Peso Pluma Cancels Tijuana Concert Due to Cartel Death Threat

The Mexican singer also postponed a handful of US shows

Photo courtesy of Live Nation

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Sep 21, 2023

Peso Pluma has cancelled his upcoming concert in Tijuana, where threatening banners — reportedly issued by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — have appeared.

The Mexican singer, who has become something of a breakout star on the US charts over the past year as the genres under the regional Mexican music umbrella have experienced a massive wave of crossover popularity, was slated to play a stadium show in Tijuana on October 14.

As the New York Times reports, banners referred to as nacromantas have been put up that directly address the artist born Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija and the scheduled performance. Translated from Spanish, one of them reads: "This is for you, Peso Pluma. Refrain from appearing this October 14. Because it will be your last presentation."

The banner is signed by the initials of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, which is a major organized crime syndicate headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervante. Apparently the signs likewise accuse the musician of being "disrespectful and loose-mouthed."

Hailing from Zapopan (just outside Guadalajara), Peso Pluma's music is a streaming-era evolution of narcocorridos — a sub-genre of the regional Mexican corrido narrative ballad about the drug trade — called corridos tumbados and has featured on several songs in homage to incarcerated drug lord El Chapo. Additional artists making corridos tumbados have reportedly also faced threats.

According to Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero, Mexican authorities are investigating the banners threatening Peso Pluma. However, she also said in a recent radio interview that she feels musicians like him are making targets of themselves. "Let's be clear: They sing and make an apology of crime," Caballero said, "and thus they should know the risk and consequences."

This is the second concert in Tijuana that Peso Pluma has had to cancel this year. He has also postponed US shows in Birmingham, Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee in light of the threats.

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