Why El Guincho’s Role on BTS’ ‘ARIRANG’ Matters More Than You Might Think

When BTS dropped the ARIRANG tracklist on March 4, most eyes went straight to the star-studded producer credits that include Diplo, Ryan Tedder, Kevin Parker and Mike WiLL Made-It. But tucked in the credits was a name that tells a different story: El Guincho, the Spanish producer who helped Rosalía turn flamenco into global pop currency.

Pablo Díaz-Reixa — better known as El Guincho — made his mark coproducing Rosalía’s 2018 album El Mal Querer, layering electronic percussion and minimalist synths over flamenco structures to create something that sounded rooted in tradition yet unmistakably modern. He’s since lent his ear to Björk, Charli xcx and BLACKPINK’s JENNIE on “Mantra.” His presence on an album named after Korea’s most beloved folk tradition is a pairing worth paying attention to.

BTS has flirted with Latin production before. j-hope and Becky G’s 2019 “Chicken Noodle Soup” blended Korean, English and Spanish over a Latin hip-hop bounce, proving the group could navigate multiple cultural touchpoints without losing its center. ARIRANG appears ready to push that experiment further.

The Latin American fanbase has already spoken volumes. Three Mexico City shows at Estadio GNP Seguros moved 150,000 tickets in 37 minutes during general sales, with approximately 1.1 million fans attempting to purchase tickets. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took the unprecedented step of writing a diplomatic letter to South Korean President Lee Jae-myung requesting additional dates.

That kind of demand doesn’t happen in a vacuum. HYBE has been building infrastructure through HYBE Latin America and Santos Bravos, a Latin boy group that debuted in October 2025 at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional after being formed through a K-pop-style development program. El Guincho’s presence on ARIRANG — on track No. 2, titled “Hooligan,” according to the tracklist’s reveal — reads less like a one-off collaboration and more like a calculated bridge between two massive music markets already sharing touring circuits and creative talent.

What “Hooligan” — produced alongside Fakeguido and Jasper Harris, actually sounds like remains under wraps as of this writing — but one might anticipate intricate percussion, unexpected textures and a willingness to let tradition and experimentation collide.