Peso Pluma presents the Executive of the Year award to his manager George Prajin at Billboard’s Latin Music Power Players 2024.
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00:00And so now it's time for our final award of the evening. I do invite you to stay after we give
00:06the awards, have fun. There's plenty of champagne and drinks and bites and this is a great opportunity
00:14for all of us to pasar rico and I hope to see all of you tomorrow and Wednesday at Latin Music Week
00:21and of course at the Billboard Latin Music Awards on Thursday. But before that, our nuestro plato
00:27the executive of the year. So this year's Latin executive of the year has been,
00:33I love giving this award to him because this is someone who has been working in the Latin
00:40music business I think since the day he was born. And you know he was born into an industry,
00:50a business, a family business inside the industry. He's been devoted to it in different ways
00:55but the last year has been phenomenal for him and for Mexican music thanks to him and thanks
01:02to his client Peso Pluma who has really paved the way for the explosion of musica mexicana.
01:10So tonight to honor George Brahim como ejecutivo del año
01:18I would like to invite Mr. Peso Pluma
01:25to come up to the stage.
01:56Well, I would like to thank you George, where are you? Why can't I see you? George,
02:04well I want to thank you for everything you've done for me, not just for me, for my family,
02:11for the whole band, for everything you've done for everyone and each one of us.
02:17The talent and the sacrifice that we put in is one thing,
02:24and all the doors that you have opened for us and all the things that you have done
02:29so that we can have an opportunity to show ourselves as great people in front of other
02:36exponents of music and industry has been very important not only for me and for you as a
02:43person but for a whole country, for a whole generation, and I just want to thank you for
02:51so much, for everything you have given me. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be where I am
02:56right now. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have the things that I would have right now,
03:00and if it hadn't been for you, many of these things that are happening to us together
03:05would not have happened. And I want to let everyone here in this room know that
03:12George, I told you yesterday in confidence, it's hard, I get nervous here with you,
03:22and I don't get nervous when I'm in front of 20,000, 15,000 people, I understand,
03:28it's hard not to lose your voice when these things happen, but today it's about you,
03:36today I want to congratulate you for everything you have achieved in your career as a professional,
03:41not only in music, as a lawyer, as a person, you are a great human being, you are the person
03:47who is the best person who has crossed my path and in my life,
03:52you have helped me make the best financial, work, personal decisions,
03:58and I told you yesterday in confidence that I had like three dads in my life,
04:05and one of them is him, and you will always be, George, I love you like my father,
04:11and you will always be. Thank you very much Leila for giving me the space, for giving me the time to
04:16be able to say the words, I am not a person who navigates a script, I say what I feel
04:23and what comes out of my heart at the moment, and I just want to say congratulations George,
04:30and thank you, you are the executive of the year.
04:33Thank you Hassan, I tried to promise myself I wasn't going to cry, but how can you not?
05:02Hassan, you're more than just a singer, songwriter, musician, performer, producer, A&R,
05:10you elevated regional Mexican to the global stage, and in doing so, you changed many lives,
05:16including mine. I want to thank you for allowing me to share in your spotlight,
05:23I've realized dreams that I thought that I was never going to realize, and I stand here today
05:28because of you, and I accept this award today with you, we did this together.
05:43Now they told me that I had to fill like 15 minutes, so I have just reminders,
05:52I can take as long as I want, I like that.
05:59I also want to thank Herminio Morales, Herminio Morales signed Hassan in 2019,
06:07and in 2021 he came to me and he asked me if I could help with the project,
06:11and I said of course, but we're going to do this together, and we did do this together,
06:16and I stand here up here also celebrating and accepting this award with you Herminio,
06:21I'm blessed to have you in my life.
06:23You know, we're very fortunate, Hassan, you've been, WP Records is killing it with you as its
06:29CEO and A&R, we're fortunate to have many artists that are also climbing the charts,
06:35and finally giving regional Mexican music and the genre the attention it deserves.
06:41It's always been a genre that has been one of the most profitable genres,
06:45but often overlooked, and I've spent my whole life trying to find a way to do that,
06:50and I've spent my whole life working in the genre, and I'm finally,
06:55I'm very proud to be here today receiving this award on behalf of the genre, and also
07:01on behalf of working with the artists that finally
07:04erased the word regional from the genre and put Música Mexicana on a global stage.
07:11I want to thank our artists at WP Records, Tito WP, Hacia Núñez,
07:17Tarellas, Santa Fe Clan, Código Efendi, and Dioro, I thank you for your trust,
07:24and every promise that we make to an artist we take as our utmost priority, and we are going to
07:31make sure that we always have the team around us that gives us the best ability to fulfill
07:36those promises, and every music executive is only as good as his team.
07:40Arminio, Hassan, and myself are very blessed to have one of the best teams in the business.
07:47I want to thank Max Perez, Max, your right hand man, no one has his work ethic,
07:56he's the only one awake at three o'clock in the morning no matter what time zone,
07:59because I don't sleep, so I can always call him. Max, thank you for your dedication,
08:04your loyalty, and your commitment, you have donated and donated to the
08:08you have donated and devoted your time to me and to Hassan, and I want to thank you.
08:14I know it's hard being away from your loved ones and relocating yourself cross-country,
08:22but it doesn't go without gratitude, and we're forever grateful to you, Max, thank you.
08:31I want to thank Anthony Lopez, you've been by my side for 25 years,
08:37you supported me and protected me, when the music business collapsed,
08:46and I had to reinvent myself, you invited me to practice law with you,
08:51and as such I was able to stay close to music, and Tony, you're not just a mentor,
08:56you're not just a friend, you're not just a lawyer, you're my family, and I love you.
09:01Ernesto Fernandez, producer of the year, Ernesto, you've also been by my side for 25 years,
09:10you never doubted me all those late nights in the studios, you never doubted my crazy ideas,
09:16we worked very hard, and I'm proud of you, you were the highest charting producer this year
09:23on the billboard charts, and regardless of what happens on Thursday,
09:27you're my producer of the lifetime, and I want to thank Angie and Andy as well,
09:34all those sleepless nights, you guys are just as important to the team as anyone else, and
09:38I appreciate you, and I love you as well. Elina, thank you for always making us look good,
09:47I know it's hard sometimes, but we're very blessed to have you, and I love you,
09:54and I know it's hard sometimes, but we're very blessed to have the best publicist in the business
10:00working side by us, and thank you. I want to thank all the staff at Praheen and
10:10Double P Records, I want to thank Richard Bull, you've been with me from the beginning, no bull,
10:17you've always had my back, Bunny Garcia, you were also one of our first employees, my little sister,
10:27I want to thank you for always having my back, I want to thank Baron, Antonio,
10:32Cindy, Sophia, head of label services for helping to steer the ship, thank you, Eric,
10:41new to the team, but I expect a lot of him, and the rest of the staff, I want to thank Charlie,
10:47I want to thank Vico, I want to thank Maxi Milano, I want to thank Chivo, I want to thank Scott for
10:54being with me everywhere, I want to thank Brandon Jones as well for always having our back and
10:58making sure Hassan is safe, and Ruby, thank you very much for everything, for the trust,
11:08you've always given us the opportunity to achieve the things we've done together,
11:14and I'm very proud, not only of your son, but also of you, and thank you very much.
11:20I want to thank The Orchard, the best partner any record label could have, Jason Pascal, you've been
11:29supportive of me from the start, you've had my back, and I'm always going to be grateful to you,
11:34and Brad, and Claudia, Orchard is, I wouldn't have it any other way, thank you, Orchard, for everything,
11:43I wouldn't have it any other way, thank you, Orchard, for everything,
11:47thank you, Rob Stringer, for believing in what we're doing,
11:51thank you, Rossi, and thank you, Walter Mosley, and thank you, Karen, for protecting us,
11:56and making it so I don't have to practice law anymore, thankfully, it's not just about me,
12:04it's about us, I stand up here today because of the labor and sacrifices of our team,
12:11and their loved ones, it's not easy relocating across country, nor being away from the people
12:18that you love the most, I see your sacrifice, and I'm forever grateful to all of you,
12:26speaking of sacrifice, Samantha, no one has sacrificed more than you,
12:32you have shared me with artists and athletes for the past 20 years,
12:36you have supported me every time I reinvented myself,
12:41you have been my eyes when I couldn't see, even when I didn't want to believe it,
12:46you were always right, and I stand up here because of you, and I share this award with you as well,
12:53and I will, there's a lyric from a song that I wasn't sure I was going to quote it, but
13:01loving a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be, but girl, you stand by me,
13:06so I'm forever yours, faithfully.
13:19Thank you, Layla and Billboard, for the amazing award, and the amazing recognition,
13:26when you called me, I couldn't believe it, I thought you called the wrong number,
13:29I was still, I was mentioning to somebody earlier, I think they just got my name wrong,
13:33but until I get this reward and I leave, you guys can figure it out later,
13:38I want to thank Live Nation, I want to thank the player, power player, Jorge Garcia,
13:44Michael Rapinoe, Hans, I want to thank Paul Tellett for also making Hassan the highest
13:52debuting Latin artist at Coachella, and power players, I want to thank a lot of you in this
13:58room have been instrumental in the success of this project, Freddie Becerra,
14:06Luis Enriquez was on top, you didn't have to do the collab with us, but you did,
14:10and I will be forever grateful, not only did you do it, but you did it on more than fair terms,
14:15and it just shows the type of person you are, and the type of company you run,
14:19and I'm proud of you as well, and congratulations on being a power player,
14:23I want to also thank Nir the Great, congratulations on your award,
14:29Nir's one of the guys I respect most in the industry, I want to thank Jimmy Omilde,
14:35Rancho Omilde paved the way, and I think he deserves recognition, I want to thank
14:41Chema with the cool mustache, Chema's always been supportive from the beginning,
14:50and I want to thank you as well Chema, I'm sorry if I missed anybody, I want to thank Ben and Becky
14:59G, they invited us to Coachella for the first time, and that opened a lot of doors, I want to
15:04thank Dell Records for Ella Baila Sola, and in closing, what I'm most proud of in receiving this
15:16award today, is that we finally put regional Mexican music on the map, and I always don't
15:26know whether I should call it regional Mexican or Musica Mexicana, because as I said earlier,
15:30we finally deleted the word regional from the genre, but I'm most proud because I've
15:36lived and bled this genre my whole life, and I've seen it overlooked many many times,
15:42and it finally feels good to be in a position where they cannot
15:46overlook us anymore, and it's thanks to an ambassador by the name of Peso Pluma,
15:52and I want to end by all the power players in here, I share this award with you as well,
15:58as Rebecca meant, we're a community, collaborations are one of our biggest marketing tools in today's
16:05digital world, and I want to thank everybody that's been a part of the project, and all of
16:10you that I hope to do business with, and collaborate with also in the future, thank you very much.