The New Within

One fun data point to follow in the past few years has been the decline of the English language in music. As Luminate reported, the global share of music streams in English went from 67% in 2021 to 54.9% in 2023. It's going down fast.

An equally relevant piece of data is that, as of today's update, songs entirely in English represent 42.8% of the ALL ACES playlist, meaning this newsletter is comfortably ahead of the trend, thank you.

In both global song consumption and our little playlist, Spanish is the second most dominant language. That said, in this issue we're highlighting two artists against the backdrop of Musica Mexicana's recent surge into the mainstream. One is a slightly under-the-radar, first-generation Mexican-American whose leading sound is cumbia. The other is an established pop star with a decade-long career, who is riding the wave but doing so with care and genuinely good music. Moreover, Estevie and Becky G provide an alternative to the current chart forerunners who are predominantly male and in favor of rap-influenced corridos.

If you're also weirdly excited about the dramatic crumble of English-language songs, I have news: you belong here. Subscribe to get the keys to your room. Next, share this post with a friend and invite them to hang out. This is your home now.

All Aces, The Playlist

Every issue is based on a new selection of songs from our playlist. Listen on Spotify.

The New Within

Estevie, 'La Cumbia del Cucuy' (Nice Life, 2022)

As the world watches the gravitational center of Latin Music progressively shift towards Mexico, Estevie is seizing the moment. A California-born singer from a deeply musical Mexican family, she was already on TV by the age of 11, singing regional music. As a 19-year-old, that means she's been practicing for nearly a decade how to balance her Mexican roots with the aspirations of a Gen Z artist in America. In 2024, when these two aspects seem to be merging seamlessly, it's like she's at the right spot, at the perfect time.

Originally released in 2022, 'La Cumbia del Cucuy' is Estevie's first single under the Nice Life label, a joint venture established in 2016 between producer Ricky Reed and Atlantic Records. Last September, the track was included in her debut EP amazingly titled 'Cumbialicious.'

For reference, Nice Life's first bet was on Lizzo, and they are currently managing Tinashe. Speaking to Billboard, Reed said the label focuses on finding artists who are 'not only musically shaking things up but also have something to say and are driving really different narratives.' While it's a very cliché thing for a record company to claim, investing in mythical modern cumbias just might check that box.

And for non-Spanish speakers, I said mythical because the Cucuy to which this song alludes is none other than the infamous monster that lives under a child's bed. Feared across cultures, it's the same concept that Americans might refer to as the 'Boogeyman' and Brazilians as 'Bicho-Papão' (with the literal translation being 'Eating Beast'? Fucking scary if you'd ask 5yo me!).

Becky G ft. Ivan Cornejo, '2NDO CHANCE' (Kemosabe Records/RCA Records, 2023) 

Becky G was fighting the cruel fate of becoming a one-hit wonder when Reggaeton, on the verge of exploding in 2016, lit the way. 'Thank God, I can speak another language because where I was in my career felt like I was tied to a sinking ship,' she admitted. Her first single in Spanish, 'Sola', was released that year. Then in 2017, the Bad Bunny-assisted 'Mayores' became the first of three subsequent smash hits, all sung in her grandparents' tongue.

After two albums with the Puerto Rican-popularized genre as the main thread, 'Esquinas,' released last September, is an all-Mexican inspired project. It's like Rebecca found yet another golden ticket in her family photo album. But what could have come off as a disingenuous and superficial attempt, ended up as a successful 'back to roots' experiment. 'Esquinas' is, by very far, the best work of her career.

The opener, '2NDO CHANCE,' showcases the album's strengths: emotion-heavy performances and thoughtful balance between homage and innovation. Iván Cornejo, a Gen-Z prince in the norteño subgenre, appears with his husky voice in the second half of the song to raise the heartbreak a notch.

Iván is one among other chart-topping Mexican newcomers featured in the project. Yet, the album's most valuable asset might not be in the tracklist but in the credits. Edgar Barrera, the mastermind behind the sound of 'Esquinas,' is the winner of both Producer and Songwriter of the Year at the Latin Grammys, and a known key figure in the ascension of Música Mexicana.

Ultimately, we must acknowledge that for a woman who was pushed into the bleakest corner of pop music as a teenager, Becky G got some serious survival skills. That is, with additional layers of intensity if we remember she's navigating all of this while contractually chained to Dr. Luke. It's been 13 years, three albums, one tangential failed lawsuit, and she's still under Kemosabe. God only knows what was written in that paper when she signed it at 14.

1999 WRITE THE FUTURE, Rich Brian, Cuco, 'silence STArEs me down' (88rising, 2024) 

I appreciate Sean Miyashiro's honesty when it comes to laying out the musical aspirations of 88rising: there are none. When he founded it in 2015, the pitch was to be the 'Vice for Asians,' and the original intent still stands: to develop and broadcast stories centered in the Asian experience. As a multimedia company, the music label arm was an afterthought, and even after its success, it still isn't a priority.

Last December, 88rising announced '1999 WRITE THE FUTURE,' a partnership with RCA, described as a 'joint music collective and multimedia experience.' The campaign of singles, music videos, and a video game collaboration culminated in the release of 'hella (˃̣̣̥╭╮˂̣̣̥) ✧ ♡ ‧º·˚' in early February.

At first glance, the album's tracklist is puzzling — and that's not even considering the stylistic choices for the titles. It features from Ghostface Killah to BADBADNOTGOOD, with enough Rich Brian, but notably, no NIKI or Joji.

The result is a hip-hop-anchored, genre-melting sound that's a bit too long and a bit too sparse. There's shining gold in there, but you need the patience to dig it out — that is, if you take 88rising's music seriously at all. I clearly do, so please consider this Brian-Cuco song I'm pointing you to.

What else you'll find in the latest update of the ALL ACES playlist.

• ARIEL, '¿si me muero?' (AMIGO, 2022): Doing (very) deep research for 'La Cumbia de Cucuy' I ended up in this Halloween-themed playlist by Estevie. In between experimental psychedelic cumbia and Acqua, there's ARIEL, a Mexican-American, Texas-born and LA-based artist. Everyone says Gracias, Estevie!
• BETWEEN FRIENDS, 'Eyes on my baby' (10K Projects, 2024): As far as I am concerned, the sister-brother duo from Miami has no explicit connections to Mexico; still, their nostalgic indie-pop fits just right in this selection.
• DEBBY FRIDAY, 'SO HARD TO TELL' (Sub Pop, 2023): Similar case as above, except Debby was born in Nigeria and raised in Canada. The album from which this song comes even won the very Canadian Polaris Music Prize. Here, she adds a gentle edginess to the mix.
• Meth Math, 'Mantis' (In Real Life Music, 2023): Well. We started out talking about an entity known by kids as their potential predator, no reason to try ending on a brighter note now. Here's a trio of friends from the Mexican underground scene doing goth-reggaeton.

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Creator-requested section.

• Spotify has been testing music videos on the platform for a while, but the selection available has expanded significantly in early March when they officially released the feature in 11 countries. Since then, let me tell you, I've been watching them a lot more often than I'd expect.
  • Usually, these are for songs I didn't know had a video, so when the little icon appears, I click almost instinctively. The feature is basic right now but, admittedly, I can see a future where Spotify becomes my main music video source, with a page for discovery and specific playlisting tools.
  • That is, in a world where Spotify cares about it. Given their track record with features beyond straightforward audio playback, we know YouTube doesn't really need to worry that much.
  • Unless the Spotify Music Video Era comes as a byproduct of how much they care about podcasts. The mini player that appeared in the desktop interface for premium users recently, for example, as reported by Kaya Yurieff, was 'a requested feature from creators because it can help them drive engagement on their video shows.'

Thank you for reading ALL ACES! For suggestions and feedback reach out at ac@fromallaces.com.