After his pop-up performance in Santa Ana, CA, Codiciado is finding new ways to give back to the community. On Apr. 18, the Mexican artist is announcing exclusively through Remezcla that he’s teaming up with the Cesar Chavez Foundation for a special lunch tomorrow (Apr. 19) and giving out tickets, VIP passes, and meet-and-greet opportunities for the farmworker community in the Fresno, CA, area.
Hailing from Tijuana, Mexico, Codiciado has left his mark in the música mexicana realm with hits like his breakout single “Vamos Aclarando Muchas Cosas” and his popular collaboration “Bélico El Asunto” with Grupo Arriesgado. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Grupo Codiciado from 2015 to 2021. As a soloist, he’s already collaborated with artists like Peso Pluma, Santa Fe Klan, and Natanael Cano. Now, he’s taking his career further by going on his first solo U.S. tour.
Born Erick Aragón, Codiciado was once a part of the agricultural community. When he was a teenager, the now 31-year-old worked picking melons and grain in Fresno to make ends meet. When asked why it’s important for him to honor his work past, he says, “Because it is a very hard job. It is a job that for many years was discriminated against, and I still feel that to this day, they still discriminate a lot against field workers.”
He continues: “I had to live it at a stage when I was 18 years old… [And] it is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.”
Though his time in the fields was short-lived – he spent less than two months in the agricultural industry – the early 3 a.m. mornings taught him discipline and how to be a hard worker. Now, with the help of the city’s local Radio Campesina, they’re kicking off this philanthropical partnership by delivering approximately 25 lunches to selected farmworkers on Fri. (Apr. 19) in Reedley, CA.
“The idea is to go, meet them, have them get to know me, talk to them, invite them to my show, and see their needs,” he tells Remezcla about his end goal. “At the end of the day, they are families looking to reach their dreams.” He points out that he wants to give back to families, whether it’s a single parent who’s struggling financially and has a kid who is interested in music or computers or who needs help with fútbol, for example.
With the lunches, the “Ando Enfocado” singer will also give out two VIP packages, meet-and-greets, and preferred tickets for two families for his show at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA (Apr. 27).
“It’s more about seeing how I can contribute more, because I don’t think I will go back to the field to work again, but I can help people who are there,” he says.