After weeks of controversy, Mexican singer Peso Pluma canceled his performance at the closing of the Viña del Mar Festival. His team published a statement alleging “personal reasons,” in addition to the suspension of a tour that was scheduled in South America. At the beginning of this year, the Festival organization had announced the participation of Peso Pluma, causing different opinions in the Latin American press, due to accusations that the 24-year-old artist made an apology for crime through his songs.
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Featherweight has attracted attention for his haircut, teeth with gold and diamonds, flashy clothing and several tattoos on his body. His songs, a mix between urban rhythms and typical Mexican sounds, have captivated many. However, there are also those who point out that he is advocating drug trafficking.
Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, better known as Peso Pluma, canceled a tour of South America and his controversial presentation in Chile, at the Viña del Mar International Festival, after receiving various questions about advocating violence and drug culture.
The representatives of the Mexican singer assured that Peso Pluma will not perform at the concerts or festivals in which it had been announced due to “personal reasons,” but they said that they would soon announce new dates for their followers.
This year, the Viña del Mar Festival will take place between February 25 and March 1. It is a musical competition considered the largest and most important in Latin America, in addition to being the longest-running Spanish-speaking event in the world. And as expected, its organizers spoke about it:
“We regret the situation of Peso Pluma, affirming that the Viña del Mar Festival maintains a strong commitment to the health of all those who are part of the contest, placing the integrity of people as the main axis”
The Festival also reported that the closing performance of Peso Pluma will be replaced by that of the Argentine singer “Trueno”, a musical phenomenon that has captivated the world of freestyle, for which he won the world championship in 2016. Since then, he has achieved important collaborations with artists like J. Balvin, Nathy Peluso, Duki, among others.
Likewise, it was revealed that María Becerra, also Argentine, will be in charge of welcoming Festival attendees.
The Featherweight name did not go down well in Chile
At the beginning of January, controversy broke out in Chile after sociologist Alberto Mayol published a column on the 'BioBioChile' portal, which he titled: 'Featherweight in Viña, sometimes you have to listen to the voice of the drug trafficker.'
A column in which he launched strong criticism of the organization of the event and in which he questioned that the public channel, Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) gave participation to a “promoter of narco culture.”
Criticism that crossed borders and reached his native Mexico, where several press articles and editorials criticized the work of the young artist, ensuring that his music promotes drug consumption among young people.
Even the evening of the 66th edition of the Grammy Awards was compromised for Peso Pluma, after having triumphed in the category of Best Mexican Music Album with 'Génesis'.
And although the Zozopan singer won the third Grammy of his short musical career, once again his work was called into question and the American Academy was even questioned for awarding him the award.
Despite criticism, Peso Pluma has established himself as one of the artists of the moment, bringing local sounds to international stages and to more than 58.9 million monthly listeners, on Spotify alone.
With EFE and local media
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