Peso Pluma was nominated for three awards — Best New Artist, Best Latin, and Song Of Summer — at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, where he performed “Lady Gaga.” He didn’t win any of them, but he has much more serious matters to worry about.
As reported by The Arizona Republic and translated by USA Today, Pluma was threatened by Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel, as evidenced by a banner spotted in Tijuana earlier in the day. According to the publications, the banner read, “This goes to Peso Pluma, refrain from presenting yourself on October 14 because it will be your last show due to your disrespect and loose tongue, you show up and we are going to [break you].”
Subsequently, Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin postponed Pluma’s concert scheduled for Thursday, September 14, “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Pluma has not publicly addressed the scary situation, instead posting shots from his 2023 MTV VMAs debut on Wednesday, September 13. According to his official website, his next scheduled concert is set for September 28 at Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
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As per Billboard, The 24-year-old Pluma (real name Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija) was born near Guadalajara, Mexico but spent his adolescence in San Antonio, Texas and New York, New York. According to Hypebeast, Pluma’s stage name, which translates to “featherweight,” was inspired by “the legendary Mexican boxer Marco Antonio Barrera” because of his lean stature. His July album, Genesis, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and has spent 11 weeks on the chart so far. To date, Pluma has 21 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including “Ella Baila Sola” (No. 4 peak).
“It’s a very beautiful song that was written by my friend Pedro Tovar,” Pluma told Uproxx in an interview published around the release of Genesis, speaking of his highest-charting Hot 100 single. “He has his group Eslabon Armado. He invited me to a part of their album Desvelado on that song. Thanks to God it was the song that performed the best on the album. It’s the song that’s racked up all these numbers. I’m very grateful and happy that they had me be a part of this and that everyone has liked it. Now there are remixes of it in all genres. I’m very proud to be Mexican and to raise the Mexican flag high up.”
Pluma added, “I’m very shocked to see how música Mexicana and corridos have reached such a level that people who didn’t like them at all are now the same people who are asking for corridos in the nightclubs. They’re the same people who are asking for this music everywhere. We’re very grateful that this has become something that’s global.”
Billboard additionally relayed that Pluma’s Genesis earned 101.8 million streams during the charting week of July 8, giving him “the largest streaming week ever for a regional Mexican album” up to that point. In doing so, Pluma had 25 songs simultaneously slotted on the Hot Latin Songs chart, besting global giant Bad Bunny‘s 24 — the record since May 2022.
