Mexico

Bamba, Bamba

Traditional Mexican folk music is classified by many different styles and ensembles. Although Mexican music pulls from its indigenous roots, some of the classics have become popular across the globe.

“La Bamba” is one of these classics that was traditionally a folk song, but was then made popular by Ritchie Valens, hitting US charts. 

One of Mexico’s traditional music styles is corrido, a narrative, ballad-like music. Corrido songs are usually based on old legends and tell some kind of story. 

Ranchera is another style, which is characterized by a single performer playing a guitar. A major theme that runs through ranchera pieces of music is the Mexican Revolution. The most popular ranchera musician was José Alfredo Jiménez, who had composed over 1000 songs in his lifetime.

Mariachi is one of the major Mexican folk ensembles, and is considered representative of Mexican music and culture. It includes the most stylistic variety, including ranchera, corrido and many other forms. 

The average mariachi band includes the guitar, the violin and the trumpet, sometimes adding additional instruments. 

Having originated in Mexico, mariachi has moved into US culture and popularized traditional mariachi songs. One of the most well-known of these songs is "La Cucaracha." The song became popular during the revolution, but there is no known lyricist. It has, however, been recorded by many American artists including Gipsy Kings and Louis Armstrong.

Modern Mexican music spans across many different genres, such as Latin alternative, rock, pop and electronic. 

Most Latin alternative music refers to popular artists that play on mainstream American radio. This music steers away from traditional Mexican songwriting and instrumentals. Although there are still hints of Mexican roots, most of the music is overproduced and the lyricism is more risqué. 

Mexican rock music first became popular in the 1950s and it stuck closer to its roots than other forms of modern music. More often than Latin alternative musicians, Mexican rock bands include traditional themes and instruments in their songs. 

The famous Mexican guitarist Carlos Santana became popular around this movement with his band Santana. His music is a combination of original Latin music, new age rock and a little bit of jazz. 

Even some pop music today still includes some of Mexico’s traditional musical elements. Although popular artists are becoming more produced and experimenting with more mainstream instrumentals and themes, Mexican musicians are more known for some of their raw, folksy sounds.

Paulina Rubio

The popular singer known for her rich vocals and sex appeal has been an active Latin musician since the early 1980s. Her debut began as the front woman of the pop band, Timbiriche. 

After about 10 years, Rubio left the band to pursue a solo career in music and released her first solo album, La Chica Dorada, in 1992. The single “Mío” has been understood to be Rubio’s signature song, hitting No. 2 on Mexican charts. 

Her sophomore album, 24 Kilates, gave her the status as one of Mexico’s most successful musicians, as the album reached No. 1 status in Mexico.

The artist’s most successful album ever was Paulina, which gave her three nominations for the Latin Grammy Awards. In 2009, the album was named one of the Top 10 best-selling albums ever in Mexico. 

With her 2002 album Border Girl, Rubio took her first steps into American pop culture, as the album was almost entirely in English. This was a defining year for the singer since it gave her overwhelming international recognition.

After her American debut, Rubio went back to recording mostly Spanish albums, but continued performing internationally. Some other acclaimed Latin American superstars she performed with were Enrique Iglesias and Shakira.

Rubio’s most recent album Brava! is what she calls a Spanglish album, mixing the Spanish and English languages. However, only three of the songs are in English, while seven are in Spanish.

In her music, Rubio is the sole singer and that is all she does musically. Along with her voice, traditional Latin sounds and heavy percussion are very evident. In her more recent albums, Rubio has followed suit with many other popular musicians, incorporating more and more electronics.