WATCH: Carín León Addresses His Viral Hit ‘De Compas’ Becoming a Gay Anthem
Photo by Santiago Covarrubias.
One of Carín León’s recent hits has become an unexpected gay anthem. Last night (Jan. 27), the Mexican superstar addressed how his fans use “De Compas” as the soundtrack for their compadre-to-compadre romances on TikTok.
“De Compas” is one of the songs from León’s latest album Palabra De To’s, released last month. The heartfelt música mexicana ballad is about a friendship blossoming into something more. In Spanish, León sings, “De compas, I invite you to stay with me tonight / After a few drinks, we’ll get lost in paradise, both of us naked.” Things continue to heat up in the second part of the chorus when he adds, “I’m gonna confess that I want to kiss that mouth of yours and even though friends should respect each other, I can’t help it.”
People didn’t start seeing “De Compas” with gay undertones until an unfounded rumor spread from AI-generated images that showed León getting cozy with Mexican singer Espinoza Paz. Though León is currently in a relationship with Meylin Zuñiga, he played along with the gay rumors in his Instagram stories while standing up for his fans in the LGBTQ+ community. “You can all f*ck off,” he said about people being homophobic. “Long live the [gay] community! More empathy and less hate.”
Since becoming a gay anthem, “De Compas” has exploded on TikTok with over 31,000 videos. In his Instagram stories, León shared videos of his fans embracing the song. Though a majority of videos in the “De Compas” TikTok trend are straight men playfully pushing the boundaries of their bromances, there are also queer men and women who are normalizing their relationships with the song. “Music doesn’t have a sex, color, age, or race, and that especially goes for this song,” León said. “You can dedicate this song to whoever you want to.”
León is currently nominated for his first Grammy Award. On Feb. 2, he will find out if his Boca Chueca, Vol. 1 LP wins in the Best Música Mexicana Album category, which includes competition from Peso Pluma, Chiquis, and Jessi Uribe.
Liste to “De Compas” below.