"Last Breath" (stylized in all caps) is a song by American rapper Kanye West featuring Mexican rapper Peso Pluma from the former's twelfth studio album, Bully (2026). It was released on March 28, 2026, through YZY and Gamma. The song was initially released as a promotional single in June 2025 without vocals from Pluma. West produced the song alongside Sheffmade, who both wrote it with Pluma, Ty Dolla Sign, Rafael "Fai" Bautista, and Anthony Garcia; Mongo Santamaría received credits for the track's interpolation of "Besamé Mama", while Nakamura Takahiro was credited for the sampling of "Legado".
A bilingual Spanish-English song with a salsa-influenced sound, the track is noted for its substantial Mexican influences reflected in its sound. The track came following a series of previews and an ongoing professional relationship between West and Pluma. Upon its release, the song received mixed reviews from critics and was acknowledged for its fusion of hip-hop and corridos tumbados. Commercially, "Last Breath" debuted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ultimately peaked at number 5 on the US Hot Latin Songs chart, marking West's first top 10 placement in the category.
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Background and promotion
In a 2024 interview with Complex, Peso Pluma cited Kanye West as one of the artists whose music helped him develop his English. West maintained a prolonged musical association with Pluma since their 2024 collaboration on Rich the Kid's "Gimme A Second 2." Pluma was featured on the deluxe edition of ¥$'s second studio album, Vultures 2 (2024), on the song "Drunk."
"Last Breath" was first premiered alongside several other songs from Bully at a private, post-Grammy Awards event, hosted by West in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025. It was also included in Bully V1, the short film that accompanied demo versions of the album. The song's title was unknown at the time, with Billboard describing it as an "untitled song [where] West sings in Spanish over a mariachi-like backing track." The song was later shared on West's Twitter account in late March 2025, featuring the addition of Pluma's chorus and verse.
Composition and lyrics
The song blends Spanish and English lyrics, incorporating a layered salsa loop with an interpolation of Poncho Sánchez's 1996 song "Bésame Mama" and a sample of "Legado" by Nakamura Takahiro. In the Bully V1, single, and physical release versions of the song, "Bésame Mama" is directly sampled rather than interpolated. Lyrically, the two explore themes of heartbreak, a trope popular with Mexican music.
El Heraldo de México described the track's rhythmic base as reminiscent of tropical music, noting its trumpets and percussion along with West's exchanging of Spanish and English. It further highlights the track's bass structure, its rap verses, and Peso Pluma's deep vocal performance. According to Infobae, Pluma's rapping incorporates stylistic elements characteristic of the corridos tumbados sound. CNN en Español similarly described its blend of hip-hop and corridos tumbados.
Release
"Last Breath" was initially released as a two-track single on June 27, 2025, alongside "Losing Your Mind". This original single did not include Pluma's vocals. It was later reissued as the seventeenth track on Bully on March 28, 2026, following a listening party held for the album. The album version arrived with a visualizer featuring a lucha libre-style wrestling setting with influences from comedian Chespirito and his television series El Chapulín Colorado.
Critical reception
"Last Breath" received a mixed response from music critics, often praising the song’s cross-cultural importance while diminishing its vocal performances. Slant Magazine covered the track in their review of Bully, praising West's monotone delivery in contrast to Peso Pluma's "unbearably coarse vocals." Contrarily, Kelefa Sanneh of The New Yorker criticized West's "slightly uncanny Spanish-language delivery" on the track's second verse. In another review of Bully, a writer for Shatter the Standards wrote that the song’s salsa sample "does all the heavy lifting," while adding that Pluma's guest appearance "makes [West] sound like a guest on his own song."
Billboard positioned the song as the sixteenth best song on Bully in their ranking for the album, praising the song's potential. Gustavo Azem Martínez of El Heraldo de México stated that the song drew attention online, citing the artists' experimental approach, adding that "with [the] song, the connection between the U.S. music scene and Mexican musicians will be further solidified in the international market in 2026" (translated from Spanish). LatiNation praised the song as a "love letter to Mexican popular culture."
Commercial performance
"Last Breath" debuted at number 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100, subsequently entering the US Hot Latin Songs chart at number 5. On the Hot Latin Songs chart, it remained charting for three consecutive weeks. The song also received 4.3 million official streams in the United States during its first tracking week, earning it a spot at 6 on the Latin Streaming Songs chart. Elsewhere in North America, the track arrived at number 96 on the Canadian Hot 100. Globally, it made number 155 on the Billboard Global 200. The song reached number 175 on both the AFP Portuguese Singles Chart and the Top Streaming Chart for the week of March 27 to April 2, 2026. According to Billboard, the song's positions were largely determined by streaming counts.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Spotify and publishing provided to Billboard.
Kanye West – writing, production, vocals
Peso Pluma – writing, vocals
Sheffmade – writing, production
Ty Dolla Sign – writing, vocal production
Rafael "Fai" Bautista – writing
Anthony "PNP" Garcia – writing
Mongo Santamaría – writing
Nakamura Takahiro – writing
John Scott – mixing, mastering, recording
Josh Schuback – mixing, mastering, recording
Nkenge 1x – mixing, mastering, recording
