In the days leading up to Junior H‘s Coachella performance on Sunday night, the 23-year-old and his band of tuba, guitar and tololoche players meticulously prepared for this “full circle moment.” The Mexican singer-songwriter appeared on the same stage last year as a guest for Peso Pluma, and now, Junior claims the main stage as his own, with a comprehensive – albeit short — set list of his biggest hits, from the tear-jerking “Y Lloro” to “Rockstar,” and more.
“This is next level,” Junior tells Variety. “I think for any artist, playing Coachella is a huge stepping stone, and it’s really a source of pride for me, personally. We’re here to represent our country and leave a lasting impression of how far and wide regional Mexican music has come.”
Junior H (real name Antonio Herrera) is lauded as a pioneer of the electrifying and revolutionary style of corridos tumbados — or trap-infused regional Mexican music — that helped launch the all-encompassing genre of música mexicana to achieve a historic increase of 56 percent listenership in 2023. Pluma lauded Junior as a tastemaker when introducing him at Coachella last year, and Junior returned the favor on Sunday, extending an invitation to his “best friend.”
“[Pluma] and his team have shown me the utmost loyalty for years,” Junior says. “I do think that because of that closeness, our music and this movement has gotten as far as it has in the last five years. There’s power in numbers and in supporting one another. The second I got the news that I would be playing Coachella, there was never any doubt that he would be my guest.”
Pluma and Junior share several songs together, “and I had prepared for us to play ‘El Azul,’ but in the end we decided on ‘Luna’ to really play into the sentimental aspect of this full circle moment,” he says. “‘El Azul’ brings back so many wonderful memories for us both – it was just the beginning for him, and our team was already on the up-and-up. But ‘Luna,’ which is more of a love song, means a lot to [Pluma] since it was on his first major album and is a favorite for fans of his.”
Though Junior explained the move as nothing more than a stylistic choice, the change happens as other Mexican artists have altered their setlists to avoid playing songs with lyrical references to drug cartels (“El Azul” references the co-founder of a Sinaloa cartel). This comes after the U.S. State Department canceled the work and tourist visas of the members of Mexican corrido group Los Angeles del Barranco after they displayed images of a cartel leader during a concert in March.
With his second guest of the night, Tito Double P, a signee of Pluma’s Double P Records, Junior played a love song with a softer edge titled “5-7.”
Ahead of Coachella, Junior premiered “El Chore,” a new single featuring songwriter Gael Valenzuela, who co-wrote Junior’s “Y Lloro,” and “La Cherry,” among others. The song marks Valenzuela’s debut as an artist and soloist signed to Junior’s newly established label, $ad Boyz Entertainment.
“Now that I have all these years of experience behind me, it feels like the right time to step into this space and this role as a mentor,” he says. Junior’s $ad Boyz label is still in its initial stages, but the singer is actively scouting new talent to develop. He is actively working on a regional Mexican album and the second volume of his 2022 LP, the trap-heavy “Contingente,” and a project he describes as “totally different than what you’ve heard from me before.”
For now, Junior is focused on enjoying the rest of his time in the California deserts. A fan of EDM, Junior is hoping to catch as many DJs as he can, but “I’m really looking forward to seeing Post Malone after I get off stage,” he says. “I’ve always been a fan of country music and [Malone] is cool because he was able to put out music in different styles and really make it work. Country music is similar to the music we do, so I’d love to really lean into that one day, maybe with a collaboration.”
Junior H will return to Coachella’s main stage on April 20.