18-04-2025
Coachella Performer El Malilla on History-Making Set: ‘It's a Beautiful Moment in My Life'
Photos by Joss Andreu
"I'm very happy, excited, and anxious," El Malilla says with a huge grin on his face minutes before making Coachella history. On Saturday night, the rising Mexican star became the first artist from emerging reggaeton Mexa wave to perform his own set at the southern California festival. Far from his home in Estado de México, El Malilla is now sitting in a trailer at Coachella and reflecting on his journey to the Sonora stage.
"It's a very beautiful moment in my life," he tells Teen Vogue. "I knew there existed a festival called Coachella, but I never imagined at this point in my life that I'd be singing here, much less closing out the Sonora stage. It's a lot of weight on my shoulders, but I'm very happy to represent the genre of reggaeton Mexa and even more so, the flag of Mexico."
Reggaeton is music of the Caribbean, specifically with roots in Puerto Rico and Panama. In the last decade, Colombia became a new hub for genre and led to the rise of artists like J Balvin, Karol G, Feid, Maluma, and Manuel Turizo. In the past few years, Mexico has now become the next frontier for perreo with the burgeoning reggaeton Mexa scene. Before being one of the most commercial Latin genres, El Malilla, who was born Fernando Hernández Flores, remembers when reggaeton was first embraced by the barrio, or the hood, including his hometown of Valle de Chalco.
"Where I come from, it wasn't looked down upon to listen to reggaeton," El Malilla recalls. "It was music that I grew up with and understood. I discovered that reggaeton was very marginalized [coming from the barrio]. You could be [judged] simply for liking the genre. From the ecosystem that I come from, it's very normal to hear reggaeton, so that's why I decided to become a reggaeton singer."
As a child in the 2000s, El Malilla remembers first hearing reggaeton at the local tianguis. At these open-air street markets, burned CDs were also passed around with songs by Mexican reggaeton pioneers like Big Metra, Impacto MC, and La Dinastia. Now at 25, El Malilla has collaborated all the aforementioned names on remixes of their classics "Vaquero," "Desnudate," and the upcoming "Golosa." In awe, he says, "For me to be a part of those anthems is crazy!" While the entertainment capital is an hour away in Mexico City, El Malilla is still based in Valle de Chalco to stay close to his barrio roots.
"I wanted to be a civil engineer and see how things turned out," he laughs. "Life gives you opportunities and it's up to you to take advantage of them. For a child where I come from, it's impossible to fulfill a dream. It's impossible to be part of something that's outside of your ecosystem. When we can break the cycle, we're doing things right. I'm a clear example for the kids where I'm from or that have been in situations I've been in that dreams do come true."
Reggaeton Mexa pulls from the genre's underground sound of the '90s and 2000s in Puerto Rico while imbuing it with Mexican swagger, slang, and style. El Mallila often refers to himself as a "chacal" or "maleante," which both roughly translate to "bad boy." He lives up to that reputation in sexy reggaeton bangers like "B de Bellako," "Azótame," and "Mali Sácatela." While the lyrics in his songs veer towards explicit and kinky, they're always at the behest of the women he's singing to. In the empowering "Mami Tú," El Malilla croons in Spanish, "In bed, mami, you are the champion." While reggaeton has a history of machismo, or toxic masculinity, women are always in control in his racy serenades.
"At the end of the day, we're examples," he says. "Before, I had argued that I wasn't an example for anyone, but the truth is that you grow up and you have more of a social responsibility. I have dirty songs, but I also decided to make reggaeton that's more commercial without bad words like 'Mami Tú' and 'Dime.' Those songs are clean. I see children and grandmas singing along to 'Mami Tú,' so I feel better doing that."
In addition to having a large female following, El Malilla is well aware of his LGBTQ+ fans that are lusting for him. In a show of allyship to the queer community, last year he shot the bonkers "Rebote" music video at Spartacus, one of the most iconic gay clubs in Mexico. While looking like Proto Zoa from the Zenon movies, El Malilla partied hard at the discotheque in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl with fierce local drag queens and fashion-forward young women.
"There was a moment in my career where a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community supported me," he says. "I made that video for them, and everyone, so they can know that I'm here for them and I'm grateful for their support. I'm very aware of the love they show me and the truth is, they're a part of the foundation of my career. On top of that, it's a freaky song, so there couldn't have been a better place for a video like that."
In addition to taking pictures with Travis Scott at Coachella, El Malilla also met Spanish singer Judeline at the festival. On Thursday April 12, they co-headlined a concert together at The Roxy in L.A. With her genre-bending spin on Latin pop and alternative music, he wants to continue to broaden his horizons as an artist. El Malilla has already shown in his debut album ÑEROSTARS, which was released last July, that there's more to him beyond reggaeton. The LP includes the romantic merengue of "Coronada" and the EDM-infused "Todo Tiene Su Final."
"I would love to work with Rauw Alejandro and Bad Bunny, but I also want to work with artists that are outside my genre," he says. "I'm going to see Judeline again on Thursday and I think it could be interesting if we could get in the studio together someday. I would love to explore other sounds, other languages, and other genres. I would also love to work with Romeo Santos or a salsa singer because I love salsa music."
El Malilla turned up the heat on the Sonora stage in a red-hot suit by Mexican brand Siete Cactus. Like a true reggaetonero, he was perreando (twerking) and grinding to his biggest hits. A fan from the packed crowd passed him a Mexican flag that he proudly raised up. "¡Arriba México!" he exclaimed. After taking off his shirt, he put on a Mexican sombrero and performed the song that's most emblematic of reggaeton Mexa in his repertoire, "Vaquero." As a leader of the movement, El Malilla is ready to take this offshoot of the genre to the next level with his MaliMundial Tour, which includes the Sueños music festival in Chicago next month.
"Now that I've visited the US, Madrid, Chile, and Argentina, I would love to expand upon my sound and my brand La Esquina Inc.," he says. "I want more people to get to know us, not only as artists that we are, but as the good people that we are. I'm working on expanding the MaliFamilia to each corner of the world."
Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue
