Ángela Aguilar, the 16-year-old Mexican-American singer credited with infusing new life into Mariachi and Ranchero music, has released a tribute album to Selena, with seven of the Tejano star’s most famous songs remixed and reimagined. “Como La Flor,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and “No Me Queda Mas,” are all on the EP Baila Esta Cumbia.
“I present this EP as a tribute and in gratitude to Selena,” Aguilar wrote on Instagram. “With an admiration of a Mexican-American woman who, along with her family, expressed her love for music and the stage through her dances and songs.”
Aguilar was 15 when she received her first Grammy nomination, for Best Regional Mexican Music Album, in 2019. She earned additional recognition from Lady Gaga after she covered “The Shallow.” Her love of Ranchero music partially comes from her family: Her father is Mariachi singer Pepe Aguilar, her grandfather Antonio Aguilar was an actor and Mariachi singer, and her grandmother Flor Silvestre, is a famous actress and singer.
“Ranchera music does something to you that I don’t think a lot of genres can do,” Aguilar told the Grammys in 2019.
“I wish I could take your music to more girls who didn’t have the opportunity to listen to it,” Aguilar wrote. As strange as it is to imagine, there might be a generation of listeners not as familiar with Selena, so her most successful songs reimagined by Aguilar is definitely one way to be sure her legacy continues.
You can listen to Baila Esta Cumbia here: