Deyra Barrera, the mariachi voice heard on Kendrick Lamar’s new album, GNX, shares the story behind their collaboration and a track that strikes her.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Subsequent, we hear a narrative concerning the spirit of Los Angeles. It is a part of our collection referred to as Songs That Transfer You from NPR’s radio present and podcast Alt.Latino, hosted by Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras.
ANAMARIA SAYRE, BYLINE: As Los Angeles grapples with the current wildfires, I have been discovering solace within the sound that, to me, is quintessential LA – mariachi.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARIACHI LOCO SONG, “MARIACHI LOCO (EN VIVO)”)
SAYRE: Rising up in Southern California, it was the soundtrack to life at house or household events till a number of months in the past when it made its manner onto the report of probably the most well-known rappers on the earth. OK, Felix, get this. It is Sport 1 of the 2024 World Sequence, Yankees versus Dodgers. Mexican baseball legend Fernando Valenzuela had simply died. And so to open the sport, he is being honored by a sound that many Angelinos mourn to – crying mariachi voices.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DEYRA BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: That voice, that is Valenzuela’s good friend, who, till then, was little-known singer Deyra Barrera. As luck would have it – or possibly you could possibly say that it is simply so LA – Kendrick Lamar occurs to be within the crowd absorbing that morning grito. The LA Dodgers would go on to win the World Sequence, and Kendrick Lamar was so moved by Barrera’s voice that he invited her to be the primary voice heard on his newest album, “GNX.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “WACCED OUT MURALS”)
BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
KENDRICK LAMAR: (Rapping) Yesterday, any person whacked out my mural. That vitality’ll make you [expletive] transfer to Europe.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: And the remaining, as they are saying, is historical past. And for this week’s Songs That Transfer You, we ask Barrera to inform us a couple of track that strikes her.
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: Barrera says the track “My Approach” or “A Mi Manera,” finished by the late mariachi celebrity Vicente Fernandez, is concerning the passing of time for every of us.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “A MI MANERA”)
VINCENTE FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish).
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: The track talks about residing life your manner. So many issues occur, issues we let go of that we did not perceive. On the finish, you probably did what you needed your manner. However for her, it isn’t only a message in a track. It is about who in her life lived on her personal phrases.
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: She says she grew up watching her mother sing, and it was her who taught Barrera her first chords on the guitar earlier than she continued to review music, vocals and efficiency. Like for me, mariachi was the sound of household for Barrera.
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: She advised us she beloved simply watching her mother play and sing along with her guitar. And as a substitute of taking part in with the opposite youngsters, she watched the adults sing and would say, I wish to sing. I wish to sing.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “A MI MANERA”)
BARRERA: (Singing in Spanish).
SAYRE: And he or she turned a singer like her mom. As we speak, life seems totally different for Barrera and her mother.
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: Now Barrera’s mom resides with dementia, however her reminiscence lives immortalized within the emotional supply of the track she sang and in Barrera’s voice, too.
CONTRERAS: You recognize, Ana, this track can look like a curious alternative for a mariachi singer, but when we hint the musical breadcrumbs left in its wake, it makes whole sense. The track is usually related to Frank Sinatra. He launched it in March of 1969.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MY WAY”)
FRANK SINATRA: (Singing) And I stood tall and did it my manner.
CONTRERAS: And it was his track till the flamenco group, the Gipsy Kings, did a well-liked Spanish language remake in 1987.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “A MI MANERA (COMME D’HABITUDE)”)
GIPSY KINGS: (Singing in Spanish).
CONTRERAS: Which expanded the message of self-determination and perseverance to a worldwide Spanish-speaking viewers. And the Spanish cowl of a well-liked English language track will not be uncommon. Actually, it displays the bilingual and bicultural lifestyle for us Latinos on this nation. And whereas the Gipsy Kings had a success with their flamenco-tinged interpretation, what paved the way in which for that was the mariachi tackle it launched a number of years earlier than.
SAYRE: Barrera’s favourite model will all the time be the king of mariachis. And as Barrera’s mother’s reminiscence slips away, she advised us it offers her peace, realizing that via all of it, her mom, a singer from Sonora, Mexico, an immigrant to Los Angeles, she lived her life her manner.
BARRERA: (Talking Spanish).
SAYRE: The track is one thing actually near her coronary heart, she mentioned, a lesson to carry on to from LA to the world.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “A MI MANERA”)
FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish).
FADEL: Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras, the hosts of Alt.Latino. It is a podcast and radio present that takes a weekly take a look at Latin music and tradition. You will discover it on-line, on the NPR app and in your radio. And so they wish to hear a couple of track that strikes you. Write to them at alt.latino@npr.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “A MI MANERA”)
FERNANDEZ: (Singing in Spanish).
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional data.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content will not be in its remaining type and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability could range. The authoritative report of NPR’s programming is the audio report.