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Xavi is a singer/songwriter from Arizona who performs in a style of his own creation he calls "tumbado romantico." As evidenced by his singles, his original songs take cultural influence from regional Mexican styles including corrido norteño, ranchera, cumbia, and mariachi, and are bonded to North American folk, pop, and more. He independently released half a dozen singles and videos before signing to Interscope in 2021. His label debut, "Me Aguanto," was released in December, followed by a single almost every month in 2022. His streaming popularity only increased, and he garnered press attention as well. In 2023, he kept up the singles barrage. In May he issued My Mom's Playlist, a seven-song EP that won universal praise. August's "La Víctima" peaked at number ten on the Hot Latin Songs chart and racked up close to 100 million streams, while follow-up "Poco a Poco" with Los Dareyes de la Sierra performed similarly. In November, Xavi wove together ranchera, bolero, and mariachi on "La Diabla," which went viral and reached the U.S. Top 20. "Corazón de Piedra" followed in 2024.

Xavi was born Joshua Xavier Gutierrez in Arizona on New Year's Day in 2005. His parents had moved to the state three years earlier, and they raised Xavi there. Influenced by radio, social media, and YouTube videos, he began teaching himself to play guitar at ten. He wrote his first songs at 12, and by age 15 he was posting videos to YouTube and songs to streaming services. Interscope and other labels began paying attention as streaming numbers for audio and video, and posts and shares on social media -- particularly TikTok -- increased dramatically. Interscope signed Xavi in 2021 after the single "Amigos con Derecho" went viral.

His first Interscope single, "Me Aguanto," appeared in December and got positive attention from critics. Xavi responded in January 2022 with "Y Tú," whose streams numbered almost a million. He issued roughly a single a month. April's "Quiero Contarte" reached over two million streams and set the pace for the remainder of 2022. Singles including "Kilómetros," "Loko," and "Zero Sentimientos" all went well over a million, with the latter being streamed over two million times.

Xavi kicked off 2023 with the glorious ballad "Aquí Estoy." It reached the Hot Latin Songs chart with over five million streams. In February, "Solo Recuerdos" was delivered in collaboration with Los Aptos. In April, Xavi switched it up with the seven-song My Mom's Playlist -- a series of covers of popular and even iconic Latin songs both modern and traditional. "Sin Pagar Renta" also hit streaming charts, while the jazzy mariachi single "La Victima" landed at number eight on the Mexican pop charts. "Poco a Poco," a collaboration with Latin Grammy nominees Los Dareyes de la Sierra, hit the Top 20 in Mexico and charted across Latin America. He and corridos tumbados singer/songwriter Tony Aguirre issued "Modo DND" in October. In December, "La Victima" was resurrected on social media and re-released. It became Xavi's first Top Ten hit on Hot Latin Songs and at Latin Streaming Songs. November's "La Diabla" charted in several countries, and became his breakthrough mainstream hit in America, reaching number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2024, he launched his debut album, NEXT: including aforementioned hits "La Víctima," "La Diabla," and "Poco a Poco," the 15-track set landed ninth on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart. ~ Thom Jurek

Fuerza Regida are a Mexican regional quartet from Sinaloa based in California. Alongside Rancho Humilde labelmates Legado 7, they are progenitors of the "requinto urbano" style: acoustic music played in a rural vernacular with gritty urban lyrics. Fuerza Regida's songs focus on the hardships, joys, and sufferings of urban Latinos. Their debut long-player, En Vivo Puros Corridos, was issued in 2018. 2019's Pisteando con la Regida was released in two EP installments, and the album Del Barrio Hasta Aquí followed in November. The conceptual Adicto was one of four releases in 2020; the others included Otro Pedo, Otro Mundo, and the 19-song Pisteando con La Regida, Vol. 3. In December 2021, the band surprised fans with the charting Del Barrio Hasta Aqui, Vol. 2, and in December 2022, they released two 13-track full-length albums, Sigan Hablando and Pa Que Hablen. Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada, the group's eighth long-player, appeared in 2023. In February 2024, the band released the romantic EP Dolido Pero No Arrepentido, and in July it followed by the fusion of EDM and musica mexicana on the full-length PERO NO TE ENAMORES.

Fronted by the charismatic, outspoken Jesus Ortiz Paz, Fuerza Regida create sweet melodies but also offer raps atop funky dance tunes played by spiky requinto guitar vamps. Their sound is unique, but so is their approach to creating a public image: Long before playing together, Fuerza Regida developed a sophisticated social media strategy centered around YouTube.

The quartet formed in 2017 with the lineup of vocalist Paz, lead guitarist and second vocalist Samuel Jaimez, rhythm guitarist and harmony singer Khrystian Ramos, and the tuba player known only as José. Ortiz's evocative baritone is at once declamatory and vulnerable as he relates believable tales of urban life. The band began posting videos to YouTube almost immediately and registered millions of views before releasing a record. By year's end, they'd signed with Rancho Humilde, a label at the forefront of the requinto urbano sound.

Their debut album, En Vivo Puros Corridos, appeared in January of 2018, followed by a slew of video and digital singles including "Radicamos en South Central" and "Ya Se Fue Manuel" that garnered 100 million views between them. Fuerza Regida toured Southern California and Northern Mexico, and their bouncy, outlaw stage presence, consummate musicianship, and youthful good looks got the quartet massive exposure on radio, television, Instagram, and Twitter. Their video for the song "Sigo Chambeando" also included musicians from Legado 7 and racked up more than 100 million views on its own that November.

Fuerza Regida kept up the flow of videos and streaming singles as 2019 commenced. In the spring, they delivered the six-track Las Romanticas Favoritas, followed by the seven-track EP Pisteando con la Regida. In July, Rancho Humilde issued the band's sophomore long-player, Del Barrio Hasta Aqui. It debuted at number one on Billboard's Regional Mexican Albums chart and peaked at number eight on the Top Latin Albums list.

Though recorded in 2019, January 2020 saw the quartet release Pisteando con la Regida, Vol. 2, followed by their third full-length, Adicto, in April, that featured performances from Grupo Codiciado, Natanael Cano, and Herencia de Patrones. The LP again bowed at number one on the Regional Mexican Albums chart and debuted at number four on Top Latin Albums. In September they issued the ten-song Otro Pedo, Otro Mundo and in December the holiday EP Feliz con Fuerza Regida, as well as Pisteando con la Regida, Vol. 3, comprising 19 songs. All were recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic while in quarantine.

After a year away from the stage, Fuerza Regida were keen to tour again in 2021 and did so whenever possible. They issued the single "No Esa Pa Presumir" in February. In March, they appeared as featured guests on Adriel Favela's hit "Al Millon" and followed it with their own "Que Esta Pasando" featuring Calle 24. "Lo Vieron Pasar (09)" appeared in August, followed by the ballad "Descansando" in October and the revue-style "Los Mire con Talento" with Calle 24 and Luis R. Conriquez. They shocked fans and industry critics alike with the release of Del Barrio Hasta Aqui, Vol. 2 on New Year's Eve; it entered the Regional Mexican Albums chart at number three and peaked at two during the first weeks of 2022.

Following the release of "No Le Aflojo" with Los Gemelos de Sinaloa in March, Fuerza Regida issued six singles before July 1. Both "La Bicicleta" and "Chingas Du Madre" charted. So did several collaborations, including their co-billed appearances with Aldo Trujillo on "La Despedida" and Victor Cibrian on "Mi Porvenir." In June, Del Barrio Hasta Aqui, Vol. 2 entered the Top Latin Albums chart at number 14.

By October of 2022, Fuerza Regida had written, rehearsed, and demo'ed 26 new songs, too many for a single album. They consulted their manager, who suggested they release two. On December 30, the band surprised their fans -- and the music industry -- by issuing Pa Que Hablen and Sigan Hablando on Street Mob/Rancho Humilde through Sony Music Latin. Both records were collaboration-rich and debuted on the Top Latin albums chart at numbers five and six, respectively. 2023 saw the band collaborate with Grupo Frontera on the Billboard-charting hit "Bebe Dame" and "Pariente" with Myke Towers. Later that year, they issued the studio album Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada.

In February 2024, Fuerza Regida issued the Dolido Pero No Arrepentido EP, composed of six romantic ballads offered in the musica Mexicana style. The highly acclaimed set peaked at number three on the Mexican Regional albums chart, and entered the Top Latin Albums chart at number seven.

They weren't done, however. In July, Fuerza Regida released the revolutionary PERO NO TE ENAMORES. Not wishing to repeat the sound of Pa Las Baby's y Belikeada on another full-length album, the band set up a writing and production camp. Inspired by the success of "Harley Quinn," their 2023 collab with Marshmello, they reached out to several stars from the worlds of dance music including Afrojack, Major Lazer, Colombian urban star Maluma, and Mexico City's trap and urbano sensation Bellakath. They explored disparate sounds from Latin trap and neo-electro, drill, and Jersey club, and grafted it onto their classic requinto urbano sound across 15 tracks and in the process expanded the musica mexicana genre. Out of the box it debuted at number two on the Top Latin Albums chart and at number 23 in the Top 200. It's single "Nel" placed inside the Hot 100. ~ Thom Jurek