An hour before his first performance at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival’s main stage, a horde of managers, bandmembers and label execs crowded the entrance of Junior H’s artist trailer.

Among the many faces was Jimmy Humilde, the chief executive of Rancho Humilde Records, who signed the singer after his track “No Eh Cambiado,” a requinto-backed hustle anthem, went viral on YouTube.

Junior H, whose real name is Antonio Herrera Pérez, was a high schooler in Utah at the time. Now, almost seven years later, the 23-year-old artist, who was raised in Guanajuato, Mexico, is one of the biggest names in the increasingly popular world of música Mexicana.

“It feels really good for us to be here right now, representing Mexico and representing all this music we’re doing,” said Junior H, switching between Spanish and English. “Being the kind of artist that I am, I’m trying to get the most ears I can. That’s why I’m here to get people’s attention.”

Junior H’s last full-length album “$ad Boyz 4 Life II” was released in 2023 and it remains one of the “most important” projects of his career.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Junior H and labelmate Natanel Cano are credited for pioneering corridos tumbados, a hybrid sound that blends traditional corrido instrumentation with elements of hip-hop and trap beats — Cano’s 2019 album, “Corridos Tumbados,” heavily featured Junior H.

In the realm of música Mexicana, there are the trap corrido makerswho sing about partying and drugs, and then there are “the sad boys,” hopeless romantics who croon about being in love or about being brokenhearted. Junior H conveniently straddles the line between both.

“I don’t really have a problem looking at who I am. I think the people gave me [the ‘sad boy’ title] a few years ago. They started categorizing me with sad and sentimental music. So I accepted and we kept it going,” said Junior H. “Especially with men, I think it’s important to show people that feelings are not bad and we can express them as we want.”

After his U.S. tour, Sad Boyz Mania, which took place last summer and included two sold-out nights at L.A.’s BMO Stadium, Junior H received a second-line billing on this year’s Coachella’s Day 3 lineup. His name appeared between electronic DJ Zedd and K-pop idol Jennie, and was one of three música Mexicana performers playing the entire fest — he’s joined by fellow sad boy Ivan Cornejo and reggaetón Mexa up-and-comer El Malilla.

Festival organizers first began booking música Mexicana actst in 2018 — legacy cumbia group Los Angeles Azules was the first to play the three-day event.
As global interest in the genre has grown, Goldenvoice, the company behind Coachella, has booked acts like Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Grupo Firme, Banda MS and Cano. Last year, Peso Pluma, Carin León and Santa Fe Klan were on the lineup.

It was during Peso Pluma’s set that Junior H made his desert debut, making a guest appearance to sing “El Azul,” a narcocorrido believed to be about a Sinaloan drug lord. Now with his own 50-minute set, Junior H says he was excited to be in a position where he could return the gesture to Pluma and bring his own “sad boy” flair to center stage.

Junior H will return to the desert stage for Coachella Weekend Two, performing on Sunday.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

“You know, it’s not an opportunity for him, because he was the first one who opened all this way for us,” said Junior H. “It’s a really beautiful thing between artists, and especially between friends like us when we work really hard for this genre, and then get the privilege to perform on stages like this one.”

As the Sunday evening set’s start time lingered over his head, Junior H traded his casual, pink jersey for an all-white outfit that would contrast his band’s all-black attire. In the dimmed trailer, journalists, friends and VIP fans all shared a few moments of his sought-after attention. The softspoken singer remained quiet and seems to be in a relaxed state of mind. Outside, the tololoche player tuned his instruments as the guitarists gathered in a corner to run through a few chords and the horn players blew a few trial notes — all while intermittently taking shots of Clase Azul Tequila. When it was time for them to all head over to the stage, they moved in a dense pack where Junior H was barely visible.

On stage, Junior H took the role of a conductor overseing the 25 musicians backing him. The sheer amount of people created a showstopping spectacle, with each group of instrumentalists on different raised levels. The ensemble even included someone whose sole purpose was to deliver tequila shots to the musicians and hold Junior H’s red solo cup, generating a party atmosphere both onstage and in the audience. As the música Mexicana sensation crooned the heartbroken lyrics of “Y Lloro” and a symphony of “Rockstar’s” horns rang out, he commanded the stage’s catwalk and hit every note from the pits of his diaphragm.

Throughout the show, he continually shouted out Mexico and encouraged the crowd to yell out the lyrics. Toward the end of his set, he brought out Peso Pluma to sing “Luna,” and followed it up by inviting Tito Double P on stage to join him for “5-7.”

Many expected a different setlist from the corridos tumbados originator, as he neglected many of his most popular corridos such as the newly released “El Chore” and one of his early hits, “El Hijo Mayor.” There was online speculation surrounding the exclusion of these tracks, especially after Los Alegres del Barranco’s U.S. visas were revoked for showing an image of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes during a recent concert. But Junior H shared that he wanted to put more of a spotlight on his “Sad Boy” sound.

“[Sad Boyz 4 Life II] is one of the most, most important albums in my career. We’ve been forcing ourselves to prove and show the people what we can do and that we can change our music. It doesn’t have to be typical. We can also do nice and beautiful music, not just music for the streets or the narcos and all that s—,” he says, apologizing for cursing. “We want people to see that we don’t only do that type of music. We also do beautiful music and poetry. That’s our goal: to show them that we do more than that.”

Before heading off the stage, a massive image of the Mexican flag appeared on the main stage’s biggest screen. The explosive guitar riffs of “Disfruto Lo Malo,” a collaboration with Cano, prompted a ground-shaking roar from the crowd. Junior H made one final lap around the mega stage, making eye contact with every screaming individual and paying homage to his musical roots.