Mexican pop artist Peso Pluma cancels concerts after cartel death threats
Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Peso Pluma, a Mexican pop artist hot off his debut at the MTV Video Music Awards, has canceled a concert in Indiana after receiving death threats from a cartel based in his home state of Jalisco.
The 24-year-old artist, whose legal name is Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija, rose to fame last year after he teamed up with Raul Vega for an anthem about drug culture titled "El Belicón."
Peso Pluma was scheduled to perform at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis on Saturday but that concert has since been canceled, according to the theater's website. No reason was given.
The singer is scheduled to perform a concert at Caliente Stadium in Tijuana, Mexico, on October 14.
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel reportedly hung a banner from a bridge ahead of his performance at the VMAs warning him not to perform the Tijuana concert.
"This goes to Peso Pluma, refrain from presenting yourself on October 14 because it will be your last show due to your disrespect and loose tongue, you show up and we are going to (break you)," the banner said, according to The Arizona Republic.
A listing of upcoming Peso Pluma concerts on Ticketmaster shows that a performance has also been canceled in San Diego, while four other shows in cities across the south and Midwest have been postponed.
Peso Pluma has not yet publicly addressed the threats. It was not immediately clear why the cartel believed the singer had been disrespectful.
In one song, "Siempre Pendientes," the singer includes lyrics about the Joaquin Guzman Loera. However, the imprisoned drug lord -- better known as El Chapo -- is the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Meanwhile, Guzman's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was released Wednesday from a Long Beach, Calif., halfway house where she was transferred after being released from a Texas federal prison in June.
