At a young age, Virlan García learned that if he wanted to become a successful musician, he’d have to work hard and prove his talent as a singer-songwriter.
“I always wanted live the life of an artist,” the 22-year-old regional Mexican singer-songwriter tells Billboard. “When you want something with all your heart and work hard to achieve your dreams, you’ll see results.”
The hard work has paid off.
After kicking off his career at age 17 in his native Sinaloa, García made his debut on the Billboard charts in 2017 thanks to his album Mi Vida Eres Tu, which peaked at No. 17 on Regional Mexican Albums, and he’s maintained his chart presence since, earning two top 10s on Regional Mexican Airplay. Additionally, his single “Te Mereces” continued to chart on Regional Mexican Airplay through last week, charting for a total of 19 weeks.
“I think a lot of people can relate to ‘Te Mereces,’ and that explains its popularity,” says García. “The song is about realizing that you can’t force yourself to love someone and ultimately telling your partner to look for someone who truly loves them.”
While his new songs “Amor Artificial” and “Del Salado Para El Mundo,” featuring El Fantasma, stay true to his campirana, banda and norteño roots, García is ready to explore fresh sounds and promises that the new album he’s recording while quarantined in Tijuana will have more of a norteño-pop beat in an effort to attract a new audience. “The new album will surprise my fans. We’re doing some fusion of sounds, hoping to reach new markets.”
Taking note of the urban-regional movement, García — who has penned songs for artists like Gerardo Ortiz and Régulo Caro — wouldn’t say no to collaborating with an urbano artist. “Why not? The idea of taking our music and sharing it with other genres is beautiful. Right now, we’re seeing collabs that I’d never imagine would happen. It’s almost incredible.”
Learn more about this week’s Latin Artist on the Rise below.
Name: Jesús Virlan Baez García
Age: 22
Major Accomplishment: “To date, my biggest accomplishment was to perform a sold-out concert at Ciudad Juárez in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, in June 2018. There was record attendance of almost 55,000 people, and it was special on a personal and professional level because Ciudad Juárez was one of the first cities in Mexico to support my music since the beginning of the career.”
Recommended Song: “Los 2020’s”
What’s Next: “It’s hard to say if I’ll tour any time soon because of the pandemic, but what I can say is that we have tons of new music to release and I’m working on an album that will sound a lot different than what I’m used to recording. It’ll be more norteño-pop, as I like to call it.”
