Once marginalized to the barrios of the state of Mexico, reggaeton mexa is starting to have its moment in the mainstream. From a Coachella debut to the upcoming Amazon Music’s City Sessions on July 2 in Mexico City, El Malilla has become one of the most prominent names in the movement, but he hasn’t done it alone. After years of working behind the scenes as part of the reggaeton mexicano sensation’s team, Joss ML is now stepping into his own spotlight. As a signee of El Chamako Del Valle’s record label, La Esquina Inc, Joss is shaping up to be the label’s new face — but it’s not without sacrifices.
Born José Alfredo Martínez Lizárraga from Agrícola Pantitlán, a neighborhood in Mexico City, Joss ML has been through the trenches to get where he is today. Growing up, he studied and held various jobs, including selling dog food and a role he doesn’t often discuss: driving a microbus at the age of 16. When he opens up about the latter, he becomes shy when explaining the context since it’s known in his region as a low-level job. Although he says he’s never shared that before, he’s not ashamed of it because it was honest work that got him to where he is today. “At the time, that was the opportunity I had, because when I was young and had no studies, I had no support in which I could say, ‘They are going to give me a job, sí o sí,’” Joss reflects. “So, it is not a bad job. I have always said, ‘nunca hay trabajo malo, sino malo que no trabajes’ [there’s no bad job, not having a job is what’s bad].”
This led the now 25-year-old to a crossroads, deciding whether to go to the U.S. or stay in Mexico to continue his studies. He decided to complete his education by getting a law degree at the Universidad Privada del Estado de México (UPEM) Ixtapaluca in 2021, a private university in Mexico with a commute of an hour and a half from his hometown on the outskirts of Mexico City. Towards the end of his educational career, he began to take his music more seriously, frequently hanging out at the studio with childhood friend El Malilla and longtime collaborator Omarcito Glock, sacrificing his personal life to achieve his goals. For Joss, this meant that any free time and extra money would go straight to the studio to practice his music-making abilities. It also meant moving to Valle de Chalco in the state of Mexico after graduation, where he lives now. “If you want something, you have to fight for it and you have to make sacrifices to do it. So, I sacrificed myself, and the truth is that I am still working, [so] I am not complaining too much,” he says. “We are doing well, I think we are doing things right. There is a reason why we are where we are.”
By 2022, he became more involved with La Esquina Inc., created by El Malilla and his manager and best friend, Eduardo Hostin. At the beginning, he would join the duo and help in any way possible, whether it was plugging in microphones or being the sound engineer, having front-row access to the project’s evolution. In three years, Joss went from being El Malilla’s crew to an artist in his own right at La Esquina Inc., singing alongside El Malilla. After a pep talk and encouragement from El Mali, Joss and Omarcito Glock took to the studio for their first joint project, 2024’s Abc del Perreo EP, officially putting their faces on reggaeton mexa’s new wave.
“If you want something, you have to fight for it and you have to make sacrifices to do it… I think we are doing things right. There is a reason why we are where we are.”
Although uncredited on streaming platforms, Joss helped write songs off this year’s La Trinidad EP featuring El Malilla, El Bogueto, and Eme MalaFe. As a soloist, he also released his newest single, “El Día de Mi Muerte,” which refreshingly meshes reggaeton and mambo. Overall, Joss refers to himself and Omarcito Glock as the first two official signees under La Esquina Inc. He’s carved his space in movement by making reggaeton with his distinctive high-pitched croons that echo the grats from the early 2000s. It makes sense since one of his inspirations is Puerto Rican singer Ñengo Flow. And while he’s currently deep in the reggaeton scene, he shares that he has already created music in other genres, like house and guaracha, and is open to exploring other genres.
During our chats, Joss ML is humble when discussing his beginnings and reiterates his gratitude for everything that is unfolding. With only three years in the scene, his hustle is finally getting recognized. Expressing dreams of playing festivals, last weekend (June 28), El Malilla invited Joss to perform their cover hit “Golosa” at the Chivas Regal Supremacy festival in Mexico City. Today (July 2), he will be opening for El Malilla on Amazon Music’s City Sessions live as part of the program’s Rompe MX in Mexico City. But that’s not all. The announcement of this year’s Coca-Cola Flow Fest lineup revealed that he would be performing with Omarcito Glock. When asked what he would tell his teenage self in the microbus, he says with laughter, “If I had gotten into music at that time, it would have been different. I would have told myself: ‘Be a singer, don’t study!’”
But he quickly changes the playfulness of his answer. “I would tell him not to pay attention to what people say, because there was a lot of criticism, and when you are young, it does affect you a lot,” he says. “I would say that not only to myself at that time, but to more people who are of that age and who have a dream or a goal, to not pay attention to what people say or to the bad comments, because at the end of the day, they are just comments. And if you want it and you fight for it, you can achieve it.”
