El Fantasma Named One of SoundExchange’s Top 20 Breakout Stars on Digital Radio

El Fantasma is breaking out in a big way…

The 27-year-old Mexican rising star, whose real name is Alexander García, has been honored by SoundExchange as one of digital radio’s top 20 breakout artists of 2017.

El Fantasma

El Fantasma placed seventh on the list — the top Latin artist in the tally — behind Julia Michaels and Harry Styles and ahead of Noah Cyrus and Bad Bunny.

“We’re not celebrating yet. We’re looking ahead,” said a smiling El Fantasma, whose nickname comes from his fair complexion.

El Fantasma was feted by SoundExchange’s Matthew Limones at a private luncheon in Las Vegas two days before the Latin Grammy awards, where he’s nominated for his first Latin Grammy in the Best Banda album category for En El Camino.

SoundExchange’s honors are based on play on outlets like Pandora, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio and Music Choice.

This week, El Fantasma also placed his fifth single on the Top 10 of Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart.

Despite the power of reggaetón and urban music, Regional Mexican continues to be a driving force in digital radio, said Limones, noting that Christian Nodal also made the Top 20 list, at No 17.

As for El Fantasma, he’s continuing to break the mold with music that’s strongly tied to his roots and which has cross-generational appeal.

“I like to film all my videos in Durango de la Sierra,” he says, referring to his birth town. “I don’t like to show mansions or stuff like that. My corridos talk about people who wake up to drink coffee in the morning, who work the fields. Everybody deserves their own corrido.”