Éxodo () is the fourth studio album by Mexican singer Peso Pluma. It was released on 20 June 2024, through Double P Records. It was mostly produced by the singer alongside Ernesto Fernández and Jesus Iván Leal Reyes "Parka". The album's guest appearances include frequent collaborators such as Junior H, Eslabón Armado, Tito Double P, Luis R. Conriquez, Óscar Maydon, Natanael Cano, Gabito Ballesteros, Arcángel and Ryan Castro, while it also features new collaborators including Netón Vega, Chino Pacas, Iván Cornejo, Rich the Kid, Cardi B, Quavo, Anitta, Kenia Os and DJ Snake.
Serving as a follow-up of his third studio album, Génesis (2023), he began recording the album at major cities in the United States and Mexico, including Prajin Parlay Studioz in Anaheim, California and Lab Studios in Coconut Grove, Miami, with several sessions lasting from 2023 to mid-2024. Further production contributions were from Andrew Watt, Charlie Handsome, Chris Jedi, Cirkut, Dímelo Flow, DJ Durel, Édgar Barrera and Gaby Music, among others. Éxodo is a double album split into two discs; the first disc consists of corridos tumbados songs, while its second disc explores more urban genres such as hip-hop, Latin trap, reggaeton and electronic dance music. Éxodo contains lyrics surrounding luxury, organized crime, stardom and religion.
Peso Pluma embarked his North American second headlining tour, the Éxodo Tour, the first arena tour of his career, in July 2024, to support the album. In addition, he released eleven singles from the album beginning December 2023, including "Bellakeo", "Rompe la Dompe", "La People II", "Peso Completo", "Teka", "La Durango", "Gimme a Second", "Vino Tinto", "Tommy & Pamela", "La Patrulla" and "Hollywood". Upon release, Éxodo received mostly favorable reviews from music critics, who praised the album's production and Peso Pluma's versatility within it, while other publications criticized its lack of consistency and the inclusion of its second disc.
On Spotify, the album garnered 29.8 million global streams within all of its tracks in its first 24 hours, becoming the highest debut for an album by a Mexican artist. It peaked at number one on the US Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums charts, additionally peaking at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 64,000 additional album-equivalent units, becoming his second top-five album on the chart. It was later certified undecuple-platinum in the Latin field by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Música Mexicana Album (including Tejano) at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming Peso Pluma's second nomination in the awards overall.
Background and recording Peso Pluma rose to global prominence in early 2023, when he released singles such as "PRC" with Natanael Cano, "El Azul" with Junior H, "Ella Baila Sola" with Eslabon Armado, and "La Bebé" with Yng Lvcas, which have appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. Amidst his success, he announced his third studio album, Génesis, in May 2023. Promoted with a trailer featuring Mike Tyson, it was released on 20 June 2024, with a "deluxe" edition being released a week later, adding three additional tracks. A commercial success, it debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 73,000 album-equivalent units after its next full tracking week, making history as the highest debut and charting for a regional Mexican album on the chart; all of its tracks were also charting on the US Hot Latin Songs upon debut.
After the album's release and success, Peso Pluma began recording his next studio album, with several album recording sessions taking place throughout 2023 and mid-2024. According to Peso Pluma, the album was recorded in different stages and phases of his life and career. Recording and production for the album took place in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and New York City, including Mexico. A majority of the album was recorded at Prajin Parlay Studioz in Anaheim, California. In October 2023, the singer revealed to Billboard that he was working on his next album, adding that there would be reggaeton tracks among other genres and that frequent collaborators would appear, along with new collaborators. It was released and distributed through Double P Records, making it Peso Pluma's second album released by Double P following Génesis.
In February 2024, Génesis received the Grammy Award for Best Música Mexicana Album (including Tejano) at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming the singer's first time accomplishing this. Despite the success, a video of him with another woman in Las Vegas spread around social media, abruptly ending his relationship with Argentinian singer Nicki Nicole, which began in 2023. During a cover story with Rolling Stone, where he also became the first regional Mexican artist to be on the cover of their magazine, he revealed his next album title as Éxodo while regarding the rumors about his breakup with Nicole, to which he did not want to talk about. While being interviewed by Rolling Stone, a recording session for the album took place at Lab Studios in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida, where American producer Édgar Barrera and fellow songwriter Alexis Fierro (El Chachito) appeared in the process.
Composition and concept
Éxodo was released as a double album; it is composed of 24 tracks in total, with 16 tracks on disc 1 and eight tracks on disc 2. Its first disc has been characterized as material with regional Mexican influences and corridos tumbados compositions. Its second disc contains a variety of musical genres, mostly urban genres, including electronic, hip-hop, Latin trap and reggaeton tracks. Peso Pluma initially confirmed that there would be experimentation within the album, aside from his main genre of regional Mexican music, stating he wanted it to be a "surprise" for everyone and that he has "liked doing things to get out of [his] comfort zone". He also chose to create such an album because "some of [his] fans were craving música Mexicana, and some were craving urbano", doing so while continuing to use his original musical style. Throughout the album, themes found within its songs' lyrics include stardom, women, luxury, religion, stress relief and organized crime.
The first disc of Éxodo would be co-produced by Peso Pluma, as well as fellow producers Ernesto Fernández and Jesus Iván Leal Reyes, who helped produce his third studio album, Génesis (2023). Within the disc, Peso Pluma's touring band contributed with the instruments, while artists from his label, Double P Records, including his cousin Tito "Double P" Laija, contributed to most of its production and songwriting. Instruments used within the album's first disc include the tenor horn, the requinto guitar, the tololoche and the electric bass. For "Solicitado", an electric bass is used instead of a tololoche. Barrera contributed to four tracks off the album; he co-wrote and co-produced "Santal 33" and "14 - 14", while he co-wrote "Vino Tinto" and "Tommy & Pamela". "Put Em in the Fridge" was first sent to Peso Pluma by one of Cardi B's producers, with production credits going to Charlie Handsome and Fresh.
Regarding the album's title, Peso Pluma explained that his third album, Génesis, showed his "superhero side", while Éxodo shows "his dark side" and is a direct response to critics who "focus more on the negatives than the positives", likely referring to his music. Translated to "Exodus" in English, the album follows his third studio album, Génesis (2023), creating a biblical reference to the Bible's second book Exodus following that of Genesis. He explained to Spin that Génesis marked "the beginning" and that Éxodo is a continuation of it, adding that Éxodo marks a new era for him. Its album artwork was revealed on 24 May 2024, which shows a "distorted inverted-color" image of Peso Pluma holding the V sign with both hands. In an interview with Publimetro México, he explained that he wanted the album cover to be different from what he had seen before, while stating that it is "a representation of these changes that [Éxodo] and [himself] have gone through in recent years".
Songs "La Durango", the opener for Éxodo, features Peso Pluma, Junior H and Eslabón Armado singing about how beautiful women are in a Dodge Durango, which alludes to the title, and also makes a reference to the tequila Don Julio 70. The album's second track "Me Activo" () with Jasiel Nuñez, features Peso Pluma "shift[ing] his voice into a serenade-like tone", while containing "catchy, high-stakes" guitar tones in the background, with its following track "La Patrulla" () with Netón Vega being a narcocorrido. The fourth track, "La People II" with Tito Double P and Joel de la P, is a sequel to the former's track with the first mentioned singer "La People" and contains lyrical elements to that of a narcocorrido. Lyrically, it is an apology for organized crime and contains references to El Nini, El 27, and El Piyi, who all have connections to the Sinaloa Cartel. On "Sr. Smith", Peso Pluma and Luis R. Conriquez sing about hustling for a lush lifestyle, while "Rompe la Dompe" (), the album's sixth track with Junior H and Óscar Maydon, contains lyrics which revolve around having a party, forgetting about a lover, and opening a bottle of Champagne, specifically the Dom Pérignon brand.
"Mami" is a "catchy" track in which Peso Pluma and Chino Pacas show confidence and romantic interest for a certain woman. In the album's eighth track, "Belanova" with Tito Double P, features lyrics which revolve around promising to die fighting; its title makes a reference to the Mexican pop band of the same name and is described as a possible "follow-up" to the former's song "Rosa Pastel", which may inspired to the Mexican pop band's song of the same name. "Bruce Wayne" commences with a "left-field" piano melody, with Peso Pluma thematically playing the role of a dark character in the track and visualizing himself as a billionaire with "gravelly self-assurance", while casually switching his vocal approach; he includes a rap approach within its second verse. A cover, "Hollywood" with Estevan Plazola, is an ode to Hollywood, Los Angeles, with its lyrics revolving around being abused as a child and gaining eventual fame. The track also contains lyrics which are possibly directed at Mexican former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, according to some publications. "Reloj" () with Iván Cornejo is a sad sierreño song which features psychedelic sounds while both singers "take turns harmonizing one another to mesmerizing effect"
"Ice", is a corrido bélico which begins with a sample spoken by American wrestler Ric Flair, demonstrating the similar connections of corridos and gangsta rap. "Solicitado" () lyrically sees Peso Pluma reflecting on fame and its negative outcomes, as well as changes in life, while "Santal 33" with Óscar Maydon, in which its title is a reference to the cologne of the same name, features lyrics about high life. The song also features a few lyrics in French. "Vino Tinto" (), the 15th track and third collaboration between Natanael Cano and Gabito Ballesteros, begins with a EDM-like synthesizer used to transition into a corrido tumbado, Concluding the album's first disc, "14 - 14" aesthetically revolves around religion; the track title is an angel number, referencing Exodus 14:14, and the lyrics revolve around him hiding a crucifix around his neck. It contains a sample of Giorgio Moroder's composition "The World Is Yours" at the end of the track, described as "suspensful, organ-like keys" with an "echoing sound of gunfire".