One of the fastest-rising stars in regional Mexican music has the world at his fingertips.
Óscar Maydon, 25, is a singer-songwriter from a border town in Mexico. He’ll take the stage at Sueños Music Festival Saturday, bringing a fresh take on norteños, banda, corridos and more.
His set arrives ahead of Maydon kicking off his first U.S. tour in July to promote his second studio album, “Rico o Muerto,” which arrives June 5.
Maydon will give fans a taste of his new music at this year’s Sueños fest, he revealed during a recent chat. “That’s for sure,” he said.
On taking the stage Saturday, Maydon said it feels “really f- – – – – g good.”
“Now it’s my turn to perform a top song in the world,” he continued. “It’s a new sensation to see that all this recognition is coming from so many places around the world and so far away from where we are from.
“It’s thanks to the union that we Mexicans are having, we can take the genre worldwide. … I just saw recently that [Latin music], for the first time, is one of the top 10 most listened genres in the world. So it means that I have something to contribute there.”
He’s perhaps best known for “Tu Boda,” featuring Fuerza Regida, a dark romance corrido tumbado from last year. The song was a chart-topping hit for nearly three months on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs list before it moved over to the No. 1 spot on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart.
In January, Maydon was named Billboard’s Latin artist on the rise, and in an interview with the publication, revealed his goal to release three albums this year.
Besides “Rico O Muerto,” Maydon is planning to release even more music later this year, he said. “I want to experiment this year,” he said, noting that reggaeton is one of the genres that interests him most.
“I think the next one might be reggaeton,” he said. “The thing that takes us the longest is recording the instruments. … But I do want to experiment with other genres, to be honest.”
It’s not especially new ground for the singer, who got his start in music as a songwriter. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maydon shifted his mind to writing for his friends and peers in the music industry. Two years later, he dropped his debut album, “GXLE <3.”
He’s currently signed to Sony Music Latin, and in March and April, he dropped singles “Amigos? No” and “Ya Fue,” respectively.
Maydon was born in Mexicali but spent most of his life growing up in a port town about two hours away. He recalls strolling along a boardwalk with his family, where banda and norteño tunes filled the salty air.
Maydon’s entire family loves norteños, he said. Their large family gatherings were characterized by the music, especially when Maydon was a youngster. An uncle of his was a pianist, and he would encourage Maydon to sing along while he played the keys. He and his siblings and cousins would all participate in the singing.
“I think that’s why I became a singer,” Maydon said.
In high school, Maydon picked up the guitar and began doing covers of songs. At the time, he became fascinated with the musical style of Ariel Camacho, who led the popular norteño group Los Plebes del Rancho, and remains one of his greatest influences. (Camacho suffered a fatal car accident in 2015 at 22 years old, but remains one of the genre’s most celebrated figures.)
Maydon said he finds inspiration in artists like Bad Bunny, and Anuel AA, another rapper from Puerto Rico who is considered a trailblazer of Latin trap music. In addition, he’s doing deep dives into afro and electronic music these days, which may open new avenues of musical collaboration, he said.
“I’m always trying to discover new music, new horizons, to nurture more of the sounds we are making [to] … create a new sound,” he said.
Maydon points to Julión Álvarez of Banda MS and soloist Alfredo “Alfredito” Olivas, two other successful regional Mexican musicians, as other inspirations.
“They are like idols for me,” Maydon said. “I grew up listening to them since I was a child. I fell in love with their music. I cried to their music. At some point, I felt pain with their music.”