The alarms went off this week when the Argentine producer Bizarrap announced through social media that the next artist to star in his ultra-popular BZRP Session format will be the Mexican star Natanael Cano. A release scheduled for this Wednesday, April 3rd.
Natanael Cano is one of the first precursors of corridos tumbados, a variation of traditional corridos that throughout the historical development of the genre has been combined with hip hop and American urban rhythms. Without a doubt, his subgenre is breaking the scene right now, as it’s evidenced by the numbers of Cano and other references of the genre such as the Mexican hitmaker Peso Pluma.
But who is behind this unstoppable boom? The corridos tumbados, also known as trap corridos, are generating an unprecedent and explosive furor, as we have already seen in Bizarrap’s #55 BZRP Music Session with Doble P, which garnered more than 56 million views less than a week after its release. In this sense, Cano has much to do in this paradigm shift that Mexican music is experiencing with a new generation of artists who are revolutionizing the music scene.
The Origins of Natanael Cano
Natanael Ruben Cano Monge has become a true reference of Mexican music worldwide at the early age of 23. Throughout his childhood he became interested in music, showing his talent in some family events, although he would soon begin to develop as an artist learning to play the guitar, inspired by other musicians such as Ariel Camacho.
Camacho was a Mexican songwriter part of Los Plebes del Rancho, known for his contributions to the sierreño-banda subgenre of regional Mexican music. He was not directly involved in the development of corridos tumbados, but he’s considered by some to have generated a great change in traditional corridos.
Inspired by this transformative vocation of the genre, Cano took over and started uploading videos of his covers on YouTube. And it didn’t take him long to reach his first million views video with his first song, ‘El de los Lentes Gucci’, which showed a clear commitment to the corridos tumbados with a unique combination of trap and traditional music that he has turned into his personal brand. His success was evident from the beginning.
“I had the goal of reaching a million views and my first song did it. There weren’t many kids releasing corridos, I was the youngest», he said in a recent interview with GQ México.
Straight to Success: from ‘Corridos Tumbados’ to the World
In 2019 Natanael signed to the Los-Angeles based urban regional Mexican label Rancho Humilde, which has played a key role in the growth of the subgenre and has also led to artists such as Junior H or the group Fuerza Regida. He had already released his first studio album, Todo es diferente (2019) through the independent record company La R Records.
He experienced a real boom in his career with the release of its second studio work Corridos Tumbados (2019) with Rancho Humilde. Here, Natanael teams up with other Mexican and related artists such as Junior H, Dan Sanchez and Nueva Era, and we can see a more mature conformation of his personal style, more defined and determined. With this album the artist also earned his first entry in the Billboard Hot 200 albums and in the Top Latin Albums, inside the top 5.
“I had the goal of reaching a million views and my first song did it»Natanael Cano
Other popular works would follow, such as his EPs Mi Verdad Corridos Tumbados (2019) and Corazón Tumbado (2020). In 2020 he would also release his third studio album, Mi Nuevo Yo, with which he was number 1 on the Apple Music chart.
His songs represent some of the recurrent topics present in ‘corridos tumnados’, where he talks about some experiences that are happening in the streets, very related to violence, drug use, sex and vices. There’s also an evolution in his verses throughout his development and recognition of him as an artist, because he also speaks about his path to success, luxury, and other related elements.
«Natanael is the Jay-Z and the Kanye West of corridos”Peso Pluma
He has swept the charts worldwide (including our Lista Los40 USA) with several hits like ‘Drip’, ‘AMG’, ‘PRC’ and ‘Ch y la Pizza’. A rise to stardom in which he maintains a loyal fan community in social and streaming platforms: he accumulates more than 24.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than 6 million followers on Instagram.
A Reference in the Genre
Natanael Cano has become a central figure in the expansion of Mexican music, recognized by many renowned artists. His friend Peso Pluma, who is the most successful and international reference in the regional Mexican music scene right now, recently said in an interview that for him Cano was «a rock star».
“I’ve never said this, this is the first time I’m going to say it, but for me he’s the king. The one who paved the way, opened the doors for us. He ‘s the Jay-Z and the Kanye West of corridos”, remarked the singer, with whom he has collaborated on hits such as ‘PRC’ and ‘AMG’.
Natanael also gained recognition from Bad Bunny, with whom he collaborated on ‘Soy El Diablo – Remix’ after Benito uploaded his song in an Instagram stories. The Mexican has also work with other big names in the game like Alejandro Fernández in ‘Amor Tumbado’ or Adriel Favela in ‘Así Tocó Mi Vida’.
He has even conquered several awards alongside his career like the Premio Juventud for ‘Amor Tumbado’, ‘Nueva Generación Regional Mexicano’ and ‘Colaboración Omg’. In 2021, he won a Latin American Music Award for ‘Canción Favorita’ also with ‘Amor Tumbado’ and he’s been nominated several times to other Billboard Latin Music Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, Premios Lo Nuestro and Premios Tu Música Urbano.
As you can see, the Mexican artist has reached several important milestones through his short but successful career, and has consolidated as a young icon in his genre.
And you? Have you already listened to the songs of Natanael Cano?
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