Carin Leon on Nation Music, Palenque Live shows, New Album and Extra

It’s 2 a.m. on a Could morning in Aguascalientes, Mexico, long gone most individuals’s bedtimes. However contained in the Palenque of Feria de San Marcos — a venue on this central Mexican metropolis — Carín León is getting into the third hour of a efficiency the place he has sung nonstop whereas pacing the small 360-degree stage like a caged lion.

Palenques, present in most Mexican cities and cities, have been initially designed and used for cockfighting, and most have been reworked into live performance venues that put artists in shockingly shut proximity to their followers, with no ring of safety across the tiny stage. The palenque circuit is de rigueur for Mexican artists, even a famous person like León — a burly man who tonight seems even greater because of his ever-present high-crown cowboy hat.

Almost 6,000 followers encompass him in arena-style seating, the steep, vertical format permitting everybody an in depth view of the person beneath, flanked by his backing ensemble: a norteño band with electrical guitars, a sinaloense brass part, backup singers and keyboards — almost 30 musicians in all, who wander about, seize drinks, chat and return to the stage all through the present. León leads the organized chaos, traversing repertoire that, throughout the course of the night, goes from corridos and norteño ballads to nation and rock’n’roll.

“I feel it’s probably the most Mexican factor doable in music, a palenque. I all the time say it’s important to see your artist play in a palenque to know it,” León tells me just a few hours earlier than the present. He has been taking part in them for years all through the nation, like most regional Mexican artists do. They’re locations of revelry and drink, a ceremony of passage, and the place to check new sounds.

“As artists, we recognize that have,” he provides. “We like it as a result of you’ve individuals so near you. You could be with them, have drinks with them — it’s a really attention-grabbing artist-fan communion.”

We’re chatting between sips of tequila at a rustic home on the outskirts of Aguascalientes, and regardless of the stifling afternoon warmth, León retains his hat on, wanting stately in his boots and black jacket with metallic buckles. Tender-spoken however emphatic, the 35-year-old música mexicana star alternates between Spanish and English, which he speaks with the American-sounding however accented cadence of somebody who discovered it by ear from transcribing songs by hand, however by no means in a classroom.

“I all the time had bother with my accent once I sang,” he says. “However I didn’t need to lose the accent as a result of it makes you distinctive. [An accent] is extra legitimate now. I all the time need to make sure the music is sweet, refine it, make it higher. However we’re coming from the 2000s, when music [production] was good. Now worth is given to what’s pure, and that features having an accent.”

Whereas at his core León is a regional Mexican artist who performs up to date banda and norteño, he loves collaborating with artists spanning many genres and incorporating regional sounds from all over the world into his music: Spanish ­flamenco, Colombian vallenato and salsa, Puerto Rican reggaetón. And as he blends these sounds in surprising methods, León has discovered an avid and rising viewers.

In 2024, he crisscrossed the world on his Boca Chueca tour, taking part in 81 palenque, enviornment and stadium dates in the US and Latin America. Of 1.3 million whole tickets bought, in keeping with his administration, 374,000 have been reported to Billboard Boxscore for a gross of $51.2 million, making it one of many yr’s most profitable Latin excursions. This yr, he’s scheduled to play 40 extra exhibits, together with Chilean and Colombian stadiums, Spanish arenas and German theaters — a leap few regional Mexican acts, whose touring is often restricted to the US and Mexico, have completed at such a scale.

However León has transcended mere geographic borders. Final yr, after releasing singles with nation star Kane Brown and soul musician Leon Bridges, León turned the primary artist to carry out primarily in Spanish on the Stagecoach nation music pageant, simply a few months after making his Grand Ole Opry debut. On June 6, he turned the primary regional Mexican artist to play CMA Fest, as a visitor of Cody Johnson, who invited him to carry out the bilingual “She Hurts Like Tequila” with him as a part of his set at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium.

“What struck me most was how easy it felt,” Bridges says of working with León on the bilingual duet “It Was All the time You (Siempre Fuiste Tú).” “We come from totally different musical backgrounds, however the emotion, the storytelling — that was shared. Collaborating with him wasn’t about chasing a fusion — it was about two artists trusting one another to make one thing trustworthy. Taking place to Mexico and being immersed in his world was a strong reminder of how common that connection by means of music actually is.”

From a purely industrial standpoint, León has no must take musical dangers like this past the Latin realm. Up to now 5 years alone, he has notched three entries on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, together with Colmillo de Leche (2023) and Boca Chueca, Vol. 1 (2024), which each reached the highest 10. He has positioned three No. 1s on the Latin Airplay chart, seven No. 1s on Regional Mexican Airplay and 19 entries on Hot Latin Songs, together with three high 10s. He’s a extensively sought-after collaborator for pop stars (Camilo, Maluma, Kany García, Carlos Vives), Spanish stars (Manuel Carrasco, El Cigala), Mexican legends (Pepe Aguilar, Alejandro Fernández) and fellow present chart-toppers (Grupo Firme, Gabito Ballesteros) alike.

However no matter what sounds he’s working with, or whether or not his collaborator is a longtime title or an untested act (a specific favourite of his), León is aware of what he likes. That confidence is on the core of his and supervisor Jorge Juarez’s strategic plan to make him a very world artist — and for the previous yr, they’ve set their sights on nation music, hoping to bridge the divide between two genres that, regardless of their totally different languages, are in truth remarkably related.

“It’s one thing that fills me with satisfaction and one thing that’s been very tough to realize as a Mexican and as a Latin: to succeed in the middle of the marrow of this nation motion,” León says. “To get to know this [country music] trade and begin shifting the threads to behave as this lacking hyperlink between regional Mexican and nation music.”

León first examined the nation waters again in 2019 with a Mexican/nation model of Excessive’s “Extra Than Phrases,” recorded in English and Spanish. Although it now has 14 million streams on Spotify, “it’s form of misplaced as a result of there was a lot different stuff occurring on the time,” he says. It was a dangerous transfer, particularly coming when León was not but the established star he’s at present. However to him, it was one price taking.

“It was the right excuse to indicate one thing totally different,” he says. “And it was superb. It was so liberating. As a result of I used to be trapped on this field that was regional mexicano at the moment, and [this song] was very enjoyable for me.”

Nation and regional Mexican are, really, pure siblings. Each genres are anchored in storytelling, with acoustic instrumentation and guitars central to their sound. Boots, hats and fringe jackets are staple outfits for artists and followers alike. And although they stem from totally different cultures, each are, as León places it, “roots genres” with their foundations in regional sounds.

Unsurprisingly, different Latin artists have forayed into nation earlier than — however none have introduced León’s present stage of Latin music stardom, nor have they generated the thrill and influence that he has since releasing his first nation team-up, “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” with Brown in March 2024. Since then, he has spent weeks in Nashville, working with native producers and songwriters for a country-leaning album that includes different main names that’s slated for a 2026 launch.

For nation music, that’s excellent news. In accordance with the Nation Music Affiliation’s 2024 Various Viewers examine, 58% of Latino music listeners eat nation music a minimum of month-to-month, in contrast with 50% when the final examine was performed in 2021. Discovering the best alternative to faucet that market had lengthy been within the Grand Ole Opry’s sights. “After which,” says Jordan Pettit, Opry Leisure Group vp of artist and trade relations, “the ­alternative with Carín got here up.”

At León’s Opry debut in 2024, “we had a whole lot of viewers there, greater than regular,” Pettit recollects. “The present itself completely blew my expectations.” The plan had been for León to play three songs, however the crowd clamored for extra, and the musician obliged with a fourth. “I can consider just one or two events in my seven years right here the place I’ve seen an artist get an encore,” Pettit says. “It was actually, actually superior to see the worlds collide.”

León’s worlds have been colliding since he was born Óscar Armando Díaz de León in Hermosillo, Mexico, a enterprise hub and the capital of the northwestern state of Sonora, positioned 200 miles from the U.S. border at Nogales, Ariz. That proximity, coupled along with his household’s voracious urge for food for music, uncovered him to a relentless and eclectic soundtrack that ranged from Cuban troubadour Silvio Rodríguez and corrido singer Chalino Sánchez to nation stars Johnny Money and George Strait to rock mainstays like Journey, Paul McCartney and Queen.

“What’s occurring now in my profession is the results of the music I ingested since I used to be a child,” he says. “Music gave me the motivation to find out about many issues — the origin of different international locations, political actions linked to music, cultural actions. I’m very freaky about music. All the things I’ve comes from the music I listened to.”

When León lastly began dabbling in guitar, he gravitated to the music closest to his roots, regional Mexican, and ultimately adopted his stage title. By 2010, he was the singer for Grupo Arranke, which by means of its mix of conventional sinaloense ­banda brass and sierreño guitars ultimately landed a cope with the Mexican indie Balboa. After a sluggish however regular rise, ­Grupo Arranke garnered its sole Billboard chart entry, peaking at No. 34 on Sizzling Latin Songs in 2019 with “A Través del Vaso,” penned by veteran songwriter Horacio Palencia.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and León switched gears: He went solo, signed to indie Tamarindo Recordz and started releasing music at a prolific tempo, launching what he now calls his “unique” cross-genre fusions.

He scored his first high 10 on a Billboard chart with “Me la Aventé,” which peaked at No. 6 on Regional Mexican Airplay in 2019. However his true breakouts have been two reside albums recorded and filmed in small studios throughout lockdown, Encerrados Pero Enfiestados, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (Locked Up, however Partying). The bare-bones units, that includes León singing and taking part in guitar with a stripped-down accompaniment of tuba and guitar, struck a strong chord. At a time when teenage performers with gold chains and unique automobiles have been propelling corridos tumbados and música mexicana with hip-hop angle up the charts, this 30-year-old relative unknown with a poignant tenor that oozed emotion was performing regional Mexican music with a Rhodes organ, a rustic twang and, along with his cowl of ’90s pop hit “Tú,” a feminine perspective. Nobody else seemed like him.

These acoustic classes “have been the primary issues I spotted may make the viewers uncomfortable [and] query what they have been listening to,” León recollects. “Wanting everybody to love you works, however it doesn’t allow you to transcend. I feel issues occur if you change one thing — for good or unhealthy — and also you get that divided opinion. All my idols — Elvis, Bob Dylan, Johnny Money — have been individuals who swam in opposition to the present. And never in a compelled approach, however in a honest approach, exposing vulnerabilities. We knew it was good things. And issues started to occur.”

In the course of the pandemic lockdown, León had the time and artistic house to experiment and discover a brand new openness inside regional Mexican music, a style the place artists used to seldom collaborate with each other. In 2021, he notched his first No. 1 with “El Tóxico,” a collaboration with Grupo Firme that dominated Regional Mexican Airplay for 2 weeks.

Then, Spanish city/flamenco star C. Tangana DM’d him on Instagram and invited him to collaborate on “Cambia!,” a track from Tangana’s acclaimed album El Madrileño that additionally featured younger sierreño star Adriel Favela and might greatest be described as a corrido flamenco. The monitor “blew my thoughts,” León says — and uncovered him to a very totally different viewers. “It taught me divisions are actually solely a label. After I heard that album, I understood music has no limits. C. Tangana is guilty for what’s occurring with my music now.”

Collaboration requests from artists looking for León’s distinctive sound (and sonic curiosity) began to move in on the exact time that he was itching to discover and globalize his music. In 2022, after recording the pop/regional Mexican ballad “Como lo Hice Yo” with Mexican pop group Matisse, he met the band’s supervisor, Jorge Juárez, co-owner of well-known Mexican administration and live performance promotion firm Westwood Leisure. The 2 clicked, and when León’s label and administration contract with Tamarindo expired in early 2023, he approached Juárez.

“There comes a time when managers and the artist should be an influence couple,” León observes. “I discovered the best match with Mr. Jorge Juárez. He’s a music fiend; he has a really out-of-the-box imaginative and prescient. That’s the place we clicked. And he had enormous ambition, which is essential to us. He’s the person of the inconceivable. We need to change the foundations of the sport.”

In León, Juárez says he noticed “a really versatile artist who may trip out traits, who may develop into an icon. He wasn’t trying to be No. 1, however to be the most important throughout time. He had so many attributes, I felt I had the best ammunition to exhibit my expertise of so a few years and take him to a worldwide stage.”

Juárez, who shuttles between his Miami residence base and Mexico, is a revered trade veteran who has lengthy managed a marquee roster of largely Mexican pop acts together with Camila, Reik, Sin Bandera and Carlos Rivera. He’s additionally a live performance promoter with experience in the US and Latin America. He sees León as having the potential to develop into “the following Vicente Fernández,” he provides, referring to the late world ranchero star.

As a result of León had parted methods with Tamarindo, which saved his recording catalog, he urgently needed to construct a brand new one. He and Juárez partnered in founding a label, Socios Music, and started releasing materials prolifically, financing the productions out of their very own pockets. Since partnering with Juárez, León has launched three studio albums: Colmillo de Leche and Boca Chueca, Vol. 1, which each peaked at No. 8 on Prime Latin Albums, and Palabra de To’s, which reached No. 20. Past the catalog, that they had three different key objectives: discovering a tour promoter with world attain, constructing the Carín León model and increasing into nation.

AEG, which León and Juárez partnered with in 2023, may assist with all of it. Final yr, the promoter booked León’s back-to-back performances at Coachella and Stagecoach — making him one in every of only a few artists to play each of the Southern California Goldenvoice festivals in the identical yr — in addition to his slot opening for The Rolling Stones in Could in Glendale, Ariz. AEG president of world touring Wealthy Schaefer says they bought over 500,000 tickets for León headline exhibits in the US since they began working collectively, together with a 2024 sellout at Los Angeles’ BMO Stadium.

“There are few artists who put out as a lot music as Carín does frequently,” Schaefer provides. “He’s in a position to sing and converse fluently in two languages, which has already opened a whole lot of doorways each within the States and overseas. Our crew works very intently with Jorge and his crew, and he has a deep understanding of find out how to method worldwide territories. With just a little luck, Carín is poised to take over the world.”

That worldwide viewpoint additionally knowledgeable León’s method to recording. When Juárez got down to unlock nation music for his shopper, he first contacted Common Music Publishing Group head Jody Gerson — “our godmother,” as Juárez likes to say. “She opened so many doorways to us.”

Gerson first met León in 2023, after Yadira Moreno, UMPG’s managing director in Mexico, signed him. “It was clear from my first assembly with him that he possessed an expansive imaginative and prescient for his songwriting and artistry that will take him past Mexican music,” Gerson says. “Earlier than signing with us, he needed to make it possible for we have been aligned along with his ambitions and that he would get significant world assist from our firm, particularly in Nashville. Carín truly grew up listening to nation music, so his need to collaborate with nation songwriters is an natural one.”

Past opening the door to working with Nashville producers and songwriters, Gerson additionally related Juárez and León with Common Music Group chief Lucian Grainge, who in June 2024 helped formulate a singular partnership between Virgin Music Group, Island Information and Socios Music. By it, Virgin and Island distribute and market León’s music below Socios, with Virgin ­distributing and advertising to the U.S. Latin and world markets and Island working the U.S. mainstream market.

The settlement encompasses components of León’s again catalog in addition to new materials, together with 2024’s Boca Chueca, Vol. 1, which featured his bilingual collaborations with Brown (“The One [Pero No Como Yo],” which peaked at No. 46 on Hot Country Songs) and Bridges.

He plans to ship Boca Chueca, Vol. 2 earlier than the tip of the yr and simply launched a deluxe model of Palabra de To’s that features new pairings with Maluma (their “Según Quién” topped the Latin Airplay chart for 4 weeks in 2023 and 2024) and first-time duets with ranchera star Alejandro Fernández and flamenco icon El Cigala.

Whereas flamenco is one other ardour level for León, the nation album — his “first magnum opus,” he says — is his most bold purpose. Already, he has labored in Nashville with main producers and songwriters together with Amy Allen, Dan Wilson and Natalie Hemby. On the eclectic undertaking, he says, “Some stuff seems like James Brown, some stuff seems like Queen, some stuff seems like regional Mexican with these corrido tumbado melodies, however in a rustic approach. It’s very Carín. It’s what’s occurring in my head and in my coronary heart.” He received’t reveal all of its visitors simply but, however he says it contains mates like “my man Jelly Roll” and different huge stars he admires.

It’s new territory for a Latin act, and León is conscious about the very fact. However he’s approaching it from a really totally different perspective. “I’m not a rustic artist,” he says flatly. “I’m a sonorense. I’ve regional Mexican in my bones. However I really like nation music, and I’m making an attempt to do my method with my Mexican music and discover a center level. It’s not simple. You’ve a whole lot of obstacles due to the accent, due to the language, the racial stuff.”

For some profitable regional Mexican artists who tour consistently and make high greenback, the ­trade-off shouldn’t be price it; financially talking, they don’t must open new territories or genres and the audiences that include them. However for León, “the cash journey handed a whole lot of years in the past,” he says with a shrug, taking a final sip of tequila and adjusting the brim of that ever-present accent he shares along with his nation mates. “I would like to alter the sport,” he provides. “I’m hungry to make historical past, to be the one and solely. I’m so bold with what I need to do with the music. It’s all the time the music. She’s the boss.”