbra Streisand for the most nods by a woman in Grammy history. Swift co-produced Midnights with Jack Antonoff, Sounwave, Jahaan Sweet and Keanu. She could make history when the Grammys are presented Feb. 4, 2024, becoming the first person to win album of the year four times. She’s currently tied with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon with three wins each. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (six weeks).
Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time
This would be the first country album to be nominated in this category since Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour five years ago (which won) and the first by a male country artist since Chris Stapleton’s Traveller eight years ago. Joey Moi, Cameron Montgomery, Charlie Handsome and Jacob Durrett co-produced the collection, which is Wallen’s third studio album. Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 (15 weeks — longer than any other album since Adele’s 2011 release, 21).
Within Reach: Luke Combs, Gettin’ Old; Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation; Jelly Roll, Whitsitt Chapel; Noah Kahan, Stick Season; Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito; Lil Baby, It’s Only Me; Metro Boomin, Heroes & Villains; Janelle Monáe, The Age of Pleasure; Paramore, This Is Why; Ed Sheeran, – (Subtract); Sam Smith, Gloria; Tanya Tucker, Sweet Western Sound; Lainey Wilson, Bell Bottom Country
Clockwise: Luke Combs, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
Illustration by Andrei Cojocaru. Jeremy Cowart; Brianna Capozzi; Christopher Polk for PMC; Ezra Shaw/Getty Images.
Swift is still looking for her first win in this category, as are past contenders such as SZA and Rihanna. “Calm Down” by Rema & Selena Gomez, which would have been a strong contender, was released before the start of the eligibility year. Rema’s solo recording of the song was entered, but not nominated, for best global music performance last year.
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Cyrus’ father, Billy Ray Cyrus, has received two record of the year nods — for “Achy Breaky Heart” and “Old Town Road,” his collaboration with Lil Nas X. The Cyruses would become just the third parent and child to each receive record of the year nods, following the Sinatras (Frank and Nancy) and the Coles (Nat “King” and Natalie). Billboard Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (eight weeks).
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Tracy Chapman’s original version of this song was a 1988 record of the year nominee. This would become only the second song in Grammy history to be the basis of two singles that received record of the year nods. The first was “Mack the Knife.” (Bobby Darin’s recording was the 1959 winner, while Ella Fitzgerald’s was a 1960 nominee.) Hot 100 peak: No. 2 (so far).
Lil Durk & J. Cole, “All My Life”
The melodic chorus on this hip-hop smash gives it broad-based appeal. This would be the first collaboration by two rappers to receive a nod in this category since DaBaby’s “Rockstar” (featuring Roddy Ricch) three years ago. J. Cole finally won his first Grammy (after amassing 12 nominations) four years ago for “A Lot.” Lil Durk is still looking for his first win. Hot 100 peak: No. 2.
PinkPantheress & Ice Spice, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2”
This is vying to become the third collaboration by two women in the past four years to land a nod in this category. Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” (featuring Beyoncé) was nominated three years ago, and Doja Cat’s “Kiss Me More” (featuring SZA) was a contender two years ago. Hot 100 peak: No. 3.
Rihanna, “Lift Me Up”
This soulful ballad from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived at the start of the eligibility year. This would be Rihanna’s fourth record of the year nominee, and her first on her own. She was previously nominated for collaborations with Jay-Z (“Umbrella”), Eminem (“Love the Way You Lie”) and Drake (“Work”). Hot 100 peak: No. 2.
SZA, “Kill Bill”
This would be SZA’s third record of the year nominee, and her first on her own. She was previously nominated for collaborations with Kendrick Lamar (“All the Stars”) and Doja Cat (“Kiss Me More”). Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week).
Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”
This would be Swift’s fifth nod in this category. She was previously nominated for “You Belong With Me,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space.” Swift would be the first artist whose first five nominations in this category were for solo recordings (and not collaborations or group/duo recordings) since Frank Sinatra in the ’50s and ’60s. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (eight weeks).
Morgan Wallen, “Last Night”
This single and/or Combs’ “Fast Car” would be the first country single (going by Grammy performance category placements) to receive a record of the year nod since Lady A’s “Need You Now” 13 years ago (which won). Taylor Swift’s subsequent “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, but vied for a performance nod in the pop field at the Grammys. Hot 100 peak: No. 1 (13 weeks).
Within Reach: Zach Bryan featuring Maggie Rogers, “Dawns”; Lana Del Rey, “A&W”; Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor”; Labrinth, “Never Felt So Alone”; Coi Leray, “Players”; Lil Uzi Vert, “Just Wanna Rock”; Dua Lipa, “Dance the Night”; Janelle Monáe, “Lipstick Lover”; Paramore, “This Is Why”; P!nk, “Trustfall”; Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire”; Ed Sheeran, “Eyes Closed”; Toosii, “Favorite Song”; Tanya Tucker & Brandi Carlile, “Ready As I’ll Never Be”
From left: Tanya Tucker & Brandi Carlile, Jelly Roll & Lil Durk.
Illustration by Andrei Cojocaru. Gary Miller/WireImage; Chum Daddy; Katie Jones for WWD.
Last year, six of the 10 record of the year nominees were also nominated for this songwriter’s award. This year, five out of eight could double up. Luke Combs’ “Fast Car” won’t be eligible because it was already well-known. Tracy Chapman was nominated in this category in 1988 for writing it.
“A&W”Songwriters: Lana Del Rey, Jack Antonoff, Sam Dew
Del Rey and Antonoff were nominated in this category four years ago for co-writing “Norman F–king Rockwell.” He won this honor 11 years ago for co-writing fun.’s “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monáe). This would be Dew’s first nomination in the category.
“All My Life”Songwriters: Lil Durk, J. Cole, Dr. Luke, Rocco Did It Again!, Ryan OG, LunchMoney Lewis, Theron “Uptown AP” Thomas
This would be Dr. Luke’s third nomination in this category following nods for Katy Perry’s “Roar” and the Doja Cat-SZA collaboration “Kiss Me More.”
“Anti-Hero”Songwriters: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
“Anti-Hero” could give Swift a record seventh nomination for song of the year, which would surpass Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie for the most nods in the history of the category. Surprisingly, this would be the first Swift-Antonoff collaboration to be nominated for this award.
“Flowers”Songwriters: Miley Cyrus, Gregory “Aldae” Hein, Michael Pollack
This would be the first nod in this category for all three co-writers. The song is a modern twist on such hits as “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” a nominee in this category 45 years ago, and Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” a nominee for best pop solo performance 10 years ago.
“Kill Bill”Songwriters: SZA, Carter Lang, Rob Bisel
This would be SZA’s third nod in this category; she was among the co-writers of “All the Stars” and “Kiss Me More.” Lang was also nominated in this category for co-writing the latter. Bisel was nominated for record of the year as an engineer-mixer on the irresistible pop smash.
“Lift Me Up”Songwriters: Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna, Tems, Ryan Coogler
This would be the first nomination in this category for Rihanna, Tems and director Coogler. Göransson won this award five years ago for co-writing Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” “Lift Me Up” would be the first Academy Award nominee for best original song to also be nominated for the top songwriting Grammy since “Fight for You” from Judas and the Black Messiah two years ago.
“Need a Favor”Songwriters: Jelly Roll, Rob Ragosta, Joe Ragosta, Austin Nivarel
This song, released as the lead single from Jelly Roll’s breakthrough album, Whitsitt Chapel, has a refreshingly honest and affecting chorus, which begins: “I only talk to God when I need a favor/And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer.”
“Ready As I’ll Never Be”Songwriters: Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker
This would be Carlile’s fifth nomination in this category and Tucker’s second. They previously collaborated on “Bring My Flowers Now,” a nominee here two years ago. “Ready As I’ll Never Be,” which was featured in the 2022 documentary The Return of Tanya Tucker, could also receive a nod for best song written for visual media.
Within Reach: “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” PinkPantheress & Ice Spice; “Dance the Night,” Dua Lipa; “Dawns,” Zach Bryan featuring Maggie Rogers; “Eyes Closed,” Ed Sheeran; “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old,” Luke Combs; “Last Night,” Morgan Wallen; “Lipstick Lover,” Janelle Monáe; “Never Felt So Alone,” Labrinth; “Players,” Coi Leray; “Thank God,” Kane Brown & Kaitlyn Brown; “This Is Why,” Paramore; “Trustfall,” P!nk; “Vampire,” Olivia Rodrigo
Clockwise: Gracie Abrams, Ice Spice, Peso Pluma and PinkPantheress.
Illustration by Andrei Cojocaru. Mark Horton/Getty Images; Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Jerry Budar; Mia Teresa.
Though The Record is boygenius’ first album, the trio won’t be eligible here because one of its members, Phoebe Bridgers, is a previous Grammy nominee. She received four nods, including best new artist, three years ago.
Zach Bryan and GloRilla probably won’t be eligible because they were nominated in performance categories last year. The Grammy rulebook makes an exception for such artists, provided they hadn’t at the time of those nominations released enough material to be “eligible in this category for the first time.” Bryan and GloRilla were both eligible and entered for best new artist last year.
The Grammy screening committee will have the final say on whether Coi Leray and Jelly Roll are eligible. Neither has been nominated before, but both have been around awhile. Leray was nominated for best new artist at the BET Awards two years ago, and Jelly Roll has been releasing records since 2011.
Gracie Abrams
Aaron Dessner and Matias Tellez co-produced the singer-songwriter’s first studio album, Good Riddance. Abrams has served as an opening act on Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour tour and Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. Fun fact: Abrams’ father, J.J. Abrams, won two Primetime Emmy Awards as executive producer/director of Lost.
Ice Spice
The rapper, born Isis Naija Gaston, has landed four top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2023 thanks to collaborations with PinkPantheress (“Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2”) and past best new artist nominees Taylor Swift (“Karma”) and Nicki Minaj (“Princess Diana,” “Barbie World”). Ice Spice was nominated for best new artist at the 2023 BET Awards.
Jelly Roll
The rapper turned country artist had a star-making night in April at the CMT Music Awards, where he performed “Need a Favor” and won three trophies. Jelly Roll, born Jason Bradley DeFord, will turn 39 in December, which would make him the oldest individual nominee in this category since Andrea Bocelli, who was 40 when he was nominated 25 years ago.
Coco Jones
Jones won best new artist at the BET Awards, beating GloRilla and Ice Spice. The former child star was featured on Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing in 2010-11 and starred in the Disney Channel film Let It Shine in 2012. Her breakthrough track, “ICU,” reached No. 63 on the Hot 100 in May. Jones was also featured on a track on Babyface’s 2022 album, Girls Night Out.
Noah Kahan
The singer-songwriter’s third album, Stick Season, vaulted to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 following the release of an expanded edition in June. It will probably be nominated for best Americana album or best folk album.
PinkPantheress
The British singer-songwriter was nominated for the rising star award at the Ivor Novello Awards in 2022. She won the BBC’s Sound of 2022 poll and has been nominated for three NME Awards. “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” reached No. 3 on the Hot 100.
Peso Pluma
The Mexican singer-songwriter-rapper born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija is vying to become the third Latin artist to be nominated in this category in the past five years, following Rosalía and Anitta. Génesis, his third studio album, entered the Billboard 200 at No. 3, becoming the highest-charting regional Mexican album to date.
Bailey Zimmerman
The singer-songwriter’s first studio album, Religiously. The Album, reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Zimmerman was nominated for new male artist of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May.
Within Reach: Lola Brooke, Doechii, Fifty Fifty, FLO, HARDY, JVKE, Kelela, RAYE, Rema, Toosii, The War and Treaty, Hailey Whitters
This story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Peso Pluma arrives slightly early to his own birthday party. He’s dressed in Dior from head to toe, but still looks casual in a long-sleeve button-down overshirt stamped with the designer’s oblique logo, dark jeans and black sneakers with white shoelaces. The famously punctual birthday boy, who’s turning 24 today (June 15), tours the venue — a gorgeous hidden garden just south of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, that’s overflowing with trees and sparkly chandeliers — to ensure his vision for the party has been executed. Amid the greenery is a makeshift club with a stage, a dancefloor surrounded by tables and couches, and a huge light-up bar that’s impossible to miss. Pretty much what one would expect a 20-something’s birthday party vibe to be like.
But his childhood dreams have also come to life here. Branching off the club area, there’s a sweets room with all sorts of Mexican candy and, separately, another room for all things savory, with countless bags of chips — from Takis to Ruffles to Tostitos — and an array of toppings like melted cheddar cheese, chile piquín, lime and corn. Piñatas, including one of Peso himself and another of Spider-Man (a childhood favorite), hang from the ceilings, and Peso flashes a pearly white, almost mischievous ear-to-ear smile when he sees them. “It’s exactly how I envisioned it,” he says with satisfaction.
He could say the same of his now globe-spanning career. The artist born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija is at the forefront of Mexican music, leading the genre’s seismic growth in the United States and beyond with his signature corridos tumbados — a variety of the corrido (storytelling ballad) that often flaunts a chill yet lavish, weed-centric lifestyle. Raw, nasally and raspy, Peso’s distinctive vocals punctuate a sound powered by a requinto acoustic guitar, tololoche (a stringed bass instrument), charcheta (an alto horn) and trombone. And he remains a creative chameleon: Outside of corridos, he has recorded heartbreak and ultra-romantic songs, too.
Neither his voice nor sound are those of a typical pop star, but right now, Peso is one of the biggest artists in the world. To date, he has over 700 million on-demand official streams in the United States, according to Luminate, and 18 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 — including the blockbuster hit “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado, which made history as the first regional Mexican song to enter the top five on the all-genre chart. In June, he became the first artist to ever lead both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. lists simultaneously with different songs: the sierreño anthem “Ella Baila Sola” and his Bizarrap-produced track “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 55.” His new album, Génesis, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 1) — the highest rank ever for a música mexicana album on the chart.
“My life has changed a lot,” says Peso, who recalls that his first shows in Mexico just last year were attended by 500 people. (These days, he’s performing in arenas for upwards of 10,000.) Since his first hit, “El Belicón” with Raúl Vega, entered Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart in April 2022, he has landed 12 top 10 songs on the list, all in 2023 — the most for any regional Mexican act this year. Now, just days before releasing Génesis, he’s back in Mexico after spending the first half of 2023 on the road. In April, amid a brief run of U.S. dates, he performed at Coachella as a guest for Becky G’s set and then flew to New York to play “Ella Baila Sola” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He has also visited Colombia, Chile and the Dominican Republic, where he recorded collaborations with Blessd, Nicki Nicole and El Alfa, respectively.
“Now my life is my work, and I live for this,” he says. Peso doesn’t come from a family of musicians and is notoriously private about his family life but shares that his “familia trabajadora (hardworking family)” instilled that go-getter mentality in him at a young age. “I’m very happy to do what I love doing the most and to be able to share a message of perseverance with up-and-coming artists. Sometimes, as Mexicans, we put a lot of barriers on ourselves and we lack the confidence. Today, I see that people are proud of our movement. Back then, they’d think that Mexicans couldn’t have a No. 1 song singing corridos and that regional Mexican music was only regional, not global. Today, all those barriers have been broken.”
Lust T-shirt, Bottega Veneta vest, Palm Angels jeans, A Bathing Ape sneakers, Off-White eyewear.
Mary Beth Koeth
Born on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Peso Pluma — who at one point dreamed of becoming a professional soccer player — was fully immersed in corridos as a kid, listening to artists such as late sierreño star Ariel Camacho and Los Alegres del Barranco. “It’s what my uncles and family in Sinaloa [Mexico] would listen to,” he says. He spent time as a teen in New York and attended high school in San Antonio (he is bilingual, though he spoke in Spanish for this interview), and his exposure to different pockets of the continent influenced his diverse musical palette.
“Peso Pluma is really a combination of everything I like, of all the cities I’ve lived in, cultures I’ve come to know. It has all helped me,” he says. “When I went to the United States, I was listening to Kanye [West], Drake, Kendrick Lamar — it’s actually because of their songs that I learned to speak English. I’d come home from school and study their lyrics to try to understand the references they were making.” During a visit to New Orleans, he fell in love with jazz and the trombone, now a key instrument in his sound. He began writing his own lyrics in a diary-style notebook around the age of 15. Inspired by Camacho, who became a generational hero after his untimely death at age 22 in a 2015 car accident, Peso also learned to play guitar by watching YouTube videos. “There’s corridos in which you’ll hear me rap,” he says. “My music is inspired by many cultures, and that’s what I love about it.”
It was that versatility that struck George Prajin most when he met Peso in 2019 through one of his former artists, regional Mexican singer Jessie Morales, who performs as El Original de la Sierra. Although impressed with Peso’s previously released recordings, he didn’t sign him then, which was a “mistake,” says Prajin. So instead, Peso signed with Jessie’s brother, Herminio Morales — but, two years later, “Herminio called me saying he wasn’t doing well with his health and asked me to basically take on the project,” the Los Angeles-based Prajin explains. “I got a second opportunity.”
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For many years, Prajin had been looking for an artist who could successfully fuse hip-hop and corridos. As the son of Antonio Z. Prajin, owner of music retailer and distributor Prajin One-Stop, “I saw that a lot of the kids in the ’90s would buy corridos but also buy hip-hop. Back then, it was The Notorious B.I.G. or 2Pac and Chalino Sánchez. I always thought that I could invent some fusion that would be the biggest thing on the planet. When I met Peso, I thought, ‘Maybe this is the way that we’re going to get this done.’ ”
While Peso loved an array of genres, he was very clear about how he didn’t want to sound. “I remember he told me, ‘If I’m going to record reggaetón, then it has to be an all-reggaetón song. If I’m going to do a rap song, it has to be a rap song. Same with regional,’ ” says Prajin. “At first, I was like, ‘Wow, are you sure?’ But now I understand why: because he can own each one of those genres. He’s that versatile, and he’s that good. He knows what he’s doing and knows exactly what he wants. That’s when I said, ‘Take the lead, Peso.’ ”
Peso Pluma didn’t reach the summit of Mexican music on his own — and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Of his 20 songs to appear on the Hot 100 this year, 18 are collaborations, with young artists like Natanael Cano, who in the late 2010s pioneered the corridos tumbados (trap corridos) subgenre; sierreño powerhouse Junior H; and corridos singer Luis R Conriquez.
“It’s beautiful to see that if I invite Luis R or Nata to sing with me at a show or on my album, they’re there. We all may be prideful and have an ego, but we’re there for each other,” Peso says confidently. He knows that collaborations have been key in the recent rise of regional Mexican music. “At the end of the day, they’re not doing this for me — they’re doing it for the culture of Mexican music. We’re coming together to help this grow because that’s what they did with reggaetón. All the artists came together to grow the genre, and later, they were able to be successful on their own.”
Supreme jacket, Balenciaga T-shirt, Burberry shorts, Nike socks and sneakers, Off-White eyewear.
Mary Beth Koeth
According to Luminate, regional Mexican music consumption in the United States jumped 42.1% year to date through May 25, outpacing gains in the Latin genre overall, as well as country, dance/electronic, rock and pop. Only K-pop — up 49.4% year to date — has performed better this year than regional Mexican. About 99% of regional Mexican consumption comes from streaming. “For the past five years, we’ve seen numbers rising for the Mexican music genre,” says Maykol Sánchez, head of artist and label partnerships for Latin America and U.S. Latin at Spotify. During the past five years, the genre grew by 604% in Mexico, compared with 212% in the United States and over 400% globally.
Even within that context of astounding growth, Peso’s numbers are stunning. From June 2022 to June 2023, his average daily listeners increased by 4,341% and his average daily streams increased by 10,792%. “Música mexicana has gone through a similar evolution that reggaetón also went through when it blew up; [the artists have] modernized the way they look, the way they write lyrics, creating a movement for their generation. It has been a long time coming, and Mexican being such a strong culture in the U.S. with the population, it just makes sense,” Sánchez says.
With nearly 40 million residents of Mexican origin, the United States is home to the world’s second-largest Mexican community, which comprises over one-half of America’s overall Latin population. “Mexican music is now pop culture,” says AJ Ramos, head of artist partnerships for Latin music and culture at YouTube. “We’re seeing it because of the power of the Mexican diaspora, the connection between the U.S. and Mexico. The culture is here and the users are here. Artists from other Latin subgenres now have to start collaborating with them to have a hit.”
Thanks to massive team-ups like “Ella Baila Sola” with Eslabon Armado and his Bizarrap session, Peso has had No. 1s on YouTube’s global Top Songs chart in markets including Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Italy and Spain and is on track to be one of the 10 most viewed artists globally this year, according to the video streaming platform. “In 2018, one or two songs a week [from the genre] were entering the U.S. Top Songs chart; now the genre represents 25% of the chart,” YouTube music trends manager Kevin Meenan says.
Amiri hoodie and hat, Cartier eyewear.
Mary Beth Koeth
Regional Mexican music, an umbrella term comprising banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño, mariachi and other subgenres, has been a pillar of Latin music for decades. In the past year, the genre, which has been around for over 150 years, has exploded in popularity worldwide, reaching a broader audience after being long considered music solely for Mexican and Mexican American audiences. Back in the day, the music was heavily stigmatized, considered música de rancho (rancho music), and its listeners were often stereotyped as uneducated or poor.
That’s no longer the case, explains Pepe Garza, head of content development and A&R for media company Estrella Music Entertainment. “Young people in general aren’t as prejudiced as older generations, and they’re not judging each other about the music they’re listening to. That has been important to the genre’s growth.”
Now global forces like Bad Bunny and Colombian hit-maker Ovy on the Drums (Karol G’s longtime producer) are recording norteñas and corridos, respectively. “We had been so saturated with the same thing over and over again,” says Ovy on the Drums, who collaborated with Peso on “El Hechizo,” a corrido fused with Ovy’s signature dancehall beat. “Mexican music is huge right now, and not just with corridos — they’re also killing it with reggaetón. Enter Peso, who can do it all. Plus, he’s really good onstage. He has the whole package.”
Peso Pluma photographed on June 28, 2023 at Toe Jam Backlot in Miami.
Mary Beth Koeth
Peso’s high-energy performances are a spectacle. Singing live — usually clad in shorts and a T-shirt, his signature high socks, his favorite pair of white Air Force 1s and, at times, a Spider-Man mask — he tirelessly dances and jumps along to songs with the backing of a riveting live band. He’s a dynamo who feeds off his equally energetic, multigenerational fan base. When Becky G brought him out at Coachella, the crowd roared to greet him — an especially memorable reception, given that he was then an emerging global act.
“His tone is something that is hard to forget, and it instantly made me appreciate how unique he is as an artist,” says Becky G, who teamed up with Peso for “Chanel,” the first single off her upcoming Mexican music album. “But I also think he allows his personality to shine even more through his stage presence that’s equally as unique as he is. I went to go watch him perform at his first U.S. tour run, and his energy was so contagious — I think it plays a huge part in how much he connects with his fans.”
“Before Peso, there was Grupo Firme, who was doing big things for the genre, and before Grupo Firme, there was Banda MS,” Garza says. “It’s natural that new [regional Mexican] artists keep reaching new heights because they’re standing on the shoulders of the ones that came before them.” Peso is the latest evolution of regional Mexican stardom — fearless and revolutionary like those before him, but with a magnetic charm all his own.
It’s difficult to describe Peso Pluma’s haircut. Something like a mullet with a sideburn fade, it doesn’t exactly scream trend in the making. Yet, like all things Peso, it’s now in high demand.
“The other day, a barber from Mexico City called me and said, ‘Thank you for giving us so much work.’ Apparently, 24 people had requested ‘the Peso Pluma haircut’ in one day,” says Peso in shock. Even many on his own team haven’t heard the story of how he got that haircut in the first place. “I used to have long hair — think Justin Bieber back when he released ‘Baby,’ ” Peso recalls with a chuckle. “My hair is a superpower, so I’m very particular about who cuts my hair. On a trip to Medellín, Colombia, this barber said he was going to give me a haircut that is very popular in Medellín — he said, ‘Trust me, you’re going to love it.’ I hated it at first. I was like, ‘What did you do?’ Then I recorded a music video, and when I saw it, I was like, ‘Wait, actually, se ve bien perro [it looks really good].’ ”
So for now, he’s sticking with it — though he’s focused on influencing his followers in other ways. In April, he launched his own label, Double P Records, where he serves as CEO and head of A&R, as a subsidiary of his home label, Prajin Records. “I’m super happy to be able to help my friends because that’s how I see them. I don’t see them as my artists,” he explains. “More than anything, I want them to know that if I could do it, so can they. I’m on this journey with them; we’re paddling together. I tell them, ‘Learn from whatever is happening in my career. Take notes because I’m still growing just as you are.’ ” So far, those friends include Jasiel Nuñez, Tito Laija (Peso’s cousin and one of his co-writers) and Raúl Vega.
Starting a new label with Peso was a no-brainer, says Prajin, who also manages him. “I have that much faith in him,” Prajin adds. “When he saw that I really trusted him, he trusted me even more. We’ve never had boundaries. Everything he has ever wanted, every collab he has ever desired, we’ve made it happen. He definitely knows I have his back in terms of his career. I think, too, the way that we structured his deal — a lot of artists don’t make money until their second or third year. He’s making money in his first year. We’re partners, and I think he’s going to appreciate it even more when he sees not only that he’s making a lot of money, but he’s also keeping it.”
Mary Beth Koeth
While on his first-ever U.S. tour — which Prajin says had to be “renegotiated” with Live Nation to add dates following his rapid rise — Peso released Génesis in June. “I think of it as my debut album,” he says, adding that it features some of his “favorite” artists, including Cano, Junior H, Luis R and Nuñez. Following its release, it became Spotify’s all-time most streamed regional Mexican album in one day globally. Its strong streaming performance led to Peso placing a historic 25 simultaneous titles on the Hot Latin Songs chart (dated July 8), breaking Bad Bunny’s record of 24.
Although his first two albums were recorded more spur of the moment (and thus sound less professional), “I didn’t want to delete my previous albums because they represent my beginnings,” Peso says. “Those albums are the foundation of my castle. But I put all my effort into this new album, which includes songs to dance to, cry to, party to; there’s something for everyone. It’s a corridos album — or call them whatever you want: corridos verdes, tumbados, bélicos, because at the end of the day, it’s all Mexican music. It’s what I’m most proud of: that a Mexican song, a corrido, that isn’t pop can be No. 1 today.”
Globalizing Mexican music has been Peso’s goal since day one, and as he describes it, he’s just getting started. Performing at Coachella with Becky G was eye-opening for him, and he hopes to return to the festival next year to perform his own set. His manager says that’s already in the works, along with U.S. stadium dates in 2024, more collaborations with major Latin artists and eventually recording English-language songs with big names in the hip-hop world.
“I think people knew what corridos were because of Natanael and Bad Bunny’s collaboration [2019’s “Soy el Diablo”], but I really want artists from outside of our world to know what this music is all about,” says Peso enthusiastically. “Now that this has all exploded, everyone wants to do Mexican music. That’s how we globalize it: through key collaborations with artists who want to record our music.”
Mary Beth Koeth
His five-year plan isn’t set in stone but goes something like this: “I see myself working with artists and producers I’ve always dreamed of working with. I see myself winning a Grammy, breaking more records, but in five years, I see myself more like Hov, like Jay-Z, spending more time on the business side of it all and helping young artists achieve their dreams,” he says with determination.
For now, he’s OK with a different alter ego: Peter Parker, conveniently also a double P. “I always used to tell my friends that I was Peter Parker, and now it all makes sense,” says Peso with a smile. “Peter Parker is Hassan offstage, but Peso Pluma is Spider-Man when he goes onstage and fights against the bad guys of the world.”
At his birthday party, it was Hassan from Guadalajara who showed up — who only wanted to enjoy every second with his best buds, some of whom he hadn’t seen in months, whom he would greet with a big hug and a huge smile. Once the festivities began around 9 p.m., Peso quickly took the stage to introduce the first artist who would perform that night: not Peso Pluma, but his best friend, Jasiel Nuñez. “Let’s enjoy new talent,” he said, adding a quick reminder: “The point is that we all have fun here.”
This story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
A few days after accepting the award for new female artist of the year at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards in Nashville this May, Hailey Whitters was onstage in Madison, Wis., opening for Shania Twain. Afterward, as she watched the legend from the wings, Whitters, 33, flashed back to her 8-year-old self “singing Shania Twain in [my] underwear in the living room … and it hit me just how far I’ve come,” she says. “I set out to do this, and I definitely was hellbent on achieving it, but even the last few months have surprised me.”
Her spring accomplishments also included a headlining club tour and landing her first top 20 hit at country radio. The winsome, effervescent “Everything She Ain’t,” released in early 2022, has spent 62 weeks on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, peaking at No. 17 in June more than a year after its debut. In May, the song gave Whitters her first appearance on the Hot 100 chart.
Whitters experienced plenty of discouraging moments — when she wondered if she should head back home to Shueyville, Iowa, and its population of 700 — following her post-high school move to Nashville in 2007. But as she sang on her 2019 track, “Ten Year Town,” about trying to make it in country music: “I didn’t come this far to only go this far.”
Raised on ‘90s country and artists like The Chicks and Trisha Yearwood, Whitters knew that she wanted to move to Nashville after she and her mom attended the Grand Ole Opry during a visit to Music City when she was 15. During her early years in Nashville, she made inroads as a songwriter, landing cuts with big names including Alan Jackson, Martina McBride and Little Big Town. But her career as an artist was floundering, even after releasing her debut album, Black Sheep, through her music publishing company, Carnival Music, in 2015.
Gucci top, & Other Stories skirt, Jenny Bird jewelry.
Daniel Chaney
Yet the tide began to turn when she posted “Ten Year Town” on Instagram in July 2019. Almost immediately, artists including Maren Morris, Brothers Osborne and Carly Pearce supported the song. “They posted about it and it started generating all this buzz,” Whitters says.
Within two weeks, Morris had asked Whitters to open on her fall tour, a fortuitous move Whitters still can’t believe. “I had no label, no management,” Whitters says (her booking agency CAA relayed the good news). “It was pretty ballsy of her to ask, essentially, this no-name songwriter to open this massive tour. I quit my waitressing job right before the tour started.”
With excitement about Whitters renewed, she also found management: Make Wake’s Chris Kappy, whose clients include Luke Combs and Range Media Partners’ Matt Graham, who co-manages Midland, among others. The friends were both so enthusiastic about Whitters, they decided to partner.
“ ‘Ten Year Town’ brought me to tears. It made me really want to help her,” Graham says. “I met her at a bar in Nashville and called Kappy afterwards and said, ‘That’s a person that I would want to drink a beer with all over the world.’”
Whitters had opened three shows for Combs years before, and though Kappy admits he doesn’t recall the gigs, Whitters always remembered how well he had treated her. “She said, ‘You took care of me, and I was nobody,’” he reflects. “I heard the music, I fell in love with it, and then by just being a good human being ended up winning the business.”
The Great top and skirt, Steve Madden boots, Jennifer Fisher earrings, Jenny Bird ring.
Daniel Chaney
In February 2020, Whitters self-released her The Dream EP on her own Pigasus Records. A few weeks later, she played a sold-out show at Nashville’s prestigious Exit/In with hit songwriter Nicolle Galyon and Big Loud CEO Seth England, among other label executives, in attendance. Galyon offered her a deal on her new Songs & Daughters label, a partnership with Big Loud Records, and Whitters believed she was finally making headway. Then the pandemic hit. “It felt like all the stars were aligning, and by that Friday, the world shuts down,” she recalls.
During the early months of the pandemic, she focused on songwriting, including Alicia Keys and Brandi Carlile’s 2020 song, “A Beautiful Noise,” for which she received a song of the year Grammy nomination. She also released a deluxe edition of Dream, called Living the Dream, that included collaborations with artists including Yearwood, Jordan Davis and Little Big Town.
Concurrently with focusing on her music, she revamped her look from jeans and t-shirts. Graham paired her with photographer-turned-creative director Harper Smith, and “it really shifted everything about how Hailey conveyed herself to her audience,” he says. “It captured the Midwest earnestness, cuteness, small-town aesthetic that Hailey really wanted to own,” as she leaned into pastel colors, florals, ruffles and hair bows.
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By 2021, Whitters was eager to reemerge following months of Zoom co-writes. She had her first in-person writing session with Bryan Simpson and Ryan Tyndell at Tyndell’s studio on Music Row and left with a hit.
Simpson and Tyndell were working on a song with a “stark, moody, Spaghetti Western vibe,” Whitters recalls, but getting nowhere. She suggested they switch to something lighter. “I had that hook, ‘I’m everything she is and everything she ain’t,’ and we were off to the races.” Less than 90 minutes later, they finished “Everything She Ain’t,” and that night, Whitters sang it a capella to her producer boyfriend (now husband) Jake Gear, who replied, “We have to record that, like, instantly,” she recalls.
Her label had the same positive reaction. Though she had already finished recording songs for her 2022 album Raised, once Galyon and England heard the eventual breakout hit, Whitters says, “They just lit up and were like, ‘We have to release this.’ I was totally shocked. I thought we were done.”
When the album arrived — complete with the last-minute addition — digital service providers including Spotify, Amazon, Apple and Pandora embraced the song. TikTok also played a role in its success. “My philosophy has always been, ‘Don’t sign stuff that’s working on TikTok, sign great artists and help them crack the code on TikTok,’” Graham says. “Interesting pockets of TikTok connected with that record, like farm boys that really took to the song and ran with it.”
Gucci top, & Other Stories skirt, Jenny Bird jewelry, Darner socks, Sam Edelman shoes.
Daniel Chaney
When the song reached a million streams a week, Kappy says Big Loud decided it was time to go to terrestrial radio with Whitters for the first time. The slow, steady climb has been propelled by “creating moments for the fans to fall in love with her,” he says, including opening for Jon Pardi last year and Twain this year, plus her ACM Award win, which was voted on by peers.
As Kappy sees it, “I think Nashville finally gave her that kiss that said, ‘Hailey, we know you’ve been here and we love you. You’ve earned this.’”
A version of this story will appear in the July 15, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Victoria Monét sees herself as something of a musical jaguar — particularly in the way she has written for other acts (like Ariana Grande and Fifth Harmony) during her career. “I feel like I’ve been behind the bushes and in the background, and I think jaguars themselves live in that way,” she explains. “They find […]
Madonna had the music industry burning up so fast after she released her first single in 1982 that a short item about it in the Nov. 6 issue of Billboard introduced her as “a young New York duo.” (Forty-one years later, we’d like to offer an immaculate correction: Madonna is one person.) Since then, Billboard has lived to tell about the Queen of Pop’s 14 studio albums and 12 No. 1 Hot 100 hits. Now, as she prepares to embark on her career-spanning Celebration Tour, which starts July 15 in Vancouver, we’re sharing some confessions from our dance lore.
‘Borderline’ Praise
By the time Madonna’s 1983 debut album came out, Billboard had figured out she was a person — a “young blonde singer/songwriter whose music is in the R&B/dance mode,” to be specific — and offered qualified praise in the Aug. 27 issue. “The songs here are pretty standard dance tunes,” read a ‘Top Album Pick,’ “but Madonna has the pipes and presence to make them a bit special.”
Lucky Spar
Not all Billboard critics were hung up on the future Queen of Pop. A Nov. 24, 1984, review of the Like a Virgin album clucked that “her come-hither image and vivid video profile have made Madonna Ciccone a pop provocateur regardless of her musical gifts.” On the other many-braceleted hand, however, a May 18, 1985, review of The Virgin Tour in Los Angeles gave her props as a performer: “Those of us who figured that Madonna was strictly a studio creation and would fall apart onstage were in for a pleasant surprise.”
Like a Player
“Controversy becomes Madonna,” noted the April 22, 1989, Billboard, after Pepsi pulled a TV ad that featured her following “complaints by Christian groups upset by the use of religious imagery” in her “Like a Prayer” video. But “with Madonna pocketing big money for an ad that aired twice, she is widely perceived at having beaten Madison Avenue folk at their own game.” That game was up, however, by the time she unveiled her coffee-table book, Sex. “Madonna has been jolting the public so consistently for so long now,” said a piece in the Oct. 31, 1992, Billboard, “that we’ve become almost numb to the juice.
Ray of Might
Madonna returned to her club roots in 1998 with Ray of Light. And in a Feb. 28 dance column, Billboard reported on how she introduced “her latest hippie chick/Earth mama persona” at “New York’s brutally hip Roxy nightclub.” The album set a record for first-week sales by a woman. Interviewed about her follow-up, Music, Madonna admitted in the Aug. 5, 2000, Billboard that “I can’t lie; I care about whether or not this record sells a little or a lot.” She needn’t have worried — it outperformed Ray of Light.
Take a Bow
“I don’t ever think about my age until someone says something about it,” Madonna told Elizabeth Banks for a Dec. 10, 2016, cover story after Billboard named her Woman of the Year. “I feel that I have wisdom, experience, knowledge and a point of view that is important. Can a teenager relate to that? Probably not. But that’s OK.” Besides, “I think the most controversial thing I’ve ever done,” she said, when receiving the honor at a Manhattan event, “is to stick around.”
This story originally appeared in the June 10, 2023 issue.