Five Regional Mexican Acts Discuss the Genre's Next Chapter at Latin Music Week
On Tuesday, October 20, five acts from regional Mexican music took the stage together at Billboard Latin Music Week to talk about where the genre is heading. The panel, called "The New Mexican Music Generation," was moderated by Billboard's Isabela Raygoza, according to Billboard. The panelists were Clave Especial, Edgardo Nuñez, Emmanuel Cortés, Hermanos Espinoza and Los Dos de Tamaulipas.
The conversation centred on a shift in sound. Recent trends, the report says, have moved toward less aggressive lyrics and fresh sounds that blend with traditional Mexican music, and away from corridos tumbados. Corridos are the narrative ballads at the heart of regional Mexican music, and corridos tumbados is a newer, harder-edged style of them.
Clave Especial is a California-based group signed by Jesús Ortiz Paz to his label, Street Mob Records. A label is the company that releases and promotes an artist's music. The group's duet with Fuerza Regida on "No Pasa Nada" found an audience, Billboard reported.
Hermanos Espinoza were born in McAllen, Texas. They are known for positive lyrics, often referring to God, and they say discipline is the key to reaching your dreams. Emmanuel Cortés, 19, was born in Arkansas and mixes regional Mexican music with cumbia, a dance rhythm with roots in Colombia that is popular across Latin America.
Edgardo Nuñez was born in Sinaloa and lives in Phoenix. Before his own career as a singer, he wrote and produced songs for Peso Pluma, Fuerza Regida and Xavi. He plays accordion and names Chalino Sánchez as one of his biggest influences. He told the panel he wrote 60 songs before one became a hit.
Los Dos de Tamaulipas had the strongest chart record on the panel. In the year Billboard covered, they reached No. 1 three times on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, which ranks songs by radio plays, and placed in the top 10 of Hot Latin Songs, Billboard's ranking of Spanish-language songs. The duo said a music teacher once told them a hit could take up to 12 years to arrive. They said a career in this business needs patience.
That theme of time came up more than once. Nuñez's 60 songs and the duo's 12-year warning point the same way: the first hit is rarely the first song written. For a listener, the panel offered a look at how these careers are built, one track and one year at a time.
The panel is part of Billboard Latin Music Week, which runs in Miami Beach from October 19 to 22. The annual Billboard Latin Music Awards follow on October 22, when the show will be broadcast live on Telemundo and Peacock from the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami, according to Billboard.
