WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.040 So have you ever had a carefully laid out plan 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:06.900 just completely fall apart? Oh, absolutely. It 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:09.000 happens to the best of us. Right. And then you're 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.500 looking at the wreckage of this idea, but somehow 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.880 it turns into your greatest triumph. What you 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:16.960 end up building out of the debris is actually 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.019 better than anything you could have engineered 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:22.420 on purpose. Yeah, that phenomenon of forced adaptation 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:25.800 is honestly fascinating. Exactly. And that's 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.170 our mission for today's Deep Dive. We're looking 00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:30.629 into the background and the Wikipedia notes for 00:00:30.629 --> 00:00:34.189 the 2023 studio album by Mexican singer -songwriter 00:00:34.189 --> 00:00:37.689 Junior H. Right, the album's called Ed Boys For 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:40.289 Life 2. Yeah, and when you read through the history 00:00:40.289 --> 00:00:42.770 of this specific project, there's this incredible 00:00:42.770 --> 00:00:45.390 admission right at the center of it. Junior H 00:00:45.390 --> 00:00:47.689 actually went on record calling the entire thing 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:51.020 quote, more of an accident. Which, I mean, that's 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:53.520 a remarkably candid thing for an artist of his 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.140 stature to admit, you know? The standard industry 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:58.140 narrative is usually all about this meticulous 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:00.200 master planning. Oh, yeah. They want you to think 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:02.939 it was a grand vision from day one. Exactly. 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:05.920 But the notes on this release show a vision that 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:09.159 was born almost entirely out of necessity. He 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:11.540 didn't even originally intend to make a sequel 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:14.540 to his 2021 album. And the most crucial part 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:18.299 of this accident... is that he actually had these 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:20.280 heavy -hitting collaborations lined up. We're 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.180 talking Peso Pluma and Nathaniel Cano. Yeah, 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:25.060 but the source text just simply notes that they 00:01:25.060 --> 00:01:27.299 couldn't make it. They literally dropped out. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:28.980 Right, and I want to pause there for a second 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:31.620 because if you don't follow the regional Mexican 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:34.099 music scene closely, we really need to establish 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:36.620 who those two are. Yeah, Peso Pluma and Nathaniel 00:01:36.620 --> 00:01:39.790 Cano aren't just popular. They are essentially 00:01:39.790 --> 00:01:43.530 the vanguard of a sub -genre called coritos tumbados. 00:01:43.730 --> 00:01:46.129 Coritos tumbados, right. Yeah. And to understand 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:48.810 that, you have to picture traditional Mexican 00:01:48.810 --> 00:01:50.930 narrative ballads. You know, the coritos that 00:01:50.930 --> 00:01:53.870 tell stories of struggle or the streets. But 00:01:53.870 --> 00:01:56.569 they're infused with the swagger and often the 00:01:56.569 --> 00:01:59.510 trap beats of modern hip hop. It's a massive 00:01:59.510 --> 00:02:01.969 youth -driven cultural movement right now. It 00:02:01.969 --> 00:02:05.340 really is. So, to have the two biggest names 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.500 in that entire movement scheduled for your album 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:11.840 and then you just lose them, that is a foundational 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:13.860 structural collapse for a record. Right. It's 00:02:13.860 --> 00:02:16.599 like, imagine you're throwing this highly anticipated 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:18.919 dinner party, right? You send out the invites, 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:20.879 everyone's buzzing about the guest list, and 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:24.099 your two biggest VIPs cancel at the very last 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:27.020 minute. Oh man, the panic. Right. Suddenly, you're 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:30.000 the only one entertaining the entire room. So, 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:32.219 you scramble, you end up serving everything. 00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:34.699 yourself exactly the way you want to and it turns 00:02:34.699 --> 00:02:36.580 out to be the best party you've ever hosted. 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.240 That's a great way to put it. So does the absence 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:42.379 of those two massive stars actually force this 00:02:42.379 --> 00:02:45.659 album to be a more, I don't know, a more definitive 00:02:45.659 --> 00:02:47.560 statement for him? Like how much of a crutch 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.139 is a featured artist in today's landscape anyway? 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:53.560 It's actually a profound shift. To really understand 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:56.379 why, we have to look at the underlying mechanics 00:02:56.379 --> 00:02:58.379 of the modern music industry. Okay, lay it on 00:02:58.379 --> 00:03:00.520 me. Well, the feature, right, the guest appearance, 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:03.599 is no longer just an artistic choice. It's become 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.560 a vital algorithmic strategy. It's literally 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:09.159 how artists cross -pollinate their listener data. 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:11.560 Wait, so it's less about the music and more about 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:14.460 the data? I mean, yeah, largely. If you get a 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:16.680 feature from Peso Pluma, you are essentially 00:03:16.680 --> 00:03:19.620 hijacking his Spotify algorithm. His millions 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:21.780 of monthly listeners are suddenly fed your album 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:25.080 in their daily mixes. Wow. So it acts as this 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.539 built -in commercial safety net, a guaranteed 00:03:27.539 --> 00:03:29.800 multiplier for your streaming numbers. That is 00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:32.159 exactly the core of it. So when those collaborations 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.740 just vanished, Junior H was left to carry the 00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:37.860 entire runtime completely alone. The track list 00:03:37.860 --> 00:03:40.960 ended up featuring zero guest appearances. Zero. 00:03:41.020 --> 00:03:43.780 On a major release. Yeah. And in an era where 00:03:43.780 --> 00:03:46.159 releasing a major project without features is 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:49.800 viewed as commercial suicide by label executives, 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:52.740 flipping that formula is a massive deal. It strips 00:03:52.740 --> 00:03:54.879 away the algorithmic safety net. It demands that 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.360 the audience engage entirely with his singular 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:59.719 voice, right? The music just has to stand on 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:01.819 its own merits. Exactly. You can't hide behind 00:04:01.819 --> 00:04:04.280 a famous friend's algorithm. Okay, so he loses 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.900 that algorithmic boost and he loses the vocal 00:04:07.900 --> 00:04:11.020 variety of his collaborators. If you can't rely 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:13.360 on guest stars to change the flavor of the tracks, 00:04:13.699 --> 00:04:16.120 you have to create all that sonic variety yourself. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.139 Right, you can't just serve the same exact sonic 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:21.480 dish for an hour. Yeah. So how did he actually 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:25.100 build the architecture of this record to keep 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:28.019 you, the listener, engaged for that long without 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:30.350 anyone else stepping up to the mic? This is where 00:04:30.350 --> 00:04:32.769 the adaptation becomes really intentional. To 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:35.350 carry an entire project solo, especially a highly 00:04:35.350 --> 00:04:37.930 anticipated sequel, you had to push the boundaries 00:04:37.930 --> 00:04:40.290 of your own genre. And the sources detail how 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:42.670 he blended his foundation in regional Mexican 00:04:42.670 --> 00:04:45.209 music and urban sereno, right? Yes. but with 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:48.129 some really unexpected fusions. He specifically 00:04:48.129 --> 00:04:51.529 wove in pop rock and traditional ranchera sounds. 00:04:51.930 --> 00:04:53.689 Let's break down Urban Sierraño for a second, 00:04:53.790 --> 00:04:55.269 just so we're all on the same page. What does 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:56.790 that actually sound like when you're listening 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.649 to it? Sure. So Sierraño traditionally relies 00:04:59.649 --> 00:05:02.329 heavily on acoustic instruments, specifically 00:05:02.329 --> 00:05:04.389 the roquinto. That's the higher pitched guitar, 00:05:04.569 --> 00:05:06.850 right? Exactly. The one that handles the really 00:05:06.850 --> 00:05:09.949 intricate, fast paced melodies. Yeah. And that's 00:05:09.949 --> 00:05:12.300 usually backed by a 12 string guitar. and often 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:14.519 a brass instrument like a tuba or maybe a bass. 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.879 Okay, so where does the urban part come in? What 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:20.519 makes it urban is the lyricism and the rhythmic 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.420 cadence. They borrow really heavily from street 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:26.430 culture and hip hop. Got it. So he takes that 00:05:26.430 --> 00:05:29.290 acoustic, guitar -driven, street -level sound, 00:05:29.649 --> 00:05:31.970 and the source notes say he blends it with pop 00:05:31.970 --> 00:05:34.629 rock on tracks like Otro Amor and Miles DeRosa's. 00:05:34.649 --> 00:05:37.269 Yeah, and it results in what the text describes 00:05:37.269 --> 00:05:40.089 as a dreamy sound. I can totally imagine that. 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:42.990 Taking the melancholy plucking of a requinto 00:05:42.990 --> 00:05:45.569 guitar and just crashing it into the driving 00:05:45.569 --> 00:05:47.889 drum kicks and synths of pop rock, it creates 00:05:47.889 --> 00:05:50.029 this wash of sound. It really does. It's very 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:52.370 atmospheric. But, you know, there is a contradiction 00:05:52.370 --> 00:05:54.639 here that really jumps out from the doc - of 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.959 the contradiction. Well, we have this project 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:00.610 described as... An accidental, unplanned solo 00:06:00.610 --> 00:06:03.709 venture, right? Right. With a fluid, genre -blurring, 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:06.550 dreamy vibe. Right. Yet the physical packaging 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:08.930 and the metadata of the album are incredibly 00:06:08.930 --> 00:06:11.810 rigid. Look at the track list. Every single track 00:06:11.810 --> 00:06:14.589 title is stylized in all capital letters, no 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:16.829 exceptions. It's true. And the album length. 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:20.850 It is exactly 60 minutes and zero seconds long, 00:06:21.430 --> 00:06:23.949 spread perfectly across 17 tracks. I mean, you 00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:26.850 don't just happen to stumble into a runtime of 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:31.589 exactly one hour. No, definitely not. So is this 00:06:31.589 --> 00:06:35.230 strict, almost militant packaging a deliberate 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:38.149 way to contain the wild experimentation that's 00:06:38.149 --> 00:06:40.170 happening inside the audio? You know, if we look 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:43.529 at the psychology of album sequencing, your observation 00:06:43.529 --> 00:06:45.850 points to a very deliberate strategy. I knew 00:06:45.850 --> 00:06:48.889 it. Yeah, when an artist is blending disparate 00:06:48.889 --> 00:06:51.389 genres, like taking traditional Mexican acoustic 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:53.589 instruments and layering them over pop rock structures, 00:06:54.089 --> 00:06:56.730 there is a really high risk of the project feeling 00:06:56.730 --> 00:06:59.129 disjointed. Right, like without a unifying thread. 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:01.019 it could just sound like a random playlist instead 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.339 of a cohesive body of work. Exactly, like you're 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:05.300 just throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:07.439 sticks, simply because your collaborators never 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:09.500 showed up to help cook. That's a great way to 00:07:09.500 --> 00:07:12.040 put it. So how does an artist signal to you, 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:15.279 the listener, that this is a fully realized, 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:18.459 self -contained world? You use strict aesthetic 00:07:18.459 --> 00:07:21.699 parameters. The all -cap stylization. Yes. It's 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:24.480 not just a typographic quirk, it's a visual cue 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.300 of absolute uniformity. It essentially tells 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:30.360 the listener, hey, these 17 tracks are one single 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.360 thought. And hitting exactly 60 minutes and zero 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.060 seconds, that has to require brutal, meticulous 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:39.120 editing in the production booth. Oh, absolutely. 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:42.100 It means trimming a chorus here, extending an 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:44.319 instrumental outro there, all just to hit that 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:46.959 perfect hour mark. It creates a psychological 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.120 boundary for that dreamy atmosphere we talked 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:50.959 about. You step into this immersive world for 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:52.939 exactly one hour, and then the door just closes. 00:07:53.139 --> 00:07:54.959 Right. The rigid structure essentially gives 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.259 the listener a map. Which is fascinating, because 00:07:57.259 --> 00:08:01.199 he created a highly specific, carefully curated 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:04.899 solo environment out of a totally chaotic, accidental 00:08:04.899 --> 00:08:07.300 situation. It was a huge creative risk. Huge. 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:10.040 You build this one -hour featureless genre blended 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:13.139 box, but the real test is whether the fan base 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:16.600 actually steps inside it. So how did the market 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:18.920 react when he dropped this tightly controlled 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.259 experiment? Well, the reaction was immediate, 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.439 but the rollout strategy they used to gauge that 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:27.459 reaction was highly unconventional. It honestly 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:30.079 seems like breaking the standard industry rules 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.399 became the theme of the entire era. It certainly 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:36.039 seems that way from the timeline. I mean, the 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.740 album drops on all streaming platforms on October 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:42.559 5, 2023. Yep. And at the exact same time, lyric 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.039 videos for every single one of the 17 songs are 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.799 uploaded to his YouTube channel. Right. But the 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:50.080 documentation highlights a really bizarre choice. 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:53.039 The lead single for the album, a track called 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.919 Why Euro, was officially released on October 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:58.490 6. A full day after the album was already out 00:08:58.490 --> 00:09:00.750 in the world. It completely turns the traditional 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:03.269 timeline of music promotion upside down. It really 00:09:03.269 --> 00:09:05.350 does. It's like, I don't know, it's like a major 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:08.590 tech company releasing a brand new, highly anticipated 00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:11.370 smartphone to the public, but waiting until a 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:13.830 week after everyone has already bought it to 00:09:13.830 --> 00:09:16.470 announce what the flagship feature is. That's 00:09:16.470 --> 00:09:19.389 a perfect analogy. Why would a label wait to 00:09:19.389 --> 00:09:22.570 declare a lead single until after the full project 00:09:22.570 --> 00:09:24.549 is sitting right there for anyone to stream? 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.700 Serving the appetizer after the buffet makes 00:09:27.700 --> 00:09:31.960 no sense. It really asks us to reconsider what 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:35.259 a single even does in the modern streaming ecosystem. 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:37.570 Traditionally, singles are the bait, right? Yeah, 00:09:37.669 --> 00:09:40.549 you release them months in advance to build hype, 00:09:40.669 --> 00:09:43.110 maybe get some radio play. Exactly. You're trying 00:09:43.110 --> 00:09:45.289 to convince people to pre -order or eventually 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:48.529 stream the full album. But Junior H's team just 00:09:48.529 --> 00:09:51.049 completely inverted the funnel. How so? By dropping 00:09:51.049 --> 00:09:54.409 the entire album and all 17 lyric videos simultaneously, 00:09:55.029 --> 00:09:57.110 they refused to dictate to the audience what 00:09:57.110 --> 00:09:59.549 the hit was supposed to be. Oh, wow. Yeah, they 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:02.110 basically let the audience's behavior dictate 00:10:02.110 --> 00:10:04.110 the strategy to them. Oh, I see. So they treated 00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:06.809 the entire fan base like a massive group of beta 00:10:06.809 --> 00:10:08.710 testers. The data points exactly that way. The 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:10.889 source material explicitly notes that Y -Hora 00:10:10.889 --> 00:10:13.399 was considered a fan favorite. So by crowdsourcing 00:10:13.399 --> 00:10:15.840 the single, they capitalized on organic listener 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.700 data within the very first 24 hours. Exactly. 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:21.240 They watched the analytics. They saw which lyric 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.240 video was getting the highest retention rate, 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.720 which track was being added to personal playlists 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.100 the fastest. And then they just immediately planted 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:31.799 their flag on that specific song. Right. They 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:33.840 officially pushed it as the lead single the very 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.179 next day. It is an incredibly agile, responsive 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:39.740 way to handle marketing. And looking at the charts, 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:42.139 it shows that treating your fans like your A 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:45.200 &R department really pays off. The immediate 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:47.940 validation of that strategy is hard to argue 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:50.720 with. The numbers don't lie. They don't. The 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.100 documentation shows the album debuted at number 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:56.340 14 on the US Billboard 200, which was his highest 00:10:56.340 --> 00:10:59.470 album debut to date. a huge milestone. But let's 00:10:59.470 --> 00:11:01.629 pause and clarify the metric here because the 00:11:01.629 --> 00:11:05.009 source says it moved 32 ,000 album equivalent 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:07.230 units in that first week. Right. For a listener 00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:09.389 who, you know, doesn't track Billboard methodology, 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:12.509 what exactly is an album equivalent unit in an 00:11:12.509 --> 00:11:14.990 era where literally nobody is buying physical 00:11:14.990 --> 00:11:17.809 CDs? Yeah, it's the industry's mathematical solution 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:20.350 to the streaming era. Since physical sales are 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:22.750 just a fraction of what they used to be, Billboard 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:24.870 had to figure out how many streams equal the 00:11:24.870 --> 00:11:27.500 purchase of one album. Makes sense. The formula 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:31.259 generally dictates that 1250 premium audio streams, 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.220 meaning streams from a paid subscription tier, 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:39.340 or 3750 ad -supported audio streams equal one 00:11:39.340 --> 00:11:42.320 album sale. Wow, okay. It also factors in individual 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:45.220 track downloads. So moving 32 ,000 equivalent 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:47.740 units primarily through streaming means these 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.159 17 tracks were played tens of millions of times 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:52.519 in a single week. Which is staggering when you 00:11:52.519 --> 00:11:54.419 remember the context we established earlier. 00:11:54.590 --> 00:11:58.210 No features, no pre -release single hype, just 00:11:58.210 --> 00:12:00.730 a pure deliverer of his solo vision. The audience 00:12:00.730 --> 00:12:03.370 was clearly starved for the exact emotional, 00:12:03.570 --> 00:12:05.889 genre -fused aesthetic he was offering. Clearly. 00:12:06.090 --> 00:12:08.309 It also hit number one on the US regional Mexican 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:10.970 albums chart and number two on top Latin albums. 00:12:11.230 --> 00:12:13.070 But, you know, arriving with a surge of momentum 00:12:13.070 --> 00:12:15.610 is impressive, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:17.970 a legacy. Right, because if people just checked 00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:19.889 it out to see what happened to the Peso Cloma 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:22.110 features and then never listened again, it wouldn't 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:25.129 really be a cultural milestone. Exactly. A highly 00:12:25.129 --> 00:12:27.509 anticipated sequel will always generate that 00:12:27.509 --> 00:12:31.210 first -week curiosity. To understand this album's 00:12:31.210 --> 00:12:34.070 true weight, we have to look at its staying power. 00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:36.490 So what happened to this 60 -minute experiment 00:12:36.490 --> 00:12:39.169 over the long haul? The long -term metrics transition 00:12:39.169 --> 00:12:41.389 this story from a clever release strategy into 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:43.909 a real heavyweight cultural footprint. Let's 00:12:43.909 --> 00:12:45.929 hear it. The album spent enough time performing 00:12:45.929 --> 00:12:49.250 at a high level to land at number 92 on the 2024 00:12:49.250 --> 00:12:53.610 year -end U .S. Billboard 200. Oh, wow. Maintaining 00:12:53.610 --> 00:12:56.610 a presence on a year -end chart across all genres 00:12:56.610 --> 00:12:59.490 that requires relentless, sustained streaming 00:12:59.490 --> 00:13:02.090 week after week, month after month. People didn't 00:13:02.090 --> 00:13:04.250 just visit this album once. They kept it in their 00:13:04.250 --> 00:13:06.789 daily rotation. And the volume of the certifications 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:09.610 across borders is really striking, too. In Mexico, 00:13:09.990 --> 00:13:12.110 certified by Ampro Feffon, the album reached 00:13:12.110 --> 00:13:15.549 Diamond plus 3X plus Which is massive. Yeah, 00:13:15.570 --> 00:13:20.330 that represents 1 ,120 ,000 units. Then, looking 00:13:20.330 --> 00:13:23.009 at the United States, the RIAA certified its 00:13:23.009 --> 00:13:25.889 16x platinum in the Latin category, which the 00:13:25.889 --> 00:13:28.889 source notes is 960 ,000 units. Right. I want 00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:31.409 to dig into that second number for a second because 00:13:31.409 --> 00:13:34.450 RIAA math can be a little confusing. Standard 00:13:34.450 --> 00:13:36.990 platinum in the US is 1 million units. Yes, it 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:40.590 is. So how does 16x platinum equal 960 ,000 units 00:13:40.590 --> 00:13:43.259 in the Latin category? That is a really crucial 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:46.139 distinction to make. The RIAA created a specific 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:48.639 set of thresholds for the programa de oro y platino 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.240 to track Spanish language music consumption more 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:54.679 accurately within the U .S. market. In this specific 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:56.940 Latin category, the threshold for gold is 30 00:13:56.940 --> 00:14:00.019 ,000 units and platinum is 60 ,000 units. So 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:03.000 if you multiply that 60 ,000 by 16, you arrive 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:05.679 at the 960 ,000 units mentioned in the source. 00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:07.720 Thank you for clearing that up. But even with 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:09.440 the adjusted thresholds, we are still looking 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.620 at over a million units in his home country of 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:14.360 Mexico. and virtually another million units inside 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.679 the United States. It transcends regional success. 00:14:18.019 --> 00:14:21.700 It acts as a sweeping transnational bridge. What 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:23.879 does approaching a million units in the U .S. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.360 actually signify about this album's place in 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:29.100 the broader cultural landscape? Honestly, it 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.879 signifies that the music broke containment. When 00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:34.139 a Spanish language album with roots in Sereno 00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:36.860 and Ranchera moves nearly a million equivalent 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:39.559 units in the United States, it means these songs 00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:41.740 were playing out of car windows in Los Angeles, 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.500 at family gatherings in Texas, and in headphones 00:14:44.500 --> 00:14:46.860 on the subway in Chicago. The specific blend 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:49.039 of traditional acoustic instrumentation with 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.299 pop rock rhythms resonated deeply enough that 00:14:51.299 --> 00:14:54.179 it just crossed demographic lines. It proves 00:14:54.179 --> 00:14:56.519 that the quote unquote accident wasn't a hindrance. 00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:59.299 It was actually the catalyst. Totally. It tells 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.360 you that when an artist is coursed into a corner, 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:04.580 when the safety nets vanish and they respond 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:07.559 by creating something deeply authentic and uncompromised, 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.259 the audience will recognize it. You don't need 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.860 a carefully engineered formula of algorithmic 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:15.379 guest stars if the core emotional frequency of 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:17.539 the music is real, the audience will champion 00:15:17.539 --> 00:15:19.460 it across border. Let's just take a step back 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:21.200 for a second and look at the entire timeline 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.360 we've just mapped out. Junior H is faced with 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:27.200 a canceled collaboration plan that fundamentally 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:30.519 alters the entire structure of his album. But 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.779 instead of delaying or panicking, He adapts. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.139 He turns the void into a perfectly timed, exactly 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:40.759 60 minute solo experiment. He blends the acoustic 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:43.460 drive of Urban Serenio with dreamy pop rock. 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.080 He upends traditional marketing by letting the 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.940 fans data pick the lead single and he walks away 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:51.360 with diamond and multi -platinum records across 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.179 two separate countries. It is a master class 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:57.580 in artistic trust and resilience. But, you know, 00:15:57.580 --> 00:15:59.679 there is one detail buried in the production 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.940 credits of the source material that serves as 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:04.179 a really fit and coded to this entire narrative. 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:06.600 Oh, what's in the credits? It encapsulates the 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:08.919 core theme of this project beautifully. If you 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:10.940 look at the production and writing notes, the 00:16:10.940 --> 00:16:13.659 producers listed are Jimmy Humelde, Ernesto Fernandez, 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.259 and Antonio Herrera -Perez. Okay. Furthermore, 00:16:16.539 --> 00:16:18.679 Antonio Herrera -Perez is credited as the primary 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:22.120 songwriter across the entire album. Wait, Antonio 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:24.799 Herrera -Perez is Junior H's legal name, isn't 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.529 it? Yes, it is. Wow. That brings the whole concept 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:29.970 full circle. It really does. Think about the 00:16:29.970 --> 00:16:32.529 symbolism there. The biggest stars in the genre 00:16:32.529 --> 00:16:35.429 fell through. The external industry support system 00:16:35.429 --> 00:16:38.929 fell away. He was left entirely to his own devices. 00:16:38.970 --> 00:16:41.889 Right. And who did he have to rely on to produce, 00:16:42.029 --> 00:16:45.450 write, and execute this tightly controlled, 60 00:16:45.450 --> 00:16:49.289 minute cultural milestone? Antonio Herrera Perez, 00:16:50.049 --> 00:16:53.440 the man himself. That is wild. Did this accident 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:55.960 actually force him to strip away the industry 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.240 expectations, the reliance on high -profile collaborations, 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.259 and just lean entirely on his own raw capability? 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:05.579 It's a grounded, quiet realization of self -reliance. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.960 And honestly, it leaves you reflecting on your 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.059 own life. Definitely. Think back to that falling 00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:11.640 apart plan we discussed at the very beginning 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.480 of the deep dive. When the VITs don't show up 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.920 and your external safety nets vanish, you might 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:18.880 feel like you're just standing in wreckage. Yeah, 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.359 it could be terrifying. But if you look closely 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.660 at what you are capable of building on your own, 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:26.680 you might discover that you, in your rawest, 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:29.759 most authentic form, were the only creator you 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.059 ever really needed. A very fitting thought to 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:34.180 leave on. Keep that in mind the next time your 00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:36.920 plans change. We will catch you on the next Deep 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:37.240 Dive.