State Champ Radio Mexican music
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Carín León’s new album will be released May 30, and it won’t be business as usual, as the Mexican star exclusively tells Billboard.
Boca Chueca Vol. 1 drops at 8 p.m. ET on May 30, and features 19 songs, including bilingual collabs with country stars Kane Brown and Leon Bridges as well as Latin icons like ranchera star Pepe Aguilar and Mexican rockers Panteón Rococo. See the full tracklist for the first time below.
But the real change, says León, starts with the album cover, a surrealist painting that shows León’s face close up, with a sinister-looking hand holding his mouth open in a crooked grimace that is a direct reference to the album’s title; “Boca Chueca” translates to “Crooked Mouth.” And that title in turn represents the album’s contents, says León.
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“What we wanted to highlight on the cover was […] all those problems you suffer as an artist who is always exposed,” León said in a voice note he sent to Bilboard. “All those fears they carry from before. All that contributes to the music and the art we all make as artists. Making this album was like a small embrace and a conciliation with many things people think are bad, but that are also part of you. The cover has that dark look which in a way has a lot to do with us and also speaks about the reinvention in this album. It has more daring words, more of a street vocabulary. Boca Chueca has a lot to do with that less genteel side of Oscar Armando,” says León, referring to his given name, Oscar Armando Díaz de León.
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The cover art of Boca Chueca was designed by Alan Ortega, a member of León’s band who plays the pedal steel guitar but is also a painter. In fact, he did the also surrealistic cover of León’s album Colmillo de Leche, where he is depicted with a lion’s head.
Boca Chueca Vol. 1 is the studio follow-up to Colmillo, which peaked at No. 8 last year on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. Since its release, León has been getting traction as one of the top regional Mexican music stars in the market, touring arenas and performing at festivals like Stagecoach.
His new tour, also called Boca Chueca, kicks off July 22 and includes stops at Madison Square Garden and, in a departure for a Mexican act, at Wizink Center in Madrid.
As for Vol. 2 of Boca Chueca (the album), no word yet on when it will be released, but the implication is it won’t be long. Here is the full tracklist of Boca Chueca, Vol. 1.
Final Tracklist:
1. ”Cuando la vida sea trago”2. “Otra vez”3. ”Casi oficial”4. ”Frené mis pies”5. ”Círculo vicioso”6. ”Que haga el paro”7. ”Bebé no cambies tú”8. “Por eso bye”9. ”Qué feo se siente el amor”10. ”No sé” con Panteón Rococó11. “The One (Pero no como yo)” con Kane Brown12. ”Lamentablemente” con Pepe Aguilar13. ”Aviso importante” con Bolela14. “It Was Always You (Siempre fuiste tú)” con Leon Bridges15. ”Banqueteras”16. “1”17. ”Aunque tú no lo sepas”18. ”Por culpa de un tercero”19. ”Despídase bien”
Warner Music is restructuring its Mexican music division to strengthen its market presence and product quality, the label tells Billboard. The revamped division will feature a culturally attuned A&R team and a strategic marketing framework designed to promote artist development across multiple territories.
The initiative will be led by Tomas Rodríguez, president of Warner Music Mexico & Mexican Music, who will be spearheading the restructured division from Mexico. “The expertise, adaptability, and market acumen of the Mexican Music team will bolster our vision for the genre’s development and globalization, cementing Warner as a protagonist,” he said in a statement.
Rubén Abraham, Warner Music’s GM of Mexican music, will oversee the A&R and marketing teams from Los Angeles, aligning strategies across the United States and Mexico. “We’re primed to offer the industry’s premier platform for the genre, supported by top-notch professionals and tailored negotiation options that cater to both present needs and future prospects of Mexican Music,” he said.
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The division’s A&R team will include Brian Plascencia as director of A&R. Plascencia brings extensive experience from previous roles at Universal Music and Univision Records and as a West Coast label manager at Machete Music, where he was instrumental in launching artists such as Larry Hernandez, Fidel Rueda, El Potro de Sinaloa and Roberto Tapia. As a founding partner at Alianza Records, Plascencia has also developed artists like Grupo H-100 and Edicion Especial.
Elsewhere, the A&R team will include associate director of A&R Armando López, who brings over a decade of expertise in marketing, musical production and concert promotion. Cesar Carrillo has been appointed senior manager of A&R, with an 18-year track record in the regional Mexican music scene. His experience spans music production, artist management for acts like Tomas Ballardo and Los Buitres de Culiacán and booking for Legado 7 with Lumbre Music. AT FM Entertainment, he assisted in managing schedules for música mexicana giants such as Ramón Ayala, Banda Machos and Fidel Rueda.
María Angela Batiz, the label’s director of marketing for Mexican music, will continue to play a crucial role with her extensive experience and expertise in the genre, leading the development of marketing strategies and campaigns across the department.
Warner Music’s expansion in Mexican music is supported by its collaboration with the company’s independent distribution and label services arm ADA, enabling a range of services and partnership opportunities.
Warner Music’s Mexican music roster also includes Grupo Codiciado, El Komander, Pesado, DannyLux and Los Aptos.
