LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mexican regional music — a catchall term that encompasses mariachi, banda, corridos, norteño, sierreño and other genres — has proved to be anything but regional, playing a key role in the continued dominance of Latin music. But even as the genre’s stars top the charts and headline top-earning concerts, its recent mainstream globalization has notably left out women’s voices.
The issue isn’t new. Women have long fought for representation in genres like hip-hop and country, and while some styles have made strides toward gender parity, Mexican regional music is among those that have lagged.
Now, women are carving their own space, often singing lyrics that differ from their male counterparts, tailored around love, heartbreak and the woman’s experience.
“In this particular genre, women are still maybe feeling their way,” said Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer for Latin music coverage. “I think there’s a big opportunity for someone to kind of seize that spot, explore and see what happens.”
Male artists like Peso Pluma and Natanael Cano spearheaded the genre’s recent wave, which first bubbled up in late 2023, and saw corridos tumbados, a subgenre of Mexican regional music, skyrocket. This modern take infuses the traditional musical style with hip-hop and trap elements, with lyrics that explore the complex and ever-evolving experience of Mexican Americans on both sides of the border — and now more women are embracing it.
Mexican American singer Becky G said her start in the genre years ago “came naturally and it never felt like riding a wave,” adding that “It almost felt like we were a part of making it.”
Spanish-born singer Belinda, who found early success in Spanish pop after starting as a child actor, noticed how few women were experimenting with corridos. She dove into the genre, which is at the core of her most recent album, “Indómita,” released in June.
“For me, it was important to just open the door for other girls to just take risks,” Belinda said.
A ‘macho’ culture
Women have long fought to break down male-dominated spaces in Mexican music.
Texas-born Selena Quintanilla took the reins of Tejano music and helped catapult the genre into the mainstream market before her death in 1995. Jenni Rivera, known as “The First Lady of Corrido” before her death in 2012, was famous for taking the mic in a space that was mostly occupied by men by singing about women’s role in marriage, infidelity and motherhood.
Yet, the newly-minted corridos tumbados subgenre has especially struggled. The songs often tell stories of drugs, cartel violence and luxurious lifestyles entrenched in “macho” culture, which is difficult to change, Cobo said.
The music’s gendered landscape is a reflection of the sexism and “macho” culture that permeates Mexican society, said Omar Cerrillo, a professor of sociology and arts at Mexico’s Tecnológico de Monterrey.
For centuries, music was male-dominated, Cerrillo said, noting that “from the very beginning in the late 19th century till now, there was a strong macho discourse in many songs”. While the tide has significantly shifted since then and women have cemented their role in the genre, he believes there’s still much work to do to rid the genre of its patriarchal roots.
Majo Aguilar found success in Mexico’s entertainment scene following the footsteps of her grandparents, legendary musicians and actors Antonio Aguilar and Flor Silvestre. She’s focused on challenging “this idea that it’s going to be more difficult because you’re a woman,” she said.
Becky G, who got her start in pop and rap before switching to reggaeton and now Mexican regional, said artists like Rivera and Quintanilla are proof that change is possible in the corrido scene.
“I’m very proud to stand on the shoulders of so many incredibly talented, badass women,” Becky G said. “There’s so many pioneers in these spaces that, if they did it, what makes us the exception?”
Still, the genre can be discouraging and difficult to navigate for female artists like Eydrey, an up-and-coming El Paso-based musician.
“It’s a little nagging voice that just doesn’t go away,” Eydrey said. “You can’t just help but think, if I were a man, could I be further in my career?”
Corridos, but in their own words
The genre’s rapid success is largely tied to the live instrumentation behind the songs — a unique aspect of the style that “really stuck with people,” according to Billboard’s Cobo. She noted that women who experiment within the style are developing their own unique lyrical forms.
Belinda’s music blends the corrido style with a more feminine and romantic sound, resulting in the newly coined genre “corridos coquette.” The music has found success and she’s collaborated with popular corrido artists like Natanael Cano and Tito Double P.
“It sounds like me,” said Belinda. “It doesn’t matter how different it is or if it’s something that’s never been done before. You have to go with what you feel.”
Eydrey has long been a fan of Mexican regional and corridos tumbados, but when she listened to the music, a single question always came to mind: What would the woman have to say?
Most popular corridos are sung by men and focus on relationship betrayal or heartbreak caused by a woman. The thought inspired a popular series on Eydrey’s TikTok account, where she writes and sings her own version of corridos, but from a woman’s perspective.
In the song “TÚ NAME,” by Fuerza Regida, for instance, a man boasts about dating multiple women to avenge an ex-girlfriend that left him. “We went shopping,” he sings, “and I bought her everything I would never buy you.”
Eydrey’s version turns the song into a softer ballad from the perspective of a woman who had long felt neglected in the relationship before finally leaving. “Who even needs luxury items?” she sings while strumming her guitar. “What mattered to me was that you loved me, and that promise was never kept.”
“I was hearing all of these things that they were saying about their past partner, who was a woman, and I would be like, did she really do all that? Did she? And if she did, well then what would be her side of the story?” Eydrey said. “That’s when I put pen to paper and was like, if I were her, what would I like to say in that song?”
Breaking boundaries
Becky G grew up singing corridos and mariachi music at family parties and was already a successful mainstream artist in pop and reggaeton before diving into Mexican regional professionally. Still, she faced obstacles and hesitation as she ventured into the genre.
Many people viewed “Esquinas,” Becky G’s first complete regional album released in 2023, as a passion project, she said. “When I started, there wasn’t really proof that it was music that was globally being recognized or celebrated yet.”
Yet, she persisted, and her latest album, “Encuentros,” released last year, also centers on the Mexican regional sound. Both projects, she said, serve as love letters to the genre of her childhood and “struck an artery.”
“It bled so much realness, so much rawness and again that was always there,” Becky G said. “Maybe that wasn’t the person people saw in front of the camera necessarily, but it was in my hustle, it was in my drive.”
A beginner’s playlist to women in Mexican regional music
1. “300 Noches,” Belinda and Natanael Cano
2. “TODO,” Becky G and Delilah
3. “X TI,” eydrey
4. “Que Te Vaya Bien,” Majo Aguilar
5. “Qué Agonía – Remix,” Yahritza y Su Esencia, Yuridia and Ángela Aguilar
6. “Cuando Muere una Dama,” Jenni Rivera
7. “No Me Queda Mas,” Selena Quintanilla
8. “Canción Sin Miedo,” Vivir Quintana
9. “El Jefe,” Shakira and Fuerza Regida
10. “COMO DIABLOS,” Becky G
