Attendees at the Viña Del Mar International festival will continue to hear the raspy vocals and tombas of Peso Pluma's music later this year.
On Thursday night, festival organizers confirmed they would not remove the performer from the lineup after a Viña council member wrote a letter to Mayor Macarena Serrano asking to remove him from the lineup for “humiliation[ing] violence” in his lyrics.
“After the controversy that arose [about] The participation of Peso Pluma in the upcoming edition of the festival, the organizers of the Viña del Mar International festival declare that the festival will not criticize or discriminate,” said a press release, confirming that the musician's show will continue as planned.
“The largest Latin festival in the world celebrates the diversity of all the artists who take this stage. Music is universal and describes different realities,” the statement added, referring to his awards at major awards in the US.
Earlier this week, council member René Luis wrote a letter, which was published by various media in Chile, according to Advertising signexpressing his displeasure at the title of the peso at the famous Latin American festival after reading a column written by scholar Alberto Mayol.
“The artists express explicitly the violence and confrontations of organized crime and corruption, drug trafficking and drug cartels: all this together with the display and ambition for money, jewels, luxury, cars, weapons, a life that is particularly seductive young people to believe that they can easily and quickly achieve everything by ignoring the law,” he wrote, referring to the “corridos tumbados”.
“It's the so-called narco culture that artists like Peso Pluma put a sound on and validate from their place of great privilege,” he added. “For this reason, and despite the reputation of this musician, who is considered one of the most popular in the music industry, and his millions of fans, I believe it is not right to use the channels, resources and public spaces to promote this kind of music and songs associated with drug dealers'.
The six-day festival is scheduled to take place from February 25 to March 1, with performances from Alejandro Sanz, Miranda!, Maná, Men at Work, Peso Pluma, Anitta and Maria Becerra, among others. The iconic festival is hosted at Quinta Vergara in Villa del Mar, Chile.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/peso-pluma-still-headline-vina-del-mar-despite-call-to-cancel-1234945844/
