Peso Pluma Reveals His Five Picks for Rolling Stone’s Future 25

As the cover star of this year’s Future of Music issue, Peso Pluma helped Rolling Stone curate its Future 25 — a comprehensive list of artists who have us and him excited about what’s to come in music. In a new interview, the superstar breaks down why he chose artists such as Jasiel Nuñez, Ryan Castro, and Yovngchimi as his artists to keep an eye on.

“The future of music is very exciting because there are so many young artists that haven’t come to light yet,” he tells Rolling Stone. “All the genres are evolving, and music is changing every day. That makes me excited: A lot of good music is on the way.”

“I am planting a seed in young talent to encourage them to do what they like, so no one tells them what to do,” he adds.

Pluma shared his favorite aspects of the five artists who he picked for Rolling Stone‘s Future 25. Among the artists are three reggaetón and Latin trap stars: Ryan Castro from Colombia, Yovngchimi from Puerto Rico, and Saiko from Spain.

“He was part of many of my drunken nights. It’s always good to recognize the artists that have helped me,” he says of Castro, who welcomed him for a verse on “Quema” last year. As for Saiko, “He has tremendous hits, yet he is so young and can grow so much.” He also describes Yovngchimi as “the new face of trap in Puerto Rico.”

The only Mexican music star Peso selected was Jasiel Nuñez, his friend and Double P Records signee. “The way he writes what he thinks on paper is very special,” he says of his “Lagunas” collaborator. “We had a promise that whoever made it first would support the other. That promise is going to be intact for life… Mexican music is at a whole other level.”

Pluma also included Young Nudy, one of his favorite up-and-coming rappers. “He has a new style. I don’t need to know the language to feel the song,” he says of the Atlanta rap star. “There are times I don’t know the lyrics but I can vibe with the music.”

In the interview, the musician also shared that he’s been listening to Travis Scott’s Utopia and Tainy’s Data, and says that Brazilian funk and Mexican cumbias are some of the genres he thinks will blow up soon.

In this month’s cover story, Peso opened up about his rapid rise in the industry, and how he’s led the way for the growth of música mexicana. In the interview, he also shared details about his upcoming album,  Éxodo, which will be “more of a direct response to the negative press that seems to surround him.”

“[On Génesis] people already saw the good side, the superhero side. But I think this year, they’re going to know a darker side,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of things about why we do what we do, and why we sing what we do, why people pit us against each other, why media always look for bad things, why people focus more on the negatives than the positives.”