Luis R Conriquez’s Explosive Rise To Fame: The Man Behind Corridos Bélicos | Billboard Cover
Billboard cover star Luis R Conriquez rapidly rose to fame with his corrido, “El Buho.” The talented singer opened up a new style of corridos by creating “corridos bélicos.” He shares how he rapidly rose to stardom, working with many of his friends/artists on ‘Corridos Bélicos, Vol. IV’ including Peso Pluma, Gerardo Ortiz, Ryan Castro and more!
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00:00Luis R. Conrige, Marchaste.
00:02No, it is Zaza.
00:06I've been Luis for two years.
00:08I'm still the same guy.
00:10Ever since I started doing this,
00:12I've always been making music.
00:14I've been working.
00:16Right now, we're working, you know?
00:18If I get out of here,
00:20I'm going to record a video.
00:22When I get home, I rest.
00:24I wanted to add some vocals.
00:26I mean, I'm always looking for work.
00:28I want to make music.
00:30All the time, I want to have a lot of material.
00:32I want to have music
00:34so that people can listen to it.
00:36So, I feel
00:38that I'm still the same Luis R.
00:40that I was two years ago.
00:42Maybe with more experience,
00:44not making the same mistakes,
00:46or just getting better.
00:48But yeah, it's different.
00:50I think that
00:52at the time
00:54of recording the songs
00:56that I had at that time,
00:58I did feel that it was a new proposal.
01:00That it was a different proposal
01:02from everything that was playing.
01:04And the day I recorded it,
01:06I felt comfortable, you know?
01:08I recorded a video,
01:10a new song,
01:12since I had joined Cartel Music.
01:14And I went and told
01:16Freddy and Leo,
01:18you know what?
01:20I think this song is going to hit them.
01:26And yeah,
01:28that's how they met me.
01:30The song is called El Búho.
01:32It's called that.
01:34I mean, I sang it yesterday.
01:36And it's been four years since I released it,
01:38and it still seems like it's a song
01:40that has little.
01:42I mean, it's a song that came to stay
01:44in my emblematic career.
01:46I grew up listening to all kinds of music.
01:48I liked rap music in English.
01:50I don't know how to speak English,
01:52but I liked it.
01:54And then I started listening to
01:56corridos, I started listening to
01:58regional too, a lot of reggaeton.
02:00I mean, all the time,
02:02I listened to music for everything.
02:04Suddenly I fell asleep
02:06with the headphones on,
02:08and I got up and it was already playing.
02:10I was asleep.
02:12So all the time I fed on music.
02:14Obviously,
02:16at some point in my life I said,
02:18you know what? I want to be a singer.
02:20But I didn't know how to be a singer
02:22because I didn't go to a singing school.
02:24Alone with what I listened to
02:26and everything,
02:28I did my ears,
02:30I did everything I've done.
02:32Obviously,
02:34at the beginning,
02:36there are people who tell you,
02:38well, you sing,
02:40but you don't move.
02:42You don't see
02:44that you have a future.
02:46So I kept going.
02:48I was excited about it
02:50until it happened, and here we are.
02:52Thank God.
02:54First I wrote, I gave the song to a friend
02:56and he recorded it.
02:58He recorded the song
03:00and then I said, well, I'm going to sing it.
03:02Let's see how it turns out.
03:04And I sang it,
03:06and I started to cheer up.
03:08I'm going to make music.
03:10And I started making music,
03:12I started making corridos for all the people
03:14who worked here in the United States.
03:16So they worked in construction,
03:18and they wanted a corrido.
03:20So I wrote them a corrido,
03:22and I made it for them.
03:24My first audience
03:26was here in the United States.
03:28And then my first performances
03:30were in Mexico.
03:32But my first audience
03:34and the people who listened to me
03:36was here.
03:38Until I joined Cartel Music to be a manager.
03:40I think it lasted
03:42a year and a half or two.
03:44I was doing my thing.
03:46I don't have a reason for that.
03:48When I worked in the gas station,
03:50I was going to work.
03:54And when I got there,
03:56I wrote a song.
03:58I was in charge of songs.
04:00And then came a time when I said,
04:02you know what?
04:04I have a lot of requests,
04:06I have a lot of songs,
04:08and I don't even have time to make them.
04:10And I decided,
04:12I'm going to decide to work in music.
04:14And I dedicated myself
04:16to music.
04:18I met
04:20a guy
04:22on social media
04:24who had a channel called
04:26Virus Imperial.
04:28And I saw that the guy
04:30had a lot of numbers
04:32and he uploaded songs that were good.
04:34And I thought,
04:36he's going to upload them.
04:38And he started to upload my music.
04:40And then on YouTube
04:42I saw comments like,
04:44hey, who is this?
04:46Where did he come from?
04:48And I was looking at one
04:50and I got excited.
04:52And people were like,
04:54and you're seeing it
04:56behind the screen.
04:58You're seeing that what you're doing
05:00is working.
05:02And I kept making music
05:04and I kept recording.
05:06And I left all my work.
05:08I dedicated myself to music 100%.
05:12I imagined the tune
05:14and then I wrote about that tune.
05:16I wrote everything.
05:24And then the guy
05:26who was with me, Bocho,
05:28I told him to come to the house
05:30or come here
05:32to where I was
05:34or something.
05:36And we already got the song.
05:38As I imagined the tune,
05:40when I was with him,
05:42something else came out.
05:44And we kept going
05:46until we finished it.
05:48And we went to the studio.
05:50It's a long process,
05:52it's not that easy.
05:58Up to three songs a day,
06:00four songs a day,
06:02I swear.
06:04Through social media,
06:06Instagram,
06:08I think a lot of people
06:10wouldn't have known me.
06:16I liked it, you know?
06:18It's not considered a job.
06:20I like it.
06:22And I do it with a lot of love
06:24and a lot of humor
06:26for all the people
06:28who listen to us everywhere.
06:30I try to be happy all the time,
06:32to give people a good look
06:34and have a good time,
06:36after so much work
06:38and so much growth
06:40on my part
06:42and on their part.
06:44We both grew up the same.
06:46We kept going.
06:48The time of the contracts
06:50and everything had passed
06:52and I've always felt comfortable.
06:54They've never pressured me for anything.
06:56They've told me,
06:58whatever I want to do,
07:00we're happy.
07:02And the time came
07:04and I said,
07:06you know what?
07:08Freddy told me
07:10that I was going to be
07:12a member of the company.
07:14That's all.
07:16And I said,
07:18well,
07:20a comrade from the town of Caborca
07:22invited me.
07:24It was an audition
07:26and they told me
07:28that all the people
07:30from the town
07:32knew me.
07:34When I joined
07:36Cartel Music,
07:38I had little knowledge
07:40of everything.
07:42These comrades
07:44had some knowledge
07:46but they learned from me too.
07:48I learned from them,
07:50they learned from me.
07:52They learned from me
07:54and I learned from them.
07:56Thank God,
07:58we've been together
08:00and I don't know how to say
08:02how many years.
08:04Let's see how many years have passed.
08:06Since that day until now,
08:08we've been working together
08:10and everything has been good.
08:12We've been living together
08:14like a family.
08:16And I said,
08:18let's go there.
08:20I felt that what I was doing
08:22and what we were doing
08:24was something new.
08:26It was something
08:28different.
08:30Music and all that.
08:32All the bands that went
08:34sang covers of songs
08:36that sounded
08:38from that time
08:40or from before or from all their lives.
08:42And I had some
08:44very clear proposals.
08:46A run, a war.
08:48At that time,
08:50I had already uploaded a movie.
08:52And I think
08:54they liked it.
08:56They said,
08:58Luis R said,
09:00he's a dog.
09:02And that's how we met.
09:04They liked my style.
09:06My first private event
09:08at a party
09:10was in Guatemala.
09:12The first date
09:14Luis R and Enrique had.
09:16When we got the first role,
09:18we got another one.
09:20We started to sound.
09:22My first two public events
09:24were in Mexico.
09:26I remember I didn't have a long career yet.
09:28I went to Mexicali
09:30and I jumped to Tijuana.
09:32Before jumping to the United States.
09:34I got to Mexicali
09:36and everyone already knew my songs.
09:38I got to Tijuana and
09:40I said, I'm going to the Hawaii.
09:42I'm going to sing.
09:44We got here.
09:48My first date in the United States
09:50was at Halos.
09:52Where I was yesterday was the after.
09:54That day was full.
09:56Halos was full.
09:58I remember.
10:00And I said,
10:02I didn't believe it.
10:04Everything was new for me.
10:06And the dog.
10:08The Pico Rivera
10:10was two and a half years ago.
10:12Two years ago.
10:14And seeing all the people
10:16and everyone excited.
10:18I felt like a dog.
10:20When I finished there
10:22I went to Halos, the after.
10:24And it was also full.
10:26Two in one day.
10:28And I said,
10:30I'm going to go.
10:32And before that,
10:34we uploaded a movie
10:36to introduce ourselves in this place.
10:38The pandemic helped me a lot.
10:40And I sang in the pandemic.
10:42I remember.
10:44The pandemic was for me
10:46like a working time.
10:48People were on the phone all day.
10:50They were on the computer.
10:52They had to look up
10:54like the tiktok that comes out.
10:58I put it, war chants.
11:00And why war chants?
11:02It has a lot of presence.
11:04It's not a name.
11:06I feel that the chants
11:08themselves are not so violent.
11:10They are not so violent.
11:12The word war
11:14for me is
11:16the sound
11:18that this music has.
11:20The sound.
11:22The instruments.
11:24The tololoche, the guitar,
11:26the charchetas,
11:28the changes, everything.
11:30I feel that for me it's a war chant.
11:32Like the tumbados,
11:34they have their roll.
11:36You know why the roll is tumbada.
11:38Even if it doesn't say
11:40the word,
11:42the lyrics or something.
11:44Nowadays
11:46the two
11:48get together
11:50and do something else.
11:52They give another twist to the music.
11:54When I started with this music
11:56that I gave you,
11:58everything started to evolve.
12:00They started to put charchetas
12:02and tololoche,
12:04as I told you.
12:06There was the change.
12:08People listened to
12:10another different rhythm.
12:12You put music in the car
12:14and it sounded different.
12:16It sounded
12:18stronger.
12:20It caught you.
12:24It was different,
12:26more modern.
12:30I think
12:32and I will always think
12:34that if you are an artist
12:36and something new is coming out
12:38you have to
12:40innovate.
12:42You have to innovate.
12:44You have to go
12:46without losing your essence.
12:48You have to change it.
12:50You have to get on the train
12:52to get on the train.
12:58I had listened to it
13:00before.
13:02I listened to a song by him
13:04called Pixeleados,
13:06that I recorded on my album
13:08and everything that happened
13:10until now.
13:12When they sent me the song,
13:14Freddy sent it to me
13:16because they sent it to him.
13:18He told me to record it with Peso.
13:20At that time I had already released
13:22El Belicón.
13:28I remember that I was
13:30at the Palenque de Nayarit
13:32and I listened to El Belicón all week.
13:34I listened to the song
13:36and I decided to sing it.
13:38That day I sang it
13:40because I liked it.
13:42Peso sent me a message
13:44saying that he sang my new song
13:46at the Palenque.
13:48I said thank you very much.
13:50I asked him when we would do something.
13:52He told me to record it in California
13:54in the heat.
13:56I remember that day
13:58I had to record the video
14:00and go somewhere else.
14:02I told Peso
14:04that we would do it.
14:06We recorded it.
14:08There were three cameras.
14:10It was a party.
14:12It lasted until
14:14they deleted it
14:16because at that time
14:18everything was very strict.
14:20Everything was censored.
14:22I don't know.
14:24They deleted the song.
14:26If they hadn't deleted it,
14:28it would have gotten a lot of numbers
14:30and people would have listened to it.
14:32If that hadn't happened,
14:34I think it would have
14:36broken records.
14:38It had happened to me
14:40before,
14:42but not to me.
14:44Do you remember I told you
14:46that I uploaded my music to a channel?
14:48They deleted that channel
14:50and all my music was there.
14:52One day I was going in
14:54and I was singing Luis R.
14:56I was very sad.
14:58Now that it happened,
15:00I said,
15:02let's do it.
15:04If that happens to you
15:06at a time when you feel
15:08that you are doing well,
15:10it lowers your morale.
15:12It lowers your morale,
15:14but you also say,
15:16I have to work harder.
15:18This is not going to end here.
15:20Everyone who went there
15:22is because they are friends.
15:24I think everyone who is there
15:26is a friend.
15:28It was because the time
15:30didn't suit me anymore.
15:32Imagine if I wanted
15:34to have all the windows
15:36full of artists.
15:38But at that time
15:40it was time.
15:42I planned it a lot.
15:44I think it was like a year.
15:46I didn't release a song,
15:48I didn't release a record
15:50a year before.
15:52I was loading records.
15:54We recorded with Peso,
15:56with Renata,
15:58with Gerardo Ortiz.
16:00From the people of now,
16:02from the people of before,
16:04from the people of the moment.
16:06I tried to put together
16:08times too.
16:10All on the same album.
16:12The new ones,
16:14the progressives,
16:16but all singing war songs.
16:18If I like you and you are my friend,
16:20so you have a lot of talent.
16:22If I like you,
16:24I do it from my heart.
16:26On that album
16:28Ryan entered.
16:30Ryan Castro.
16:32Ryan Castro, where is he going to sing corridos?
16:34My friend told me,
16:36I want to do a corrido.
16:38I told him, I have one and I showed it to him.
16:40He liked it.
16:42I told him, I'm going to send it to you.
16:44He liked it, he's my friend.
16:46And as I told you,
16:48it's not part of the genre.
16:50Because he's my friend,
16:52because I know he has talent.
16:54And I told you, he's my friend.
16:56I was excited.
16:58And a new year came out,
17:00a day before the new year.
17:02I entered the year
17:04and I said,
17:06I'm going to use this album as a reinforcement.
17:08That's how I'm going to enter the year.
17:10February passed.
17:12A month passed.
17:14The day of my birthday
17:16I released the song,
17:18if you don't want it, no.
17:20The album had already passed.
17:22I already had a background.
17:26It came out, if you don't want it, no.
17:28And boom, it was something new.
17:30Something new and something
17:32that is heard everywhere
17:34and that people get excited
17:36when they hear the song.
17:38And another new artist,
17:40Neton Vega, who is there.
17:42Now with Peso,
17:44he also recorded.
17:46It is that
17:48when a person has talent
17:50and brings something new,
17:52a new proposal,
17:54everyone is going to turn to you.
17:56Tito WP, all the time,
17:58almost everything about the album
18:00was that he helped me do it.
18:02And there between the two
18:04he already sent me songs.
18:06Also Tito WP
18:08has incorporated a lot and he has been a good friend.
18:10Joel de la P too.
18:12They are new artists who have talent
18:14and that's what they do.
18:16You take care of new people,
18:18people who have other visions.
18:20He throws you a reggaeton,
18:22a dembow and a salsa
18:24and a bachata.
18:26It's that, look, my show
18:28is like
18:30playing with your feelings.
18:32He's playing with your feelings,
18:34you know.
18:36First you start running,
18:38you get really excited.
18:40Then you throw a romantic
18:42and you get really in love.
18:44A little pain,
18:46and you remember your girlfriend
18:48or your boyfriend, I don't know.
18:50And then you throw a dembow
18:52and you take off, you start dancing.
18:54A little reggaeton,
18:56a party.
18:58And that's how it goes, you know.
19:00I try to give everything to the people
19:02and of all ages.
19:04You see,
19:06there are a lot of people who have an audience
19:08and they sell for water
19:10and they sell for kids.
19:12I try to make it
19:14for kids,
19:16adults,
19:18men, even older people
19:20will see me.
19:22And I like it.
19:24The old people come to see me,
19:26the tatas, and they also do tracas.
19:30People scream more when I do tracas
19:32than when I sing a song.
19:34They're very angry.
19:36I sang the dembow with Tito
19:38and it went viral.
19:42Even Canelo was dancing it.
19:50The laughter of Canelo
19:52made him dance it.
19:54In my presentation of Telmex,
19:56which is the last one I do all year
19:58in Guadalajara,
20:00it was Canelo and I also uploaded it.
20:02Singing it made him embarrassed
20:04and a little stiff.
20:06And now in the fight,
20:08recently also.
20:10These are songs that
20:12make people happy.
20:14And the one that you take care of
20:16is something more
20:18like...
20:20I don't know...
20:22like Chimbala.
20:24That's another thing.
20:26It's like a dembow
20:28but different.
20:30Obviously, I'm a runner.
20:32I like running and I'm 100%
20:34enthusiastic.
20:38Although lately I've released
20:40a lot of songs like that.
20:42But when I record a song,
20:44I record it because I like it.
20:46Because I like it and
20:48I get excited with the song.
20:50I want to release it,
20:52I want to record it,
20:54I want to release it.
20:56That's what happens to me.
20:58I can release a run, a dembow
21:00or something I like.
21:02There are groups that
21:04you listen to them
21:06and you say,
21:08this dog...
21:10I don't know how to speak English
21:12and they didn't put Marometana.
21:14I have a group called
21:16Los Novillos de la Sierra.
21:18And I feel like we're good
21:20and that every artist
21:22does what he can.
21:24You can't demand
21:26an artist
21:28like someone who already hit
21:30because not everyone has the same luck.
21:32Even if they sing better,
21:34I don't know.
21:36People have an angel,
21:38people see you differently,
21:40people listen to you,
21:42look at your energy.
21:44I don't know why,
21:46but everyone who hits
21:48are chosen people.
21:50It's not easy to hit.
21:52Hit hard, record,
21:54make music,
21:56don't be assholes.
21:58There are a lot of things
22:00in this business,
22:02in the industry.
22:04But all the time
22:06I feel like things happen for a reason.
22:08Then you get the hang of it.
22:10To this day,
22:12a lot of things, I don't know,
22:14but I do my thing.
22:16I make music.
22:18Life has been
22:20very good for me.
22:22Everything
22:24I've wanted,
22:26I've had,
22:28but based on work and effort.
22:30I don't know if it's luck,
22:32but I feel like
22:34I'm lucky.
22:36But it's something
22:38that,
22:40honestly,
22:42I was telling you earlier
22:44that I only rest
22:46in December
22:48and January.
22:50Why? Because I like to work all year.
22:52I feel comfortable.
22:54Everyone depends on me,
22:56so I have to keep working
22:58so everyone has a job.
23:00If I rest, I feel like
23:02people are just there.
23:04You know?
23:06I like to work so everyone
23:08has a job and is doing well.