Who Is Chuyin? Masked Música Mexicana Artist Talks New Album

Seconds into our Zoom call, Chuyin turns on his camera. There on the screen, staring back at me, are two gigantic black eyes and a mischievous smile stitched on a massive, crocheted head — features of the mysterious, endlessly cheeky mask that has become Chuyin’s signature. 

No one has ever seen Chuyin with the mask off, and no one knows who the real person behind it is. Yet that hasn’t stopped Chuyin from becoming one of the buzziest rising acts in música mexicana — in fact, it’s become part of his lore. Ever since Street Mob Records, the label helmed by Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz, signed him back in 2023, he’s broken through with his unique style — a blend of humor, danger, and impishness, set to traditional guitars. There’s endless speculation about who he really is on TikTok and Instagram; fans are constantly taking pictures of JOP out with his friends and wondering if one of the guys in his posse might be the enigmatic newcomer.

One thing is for sure: If someone is ever going to talk, it’s not going to be Chuyin. He takes the role seriously. In fact, throughout our entire interview, he stays in character, reminding me of the persona Chuyin inhabits: a reckless, alcohol-guzzling three-year-old troublemaking baby who just wants to have a good time. It’s part comedy bit, part performance art, and Chuyin never veers from the script.

In fact, his recent debut album is an even deeper commitment to the part. Titled Los Locos Nunca Mueren, the record includes 16 songs that capture Chuyin’s life of late-night thrills and risky debauchery. As a testament to the theatricality of it all, the album rollout included weeks of Chuyin posting about being stuck in rehab after partying too hard. He’d send dispatches from a giant white box, letting his fans know he was trapped there until the album release. He was technically still serving time when we spoke: “They let me out just for this interview,” he said with a laugh. “As soon as we’re done talking, I have to go back in.”

But while the entire concept could be dismissed as a giant gag, the music is genuinely good, shaped by Chuyin’s vocals and thought-out instrumentation. The collaborators list on Los Locos Nunca Mueren is full of música mexicana luminaries, including Luis R Conriquez, Oscar Maydon, and, of course, Fuerza Regida. “Pues Ya Ni Pedo” even features a Fuerza first: tololoche player Moisés López sings on a track for the first time.

And for Chuyin, it’s a chance to show that there’s more to his act than just the mask. It is a real performance, and he wants to be taken seriously as an artist. “This taught me to introduce myself to the world and show I’m not just one thing,” he says. “I think people see the mask and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is a fake artist, this is all fabricated.’ So this was my chance to show that I’m a songwriter, I’m an artist, and the music is real.”

Below, Chuyin breaks down five songs from the album and shares how they came together.

“Rehabilitado”

I thought of this song as an update for all my fans, like me saying, “This is what life is like lately.” The song is called “Rehabilitated,” but you learn in the first two lines of the song that I’ve been up to no good and I’m not rehabilitated at all. I thought it was important to start the album that way, to show that troublemaker side of Chuyin. This is also one of the very first songs I wrote for the album and I’ve had it for about a year and a half. When I started the creative process for the record, I started looking at all the things me and my songwriting partner had written and sent each other on WhatsApp. I scrolled up to the very top of our conversation and we had this song, though it originally had another name. I listened to it and I thought, “We definitely need this for the record.”

I’m constantly trying to write. We’ll play a show and then I’ll go back to the hotel and knock on the doors of my colleagues and friends who are songwriters and artists. I’ll go into their room with a guitar and be like, “A huevo, let’s write something.” [Laughs.] That’s why I have so much music, honestly. I’ll just drop in and bam, we start writing. 

“Casaditas”

This is kind of a continuation of “Rehabilitado” because once you listen to this, you realize Chuyin is still up to no good. He’s not rehabilitated; he’s still doing the same things as before. In this song, Chuyin declares his love for married women. He did this whole thing about going to rehab and changing, and then you find out he’s just as much of a troublemaker as he was before. He’s constantly following danger. He loves anything dangerous, anything forbidden, anything he’s not supposed to be doing. And later on on the album, you learn the consequences of what that leads to.

“Amanecido Y Regañado”

I remember writing this was such a good day. We had a big interview that day with [the content creator] Julio Ørozco, and me and my friend Jorsshh went and did the interview. It went well and right after, our friends were calling us like, “Hey, we’re all going to go out and party tonight!” And we were both like “Actually, no, we kind of want to stay back and write a little bit.” We started an idea and then before we knew it, we had two songs. One of those ended up being “Amanecido Y Regañado,” which has been a big standout from the album. The other one is “Mañoso,” which is a single I released before that has been doing really well. “So that day was just magic because we just wrote so much that ended up going on the album.

“Sana, Sana”

Something I really wanted to do with this album was to show all the different sides of Chuyin. It’s not just joking and smiles; there’s a sad side to Chuyin, there’s angry Chuyin. I really wanted to show how multi-faceted he is. This is a song I’d written with my compa [Jose Ignacio Hernandez] and once he started playing the guitar, it just came together very naturally. It plays on the Spanish saying, “sana sana colita de rana,” and it’s kind of a song saying, “You’re the problem and I’m moving on.” I liked it as something that would show people, “Oh, wow, this guy can be emotional, too.”

“Olvídate De Mí”

This one has kind of a similar vibe to “Sana, Sana,” but it’s angrier. It’s kind of like screaming at a wall like, “Forget about me, I’m never going to be good enough for you.” It’s like, “I’m the problem, so just move on.” In that song, the anger comes out, but it’s really like I’m mad at myself. In that song, I admit everything — I’m an alcoholic, I’m drinking all the time, night can’t come without me thinking of desmadre. Everything comes out. This is the angriest one, but on my next few albums, you’re going to see even more sides of Chuyin.

I told my team the other day that I already have the name of my next five albums. I already have the progression. Los Locos Nunca Mueren is the introduction, where I say, “I’m Chuyin.” Right now, I’m working on two, just thinking of different sounds and writing some new songs. But one step at a time. [Laughs.]