Xavi

Xavi Biography by Thom Jurek My Mom's Playlist Xavi is a singer-songwriter from Arizona. He performs in a style of his own creation he calls "tumbado romantico." As evidenced by his singles, his original songs umbrella cultural influences including corrido norteño, ranchera, cumbia, and mariachi bonded to North American folk, pop, and more. He independently released half-a-dozen singles and videos before being signed to Interscope in 2021. His label debut, "Me Aguanto," was released in December, followed by a single nearly every month -- nine appeared in 2022. His streaming popularity only increased, and he garnered press attention, too. In 2023, he kept up the singles barrage. In May he issued My Mom's Playlist, a seven-song EP that won universal praise. August's "La Victima" peaked at number ten on the Hot Latin Songs chart and racked up close to 100 million streams, while follow-up "Poco a Poco" with Los Dareyes De Sierra performed similarly. In December, Xavi wove together ranchera, bolero, and mariachi on "La Diabla." Xavi was born Joshua Xavier Gutierrez in Arizona on New Year's Day in 2005. His parents had moved there three years earlier, and they raised Xavi there. Influenced by radio, social media, and YouTube videos, he began teaching himself to play guitar at ten. He wrote his first songs at 12, and by age 15 he was posting videos to YouTube and songs to streaming services. Interscope and other labels began paying attention as streaming quantities for audio and video, and posts and shares on social media -- particularly Tik Tok -- increased dramatically. Interscope signed Xavi in 2021 after the single "Amigos con Derecho" went viral. His first Interscope single, "Me Aguanto," appeared in December and got positive attention from critics. Xavi responded in January 2022 with "Y Tu," whose streams numbered almost a million. He issued roughly a single a month. April's "Quiero Contarte" reached over two million streams and set the pace for the remainder of 2022. Singles including "Kilometros," "Loko," and "Zero Sentimentos" all went well over a million, with the latter being streamed over two million times. Xavi kicked off 2023 with the glorious ballad "Aqui Estoy." It reached the Hot Latin Songs chart with over five million streams. In February, "Solo Recuerdos" was delivered in collaboration with Los Aptos. In April, Xavi switched it up with the seven-song My Mom's Playlist -- a series of covers of popular and even iconic Latin songs modern and traditional. "Sin Pagar Renta" also hit streaming charts, while the jazzy mariachi single "La Victima" landed at number eight on the Mexican pop charts. "Poco a Poco," a collaboration with Latin Grammy nominees Los Dareyes De La Sierra, hit the Top 20 in Mexico and charted across Latin America. He and corridos tumbados singer-songwriter Tony Aguirre issued "Mondo DND" in October. In December, "La Victima" was resurrected on social media and re-released. It became Xavi's first Top Ten hit on Hot Latin Songs and at Latin Streaming Songs. November's "La Diabla" peaked at number three in Mexico and charted in four additional countries.