{"id":178998,"date":"2025-08-14T12:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/08\/14\/meet-the-producers-making-regional-mexican-music-explode\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T12:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:13:10","slug":"meet-the-producers-making-regional-mexican-music-explode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/08\/14\/meet-the-producers-making-regional-mexican-music-explode\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Producers Making Regional Mexican Music\u00a0Explode"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tFor decades, a traditional (and, at times, formulaic) sound defined and powered regional Mexican music, the umbrella term that includes subgenres like banda<\/em>, norte\u00f1o<\/em> and mariachi. But today, m\u00fasica mexicana<\/em>, as it is also known, is booming (according to Luminate\u2019s midyear music report, it fueled Latin music\u2019s growth in the first six months of the year) in large part thanks to the limitless creative visions of its most prominent producers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis school of hit-makers \u2014 who range widely in both style, from Jersey corridos<\/em> to synth-powered regional ballads, and age \u2014 is crafting bold sounds and genre-spanning hybrids, setting the tone for an ever-evolving genre as it adapts to its new global appeal and reach.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tKid Cudi Didn’t Want to Testify in Diddy Trial, But ‘I Knew I Was Helping Cassie’\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tTyler, The Creator Has Had Enough of Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet in Fiery ‘Marty Supreme’ Trailer: Watch\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\t\tErnesto \u201cNeto\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tErnesto \u201cNeto\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEd Visions<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe Texas-born veteran has long defined regional Mexican movements, like the quebradita<\/em> explosion of the 1990s. But when he tried to be \u201cexperimental\u201d in the past, \u201cit wasn\u2019t accepted \u2014 our hands were tied,\u201d says Fern\u00e1ndez, 51. \u201cNow everyone is open-minded and that helped me branch out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong his biggest recent successes: Peso Pluma, whose swaggering lyrics and high-energy sound helped usher in a new era for regional Mexican music and whose signature style was heavily informed by working with the producer. \u201cVery early on in the process, I start hearing and imagining where instruments will go,\u201d explains Fern\u00e1ndez, who incorporated charchetas<\/em> (alto horns) and trombones into corridos tumbados<\/em>, a subgenre that started with just guitars. \u201cMy part is to make sure that instruments don\u2019t compete but to have them each have their own place. I like to hear things a certain way and how I want it to sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s safe to say Fern\u00e1ndez \u2014 who won producer of the year at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards thanks to tracks he worked on for Peso and Xavi \u2014 knows a thing or two about what works and what doesn\u2019t. Today, he\u2019s one of regional Mexican music\u2019s most trusted producers, also working with artists like Tito Double\u00a0P.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tDanny Felix<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tFrom right: Xavi, Danny Felix and Ivan, Xavi\u2019s guitarist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaco Cajeme<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tFelix\u2019s production career got off to an unorthodox start. \u201cI was taking English songs and making them regional,\u201d he says. \u201c[Artificial intelligence] didn\u2019t exist back then, so I remember one day, I found Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s vocals on YouTube and followed along with a guitar. I was like, \u2018This sounds cool.\u2019\u00a0\u201d It sparked his passion for elevating songs with prickly acoustic guitars and led to him pioneering corridos tumbados and producing the subgenre\u2019s first big star, Natanael Cano.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile guitar-driven subgenres like sierre\u00f1o<\/em> already existed, corridos tumbados\u2019 guitars make heads bob like a hip-hop beat \u2014 even Bad Bunny couldn\u2019t resist joining Cano on 2019\u2019s Felix-produced \u201cSoy el Diablo \u2013 Remix.\u201d<\/a> \u201cGuitars are my thing,\u201d adds the Arizona native, who\u2019s in his early 30s. \u201cPeople try to do what I do and I love that, but I have a unique way of hitting the strings that you can tell it\u2019s me right away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe sound Felix developed has evolved over the years, with artists like Peso Pluma adding different instruments, and he has also adapted his guitars to singers he is producing for today, like Xavi, who pioneered tumbados rom\u00e1nticos<\/em>. \u201cHis range of singing is completely different,\u201d Felix says, \u201cso you have to play [the guitar] a certain way to complement his vocals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tArmenta<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tArmenta<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEpho<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tPenning and producing hits for Fuerza Regida like \u201cHarley Quinn\u201d<\/a> and \u201cBebe Dame,\u201d<\/a> Armenta, 24, went from thinking a producer was mainly a beat-maker to understanding that there\u2019s much more to the craft. \u201cAs a producer, you give it your soul, your essence, and when that goes hand in hand with songwriting, it becomes magic,\u201d says Armenta, who has deviated from tradition by incorporating electronic music, loops and pads (or synthesizers) into his productions. \u201cEverything used to be very rigid; the beats and rhythms were the same. Now it\u2019s a genre for young people, and we achieved this through influences such as rap, hip-hop and other urban genres where it\u2019s no longer just about making regional music but about making music, period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHarley Quinn,\u201d a 2023 collaboration with dance producer Marshmello, turned heads with its EDM-leaning sound. \u201cWe called it \u2018Jersey corrido,\u2019\u00a0\u201d Armenta says proudly. \u201cIn our search for the perfect harmony between house and EDM, we found this rhythm where we can play it with a tololoche<\/em> [a Mexican folk instrument that is a variant of the double bass] and finish it off with charchetas. All the folklore that this song carries is very beautiful, and it really opened our eyes to the fact that the sky is the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tFrank Rio<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Ivan Cornejo (seated); Frank Rio; Alejandro Cornejo, Ivan\u2019s cousin and bassist; and engineer Manny Marroqu\u00edn.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOzzy Arias<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tA fan of the stripped-down melodic approach to regional Mexican music, Rio was eager to experiment with the style, but \u201cI didn\u2019t want to force it on anyone,\u201d he says, having previously worked mainly with non-regional Mexican acts like A.Chal and Jhayco. Then he met Ivan Cornejo and they instantly connected. \u201cWe\u2019re emo boys,\u201d Rio says with a laugh. Cornejo\u2019s stirring vocal delivery meshed perfectly with Rio\u2019s equally emotional production style. \u201cWhen I\u2019m part of a record from start to finish, there\u2019s definitely a lot of emotion,\u201d says Rio, 32. \u201cWhether sad, happy or in between, I always try to make it a journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCornejo\u2019s brooding regional ballads with an alternative edge \u2014 like \u201cLa \u00daltima Vez,\u201d<\/a> one of the first songs he and Rio did together \u2014 defy m\u00fasica mexicana standards. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say I\u2019m responsible for this new sound because I\u2019m sure it wasn\u2019t the first time someone had added synths to Mexican music, but for me, it was a big eye-opener about what you can do in Mexican music, and now it\u2019s tough to identify what we do just as that,\u201d Rio says. \u201cIt has never crossed my mind that I could have a limit, especially with Ivan. Focusing on [creative] freedom means constant experimentation in the studio with him. I\u2019ll do four or five versions of a song, from alternative to sierre\u00f1o, to find the version that works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tMoises L\u00f3pez<\/strong>\t<\/h2>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tMoises L\u00f3pez (second from left), Jes\u00fas Ortiz Paz (center) and artist Diego Mill\u00e1n (second from right).<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiguel Lopez<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tL\u00f3pez never imagined getting into producing. But when he joined Fuerza Regida four years ago and got in the studio with the band, he saw producers create a song from start to finish and thought: \u201cI can do that and I want my credit, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile his career as a producer is only just starting \u2014 the 22-year-old was initially brought on as the band\u2019s tololoche player and officially became one of its producers two years ago \u2014 L\u00f3pez is already leaving a mark on regional Mexican thanks to his work on Fuerza Regida\u2019s 2025 album, \u00ad111XPANTIA<\/em>, which peaked at No.\u00a02 on the Billboard\u00a0200<\/a>, becoming the highest-charting Spanish-language album by a duo or group ever. \u201cBuilding a song from scratch is like a puzzle,\u201d says L\u00f3pez, who gets animated talking about his work in the studio. \u201cThe goal for me is always to experiment and find what the next big sound or wave will be but also keeping our corridos roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFuerza\u2019s producing crew \u2014 which also includes frontman Jes\u00fas Ortiz Paz \u2014 took it a bit further this time around, incorporating synths behind instruments for a punchier sound. It also did something the band had never done before: \u201cWe added samples from other genres,\u201d L\u00f3pez says. \u201cIn \u2018Tu Sancho,\u2019<\/a> you\u2019ll hear Ellie Goulding\u2019s \u2018Don\u2019t Say a Word.\u2019 We realized it was time to add samples to our music, which will mark a major shift in our genre.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story appears in the Aug. 16, 2025, issue of <\/em>Billboard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For decades, a traditional (and, at times, formulaic) sound defined and powered regional Mexican music, the umbrella term that includes subgenres like banda, norte\u00f1o and mariachi. But today, m\u00fasica mexicana, as it is also known, is booming (according to Luminate\u2019s midyear music report, it fueled Latin music\u2019s growth in the first six months of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}