The Mexican indie pop band Latin Mafia, formed by the brothers Milton, Emilio, and Mike de la Rosa, is continuing to enjoy a remarkable year defined by boundary-pushing artistic collaborations and widespread commercial success. Hailing from Monterrey, the trio has consistently carved out a distinct space within the contemporary Latin music landscape by blending emotional transparency with genre-bending production.

The momentum began to build in earnest in December 2025, when the group surprised their devoted fanbase by releasing a documentary on YouTube in collaboration with renowned British producer Fred again.. The visual project offered audiences a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the musicians’ creative process, laying the groundwork for a partnership that would soon yield extraordinary fruit. Months later, in 2026, that collaboration reached new heights with the release of the eagerly anticipated joint album, 9 Months & 50 Hours.

Released on July 31 through Fred again.., Atlantic Records, and AG Records, the 14-track set arrived following a high-profile, 50-hour livestream of the creative process broadcast live from Lago Algo in Chapultepec Forest, Mexico City. The ambitious project resonated instantly with listeners and critics alike, debuting at No. 1 on the Top Latin Pop Albums chart. Furthermore, the album landed at No. 8 on the Top Latin Albums chart and No. 9 on the Top Dance Albums chart, while several standout tracks successfully infiltrated the Hot Latin Pop Songs chart.

Reflecting on the milestone and the whirlwind period that preceded it, Milton shares his perspective on the band’s trajectory with Billboard. “I’m eager to see what’s in store for us, what’s going to happen next… what’s coming after this. I’m excited and really looking forward to the upcoming season,” he says. His brother, Mike, echoes the sentiment, noting the profound personal shifts accompanying their professional growth: “I feel like this is a moment of transition. We’re experiencing so many changes, and honestly, I’m feeling a lot.”

What ultimately set the collaboration with Fred again.. apart from conventional album rollouts was not just the resulting music, but the grueling and immersive three-day livestream where the band composed, recorded, and lived out their artistic process directly in front of an audience. The concept emerged entirely spontaneously during a dinner gathering in Mexico involving the members of Latin Mafia and Lucy Hickling, Fred again..’s creative director. Amid casual conversations and creative brainstorming, Hickling began taking detailed notes, and within weeks, the ambitious live studio experiment was fully underway.

“We wanted people to see that the entire creative process is exhausting, slow, and complicated,” Milton explains, shedding light on the decision to strip away the usual mystique surrounding studio recordings.

When artists choose to bare their vulnerability publicly, audiences often connect on a much deeper, more personal level, treating that honesty as a mirror that reflects their own shared emotions and life experiences. For Latin Mafia, this dynamic is already familiar. “It happened to us when we released our previous album, Todos Los Días Todo El Día,” Milton adds. “It was like exposure therapy. We were talking about very personal topics, things close to us, and when we released it, we felt like the audience was seeing parts of us that we had never shown before.”

For the Monterrey-based sibling trio, the creation of 9 Months & 50 Hours proved to be an intense and deeply cathartic experience, solidifying their status as compelling voices in modern alternative and Latin pop.

Why Latin Mafia Is Our Latin Artist on the Rise

In an increasingly crowded global music market where many artists opt for safe, conventional pathways to commercial appeal, Latin Mafia has deliberately chosen to open up, experiment continuously, and lean entirely into their boundless creativity. By doing so, they have not only pioneered a fresh sound within Latin music but have also established a safe musical sanctuary for complex human emotions, where raw vulnerability and emotional flow remain paramount to forging genuine connections with listeners.

“In an era where everyone wants to be cool, everyone wants to be nonchalant—stress-free—the most important thing is to be genuine,” Milton reflects. “You have to give credit to what you feel.”

That steadfast commitment to authenticity directly influences how the brothers navigate and process their own internal emotional landscapes. “We don’t really know how to regulate them; we just let them out,” they share candidly. While Milton notes that he generally finds it easy to articulate what is on his mind, he admits that the true challenge inevitably arrives afterward, precisely when the finished music finally reaches the ears of the public.

The Best Songs to Start With

“Julietota”

Serving as a direct continuation of their viral hit “Julieta,” “Julietota” takes listeners on a familiar sonic journey before introducing a completely unexpected narrative twist. During the final thirty seconds, the track surprises its audience with a playful structural shift that leaves listeners thoroughly intrigued and captivated. By expanding the narrative framework of its predecessor in a fresh and original manner, the song pays homage to an empowered woman who embodies the full, commanding strength of modern femininity, perfectly hinted at by its augmentation of the original name.

“Patadas de ahogado” featuring Humbe

Inspired by a popular Spanish idiom that vividly describes the desperate final flailings of someone trying to stay afloat while drowning, this powerful collaboration between Latin Mafia and fellow artist Humbe is emotionally resonant. Throughout the track, both musical acts lean entirely into their vulnerability, delivering a deeply moving performance that can easily be interpreted as the frantic, exhausting effort required to save a fractured romantic relationship from sinking entirely.

“Te estoy correteando” featuring Fred again..

As the standout hit driving their impressive entries on the Billboard charts, “Te estoy correteando” made a massive splash by debuting at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Pop Songs chart, pulling in an impressive 1.5 million official streams during its first week of release. Characterized as a playful cumbia infused with subtle electronic textures, the song was born from a spirit of total creative freedom, originating initially as a fun, spontaneous experiment before the group decided to share it with Fred again… The infectious track also achieved high chart placements, reaching No. 2 on Hot Tropical Songs, No. 7 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, and No. 13 on the overall Hot Latin Songs chart.

What’s Next for Latin Mafia?

Looking ahead, Latin Mafia is gearing up to return to the prestigious Camp Flog Gnaw festival at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, widely recognized as one of the most influential cultural hubs for alternative music. “Technically, it’s the second time we’ve kind of showcased this project we did with Fred live, but it is the first time we’re going to perform a different show after almost two years,” Mike notes regarding their upcoming live itinerary.

Simultaneously, Milton hints at the dawn of an entirely new era for the group. “I don’t want to jump the gun, but soon, maybe even a tour as part of a transitional phase toward what’s next. More creative periods are coming because we’re currently in a camp creating, making more music, more things in general,” he reveals. “The magazine is also coming, so there are definitely very exciting things ahead.”

The publication Milton references is GAD—an abbreviation for “Gracias a Dios”—a print project for which the band has already issued an initial volume. The publication serves as a tangible extension of their distinct visual aesthetic, offering fans an intimate look at the imagery and moments that inspire them.

“It’s a photo book magazine of everything that happened during that year, year and a half while we were creating the album [Todos Los Días Todo El Día],” Milton explains, elaborating on the multidisciplinary nature of the project. “It’s like photos of everything, because it’s a magazine format where many media are mixed—film, digital, even phone photos. The idea is for it to be a collection of everything that happened. And it’s a magazine we really wanted to make because it’s also a project we want to take in different directions. The idea behind the name is that we truly believe you can thank God for everything, even for the simplest things.”