L.A.’s song of the summer could be this viral regional Mexican jam about getting hammered

After the yearlong pandemic deferred an infinite number of house parties and backyard kickbacks, the now-plummeting rates of coronavirus infections (and soaring rates of vaccinations) promise a Hot Girl Summer soon to come. But first, regional Mexican star Christian Nodal and San Luis Potosí rapper Gera MX lead a Sad Boy Spring pregame with their weepy new single, “Botella Tras Botella� (Bottle After Bottle), a song dedicated to the age-old tradition of drinking a breakup away.

“Bottle after bottle / I’m drinking to forget about her,� sings Nodal in Spanish. “My friends are well fed up / They tell me ‘Güey, you have to get over it’ / But I can’t!�

×

Released last Thursday, “Botella Tras Botella� is a yeehaw-worthy ranchera pop ballad with a beat — and it’s been spreading like wildfire from Mexico to Los Angeles. The song topped Spotify’s Global 50 chart, has over 50 million views on YouTube and ascended to No. 4 on Apple Music’s “Top 25: Los Angeles� chart — a new chart dedicated to the listening patterns of Angelenos. Not surprisingly, it’s gone viral on TikTok, where users are sharing Gera MX’s lines with boozy beverages in hand: “If you love someone, don’t let her go, so you don’t have to dedicate a song like this to her,� he raps.

Written and produced by Grammy-winning songwriter Edgar Barrera and up-and-comer Jay Rick, the song’s success is actually somewhat of a fluke. Nodal first teased a clip while playing video games on the popular livestream platform Twitch but had no intention of releasing it just yet. “Someone took that part [and] put it on TikTok,� Nodal said in a statement. “It had an impact that neither [Gera MX] nor I had planned.�

Nodal is no newcomer to the charts. Since the 2017 release of his debut single, “Adiós Amor,� the 22-year-old Latin Grammy winner has been a fixture on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart, where he has claimed the most No. 1 songs of any solo artist ever.

Nodal most recently landed the No. 1 spot with “Duele,� his collaboration with regional Mexican music royalty Alejandro Fernández, which was released last week. Nodal will serve as Fernández’s opening act on his upcoming fall tour, which includes a stop at the Forum on Oct. 22.