TikTok’s top artist Yeri Mua gets real on immigration, Bellakath beef

Inside Santa Ana’s Yost Theater last Saturday night, the thick bass of gritty reggaeton beats turned the crowd into one sweaty, shimmering mass of limbs. Twerking at the center of the action was Yeri Mua: a fiery, red-haired Mexican woman holding court in a sparkling, skin-tight dress. After becoming the No. 1 global artist on TikTok — outperforming American superstars like Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish in total number of views on the platform — Mua took center stage at the Yost with a power stance, ready to win over the United States.

“Reggaeton mexa is what opened the doors for me to [enter] the world of music,” she says. “It’s allowed me to continue connecting with my people. We call it ‘reggaeton mexa’ because it’s reggaeton that’s hecho en México.”

In the past decade, reggaeton has migrated from its spiritual home in Puerto Rico to Colombia, where the genre helped launch the careers of superstars like J Balvin, Maluma, Karol G and Feid. Mexico has since become a new hotbed for the genre; although dominated by men, it was initially a woman, Bellakath, who first brought global recognition to the Mexican scene with her viral 2022 hit, “Gatita.” Since making the jump from beauty influencer to reggaeton mexa baddie, 23-year-old Mua is now running the scene.

Born Yeri Cruz Varela in Veracruz, Mexico, the singer has become known for her Bratz-doll-inspired aesthetic and unfiltered approach to topics like her sex life, plastic surgeries and past beef with reggaeton mexa trailblazer Bellakath. Having counted over 26.4 million followers on TikTok last December, Mua was ranked by the social media platform as its No. 1 artist in 2024.

Yet given the accelerating deportations of Latino immigrants under President Trump, Mua has opened up about a far more serious topic: her own deportation. At 13, Mua and her parents were deported at the border, after trying to re-enter the U.S. with expired tourist visas.

“When you get deported, you feel like you don’t have any rights,” she recalls. “I was 13 years old, but they treated me as if I were an adult. They gave us a kick in the ass and said, ‘Don’t come back here ever again.’”

Ten years later, Mua is headlining her own “Traka Tour” across the U.S. and Mexico. She worked a double shift last Saturday night — first, by appearing as a special guest at Luis R. Conriquez’s concert at the Kia Forum, then speeding to Santa Ana for her own show, as part of the Reggaetonlandia Latin party series. During her 45-minute set, she powered through hits like the sexy “Linea Del Perreo,” the freaky “Brattiputty” and “Traka,” a diss track to her legion of haters. “Estoy coronando y ustedes llorando,” she taunted in Spanish, in a verse that translates to “I’m rising to the top while you’re all crying.”

Mua puffed from a marijuana pen that was passed to her from the audience, who also showered her with dollar bills. (She later used them to wipe the sweat off her forehead.) She also teased her catty upcoming single “Él No Es Tuyo” — set for release in early March, the song notably features her former rival, Bellakath. De Los caught up with Mua backstage, minutes after her show, to dish on her life and her career.

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How do you feel to be back in the U.S. and headlining your own tour across the country?
This is the second time I’m touring the U.S. It’s an honor to be here with my Latino community, especially at this moment in time, because now more than ever we need more visibility, support, and unity among us. I’m loving being here and I love California!

Why do you think that millions of people are connecting with you on TikTok?
I believe people connect with me because I’m authentic. I always show all the sides to myself, whether it’s pretty or ugly, or that could scare people, or that they might not like. I’m never afraid to be myself and say what I’m thinking. That’s something that a lot of people won’t like, but I think the majority of them can relate to what I’m saying.

As you were saying about this moment where many Latino immigrants in the U.S. are being deported, why was it important for you to speak out about this topic on social media?
I believe a lot of Mexicans that don’t live in the U.S. think that what’s happening to our community here doesn’t affect us, but it’s definitely going to hurt many people, including us and our economy. How things work in Mexico are going to change if we keep ignoring this. We simply can’t ignore that our Mexican brothers and sisters are suffering, they’re being labeled as criminals, and being treated in the worst ways. I believe it’s not fair. I feel like I have a responsibility to bring visibility to this issue.

It’s something I can’t ignore because I’ve experienced being deported myself and the way they treat you and talk to you, so that you feel dehumanized. You feel like trash that doesn’t belong in another country because of where you come from. I’m always going to talk about what makes people unconformable. If I believe something is important and unjust, I’m going to talk about it.

How do you want the world to see Mexican immigrants?
I want everyone to see that Mexican immigrants are not only good for cleaning, because that’s what they always say. We’re not only good for cleaning or bricklaying. We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of ways to entertain people. We can also appear on music charts, we can break records, and break down barriers. We can also win awards. America is not just the United States. America is this whole continent. It’s time for people to open their eyes. I want the world to see that us Mexicans are very talented.

Yeri Mua performs Saturday at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana.

(Sarahi Apaez / For De Los)

There’s a lot of men in the reggaeton mexa scene. What does it mean for you to represent the perspective of women in that space?
Men are always talking about women in the ways that they want to and no one says anything, so why can’t we do the same thing with them? It’s very difficult because I’m judged a lot for being vulgar or people say that I only talk about sex. I’m doing the work to be more a part of my lyrics. Before, it was my male friends writing my lyrics. Now that I’m writing more of my music, I’m giving it a touch of empowerment and that feeling de chava (girly). I’m talking about things that could happen to any woman. My lyrics aren’t as sexist now because I’m writing them. Now that I’m taking this more seriously, I’m doing the work to express myself freely while also showing love for myself.

How would you describe the experience of burying the beef with Bellakath for your next single “Él No Es Tuyo”?
It was time. I could no longer take that fight with her to heart because at any moment, we were going to bump into each other. On top of that, she’s my colleague and we’re in the same genre. It had to come to an end and both reached a mutual agreement with each other. Now we’re putting the song “Él No Es Tuyo” together, which comes out next month.

El Malilla, your collaborator on “Avión Privado” and the “G Low Kitty” remix, is going to perform at Coachella in April. Is there a chance that you could appear as a guest during his set?
I’ve already told El Malilla to invite me to Coachella. I hope so. I believe it’s very probable that will happen. I would love that. My dreams are to sing on even bigger stages in the U.S. and with artists from here like Ice Spice, Doja Cat and Kali Uchis. They’re artists I share a lot of the same musical tastes with and I believe we could be a very good match and do interesting things together.

You were recently spotted in L.A. with American rapper Rich the Kid. Will he be a part of your debut album? What can we expect?
We have some songs that we recorded together in the studio. We got along very well. He’s very chill. It’s my second collaboration that I have with an artist from the U.S. I also have another one with Yung Gravy, who is also very lovely. Notice how I’m now mixing my style of music with the style of music from the U.S.

This album will have perreo. There’s also going to be what I call reggaeton pop. There’s going to be a lot of songs that women can relate to. I’ve been thinking a lot about the situations in my life as well as those of my girlfriends. They’re songs for my female fans. It’s something I’m making with all of my heart for them.