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Edgar Barrera didnt need another hit when he started working with Grupo Frontera last year.
What he did need, though, was a change of pace.
I wanted to do things differently, he explains.
I created my own label, and I wanted to support local acts from my hometown.
Soon enough, Barrera had become Fronteras go-to producer and co-writer, like a seventh member.
Along with topping the charts in multiple countries, the song kicked offa Stateside boomin regional Mexican music.
Barrera proved to be the perfect producer for this style-blending, borderless moment.
He alsojust addeda Songwriter of the Year nod for the larger 2024 Grammys.
As he surveys the reach ofmusica mexicanaover the past year, hes only more excited for the future.
This whole movements going to be here for a while.
And I was just laughing.
Bad Bunny is the biggest artist in the world.
But I met his producer, MAG, at a BMI awards ceremony.
I couldnt believe it.
The turnaround of everything happened in a week and a half or so.
This was all Benito.
He wanted to respect the culture; he wanted to respect the bands sound.
This whole idea of changing the sound when he comes in, this was all his idea.
It was the right way to do it.
Its a very traditional sound from our culture and our border where we grew up.
I think thats the clever part.
Now everybodys listening to Grupo Frontera.
Tulum, Peso Pluma & Grupo Frontera
We have a really good relationship with Peso Pluma.
We met way before Frontera made it and before he made it.
We always say to make it make the genre bigger, we gotta work in collaboration.
I remember Un x100to and Ella Baila Solawere competingon the charts.
But between us, we were having fun.
That just made us bond a lot more.
We looked at it like, Dude, were putting our culture out there.
And thats when we decided, Yo, what if we make a song together?
As a writer, I always say that I write every genre.
I just came last week from being in New York working on stuff in English.
We both admire songs fromJuan Gabriel,fromJose Alfredo Jimenez,fromJuan SebastianorAriel Camacho.Thats where we both connected.
Our idea was not to do acorridos tumbadossong.
It was supposed to be like a reggae-ska kind of vibe.
Shakira was like, What is that?
She loved how original and how different it was from everything that was popping.
So now we have Shakira going into the Mexican world.
Shes a big fan of Mexican music, and you might tell because it sounds authentic on her.
Colombia and Mexico are very, very similar.
I go to Colombia and I feel like Im in Mexico because of the culture.
Everybody there listens to Mexican music, and she has a real passion for Mexican music.
We wanted to do this tribute to this key in of music.
Shes like, What is this sound right here?
I want that sound.
Oh, thats a tuba.
Yes, I want a tuba in my song.
She gave me a lot of references.
She loved the experiment of singing with the tuba.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
