Natanael Cano hit a DJ, destroyed his laptop, and used a racial slur onstage at Baja Beach Fest early Monday morning. During his headlining performance, the corridos tumbados star attacked the DJ after alleged “numerous mistakes” during his set, a source tells Rolling Stone.
In several videos posted to social media, Cano could be seen physically attacking the DJ and saying, “Get out of the way, I came to sing here, dumbass… This asshole, I’m going to kick his ass. He hit me.” Later, Cano was captured grabbing what appeared to be the DJ’s laptop, taunted the crowd with destroying it, and then flung the device onto the stage platform before stomping on it multiple times, showing off its cracked screen.
“What’s happening? Stop that,” he said in a clip right before the altercation. “Son of a bitch. Fuck that shit, n—a. I’ll fuck him up and fire him.” Cano joked about stopping the music because he didn’t have whiskey in his hand. “Let’s see, motherfucker… fuck n—a, what the fuck.” In another clip, he’s captured repeating, “Fuck, n—a, what the fuck… Oh my god, n—a. Stop!”
A rep for the singer did not have any comment for Rolling Stone when reached about the usage of the racial slur onstage.
A source close to Cano tells Rolling Stone that there was an “ongoing issue” with the DJ throughout the set, and that the artist had flagged “numerous mistakes” throughout his performance before the incident. “He was vocalizing the issues before it drove him to escalate the situation,” the source tells Rolling Stone. “He hit a breaking point.”
In a public statement, Los CT, Cano’s label, addressed the situation, though it did not apologize for the singer’s actions. “On behalf of Los CT, we wish to clarify that neither the staff nor the production team of Baja Beach Festival had any involvement in the incident that occurred last night during Natanael Cano’s performance,” the statement read.
The situation with Cano came after a weekend of star-studded performances at the festival, including headlining sets from J Balvin, Don Omar, and Maluma. Young Miko, Anitta, Wisin, Myke Towers, Belssd, and Tito Double P also performed at the Rosarito Beach event. Baja Beach Fest did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment on the incident.