To Xavi, the hardest part about being a musician is being patient.
Having forged his career in música mexicana, off impassioned tales of young love and heartbreak, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter said inspiration comes easily — allowing him to churn out up to 10 full-length songs on a “good day.”
But as soon as he finishes a chord progression or polishes his lyrics, he has to actively fight the generational urge to share it with the world immediately.
“Every time I make something, I want it to drop tomorrow,” the singer said. “But it’s five months of process and so much waiting.”
Born Joshua Xavier Gutiérrez in Phoenix, Xavi released his second album, “Dosis,” in May. Announced just last week, the project earned him his first Latin Grammy nominations — one for contemporary Mexican music album, the other for regional song, which he earned with his single “No Capea” featuring Grupo Frontera.
“To see Dosis and ‘No Capea’ celebrated alongside artists I admire is a dream come true,” said Xavi. “I dedicate these nominations to my grandfather, who first introduced me to music — making him proud means everything.”
A few weeks after the album’s release, the singer told De Los that he felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders, as he sat on the balcony of his high-rise apartment in downtown L.A. At the time, he was fresh off a plane from Mexico, where he performed at arenas around the country on his latest “X” tour.
In his usual soft-spoken manner, he explained that he had initially started working on his sophomore album a little over a year before its release. The 19-track record is a stark departure from his first album, “Next,”which cemented his role as one of música mexicana’s rising teen heartthrobs — alongside the likes of DannyLuxand Ivan Cornejo.
The breakout success of singles like “La Diabla” and “La Victima” first helped Xavi find his stride in romantic tumbados, anchored by a keen requinto. But the singer said he wanted “Dosis” to be different — he wanted it to show not only that he, as a person, has matured, but also that his sound has evolved.
“It’s been a long year of straight work,” Xavi said. “Everything that we’ve done in this album has been an adventure and experience that has molded me into who I am today.”
Dressed in a camouflage bomber jacket, his eyes continued to linger on the magnified view of the downtown skyline as he spoke. He explained that, right after he released “Next,” he started working with more artists on features. With this large quantity of collaborations in his hands, he made it a priority to spotlight these tracks on “Dosis.” The tracklist features some of Latin music’s biggest names, like Fuerza Regida, Carin León, Gabito Ballesteros and Neton Vega.
In these sessions, he said he discovered a new side of himself.
“I didn’t feel like that same kid anymore,” Xavi explained. He took this fresh perspective and ran with it — welcoming in a new array of Latin sounds to experiment with, all while keeping his roots in música mexicana firm.
On “En Privado,” he revels in the tropical bachata-forward beat with Manuel Turizo. Traditional elements of both bachata and música mexicana appear, as the duo touts their luxurious lifestyles over a lisping guiro and a rousing trumpet.
Alongside Kapo on “Bien Pedos,” Xavi tests the waters with a pop-reggaeton track — in which Kapo’s raspy vocals bring an edge to Xavi’s distinct sonorous vocal style. Even within the bounds of música mexicana, he and León put their own contemporary spin on a huapango with “La Morrita,” where the pair sings about Alo Yoga sets and Instagram shout-outs over a peppy accordion.
There are even a few moments on the album, like on “De Salida,” where Xavi breaks out into pop balladry. Sprinkled between the solemn piano chords, his signature requinto melodies punctuate the verses and make way for the singer to ease into a more relaxed vocal tone.
In the process of experimentation, Xavi said, he realized the goal of his latest album was to “go worldwide” and break down “barriers between genres.”
He even tests his mettle by singing fully in English on “Find Us Again,” which is driven by a melancholic, country-music twang and a typical pop-rock crescendo.
The singer said he was in a Miami hotel while writing the song, strumming his guitar and admiring the coastal view. But when he opened his mouth and English lyrics started to spill out, he was completely dumbfounded.
That moment, he said, was both vulnerable and exploratory, in a way he hoped “Dosis” would capture.
“There’s the tumbado Xavi, the romantic Xavi, the Xavi who sings in English, música mexicana Xavi,” he said.
But across all these iterations of Xavi, one thing remains the same — his commitment to chronicling relationships. Most of the young singer’s discography deals with some form of love. On “Neptuno,” his heart is shattered after a relationship didn’t work out; while on the title track, he details an evergreen love in which a couple keeps finding their way back to each other.
The entire album is heavy with the constant push-and-pull of adolescent (and occasionally toxic) romance.
“I always go back to the moment where I feel alive the most,” Xavi said. “That’s when I can speak from my soul. And when I’m writing, I like to go back to that moment and base everything on that feeling.”
Whether he’s thinking about a song he wrote at 16, or one he wrote just yesterday, he said that he’s happy to have started writing so young — as it allows him to instantly relive all those early memories and feelings. To him, his albums live on as a scrapbook of sorts, archiving nearly all his moments of passion and heartbreak.
“Nothing’s ever gonna go back to how it was,” he said, with a nostalgic grin. “It’s about keeping things alive through song.”
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