Joshua Xavier Gutierrez, aka Xavi, pauses when asked if he remembers what he was up to before 2022 — before his viral hits like “La Víctima” took off and artists like Peso Pluma would drop by to greet him during a recording session. “Before all of this, before everything? I was running my mom’s taquería,” he says. “We used to have a taquería. It was a family business that was my mom’s idea. She wanted to do it, so I helped her with setting it up and putting it all together.” He shares he used to sing to clients at the taco shop. “I always made a little extra that day,” he adds with a laugh. “I would just go and sing. I had no idea. I never knew that shit was gonna happen like this.”
The música mexicana artist sat down with Remezcla ahead of his sold-out show at Houston’s 713 Music Hall, which also served as the inaugural concert for Verizon’s newly launched Access Concert Series. There was a high level of anticipation as concertgoers lined up and waited almost three hours in the muggy Texas heat for the venue’s doors to open to the public. Security remained on guard throughout the night as a few eager fans attempted to sneak into a backstage lounge room before a scheduled meet and greet with Xavi.
The shaggy-haired singer pulled up to the Music Hall’s private lounge in peak Y2K-inspired Gen Z fashion, donning an oversized pastel pink and white striped mohair hoodie, baggy jeans, and iced-out rectangular Balenciaga shades. Though bold and unabashed when he takes the stage, Xavi is mostly quiet off-camera, and there’s an air of shyness that seems to have transferred over from his adolescence: He looks down and peeks through the corners of his shades to glance at anyone who walks past him, never fully meeting anyone’s gaze, not to mention, he’s still rocking a full set of braces.
Over the last few years, the 20-year-old singer has gone from splitting his time in Phoenix, AZ, and Sonora, Mexico, accompanying his electrician father to worksites, working in his mom’s taquería, and laying cement to landing a deal with Interscope Records, selling out his first headlining tour across North America and winning Artist of the Year at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards. Additionally, he’s taken the stage with La Bichota at Estadio Azteca and has broken a streaming record previously only held by Bad Bunny with songs like “La Diabla.”
“I sacrificed my teenage years to really take this seriously and take my music to the next level, and it definitely changed me, not just in maturity, but as a person,” he says.
His album Next marks yet another milestone in his career, not just because it’s the singer’s first proper full-length release, but because it also demonstrates his rise to the top of the música mexicana world. “Next can mean whatever you want it to mean, but for me personally, it’s like the next move or what’s next. It could be the next step in life — however you want to take it,” Xavi says. “Pero it’s basically about moving on from everything and talking about life in general. The whole album is based on true stories that have happened to me throughout my life.”
I sacrificed my teenage years to really take this seriously and take my music to the next level, and it definitely changed me, not just in maturity, but as a person.
The singer dabbled in romantic ballads influenced by the modern sounds of corridos tumbados with early singles such as 2020’s “Te Quiero” and “Sin Pagar Renta.” He’s cited everyone from Maná to Natanael Cano as sonic influences, and he joins the neverending roster of 20-somethings writing gutting songs about chasing down the after-effects of unrequited love with shots of tequila.
“I think we try to keep the same esencia, but it’s a whole new world. La música mexicana has evolved to a different level… It changed up a little bit, but [the music] still represents us as Mexicans,” he says. “We’re still representing Mexico, and putting up that flag and taking it as far as possible. We wanna take our culture and put it out and raise it up, raise up the flag.”
But Next’s “Poco A Poco” shows the young artist who has now found his place in the movement and is at the top of his game reflecting on just how far he’s come (“Y empezamos desde cero y lentamente formé un imperio,” “Y a los que no me creían, que no podía pensar en grande/Que ando fuerte todavía, con la bendición de mi madre”), while the fiery “Si Mañana Me Voy” affirms that he has no intention of slowing down (“Ya no miro pa bajo, sólo pa arriba en cuánto sale el sol/Me pego un levantón/Disfruto del momento/Porque yo no sé si mañana me voy”). Next also epitomizes someone reaping the rewards after busting their ass like those who raised him, a sentiment that resonates with so many young Latines, fans, and other artists alike.
Xavi’s also extremely vocal about taking care of everyone around him. Even with every milestone reached and every breakthrough, the young singer assures us that he’s determined to bring back his mom’s taquería in Phoenix. “We don’t have the taquería anymore… It’s kind of a long story, but they took it down,” he says. “We’re working on rebuilding [it].”
Travel and accommodations were provided to the author by Verizon for the purpose of writing this story.
