Danny Felix is an architect of the corridos tumbados sound and, now, he’s changing the course of the genre with his debut album Vuelve, out Friday, Jan. 29. After producing big hits for wunderkind Natanael Cano, the Mexican-American musician proves he’s ready to be at the forefront.
Felix is a native of Phoenix, Arizona with roots in Sinaloa, Mexico. After sharpening his bass and guitar skills in his dad’s band and later his own band, he became a go-to producer in his hometown. That path led him to work with Cano in what would be a career-defining move.
He’s taking the corridos tumbados sound that he helped shape to new levels.
“I knew Natanael when he first came here to Phoenix,” Felix tells Remezcla. “He came here when he was like 14. He had signed with a label here. I was known to record with everyone in Phoenix. They hired me and that’s how I met him. When he signed with Rancho Humilde, Nata called me again. He was like, ‘I need you to produce again for me. I need to record a couple of videos.’” The rest is history.
Felix flew to LA and produced breakthrough hits like “El Drip” and “Soy El Diablo.” As you know, Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny later requested to jump on a remix of “Diablo” with Cano. “That’s when the corridos tumbados picked up,” Felix says. “It’s thanks to Bad Bunny because since then everybody was like, ‘It’s ok for us to do it because Bad Bunny did it already.’”
As Cano’s star rose, he took Felix on his tours and to award shows until last year, when Felix finally got the chance to go solo and sign to Fonovisa/Universal Latino. On his debut album Vuelve, he’s taking the corridos tumbados sound that he helped shape to new levels by blending in other genres. The video premieres at Remezcla, below:
“On that song [“Vuelve”], I mixed tumbado guitars with a trap beat,” Felix says. “I haven’t really seen anybody do that – at least, not anyone do it right, with all due respect.”
I like to do it all. I like to test the waters.
On the album’s titular track, Felix is pinning for an old flame to come back. Meanwhile on “Los Haters,” he puts his naysayers in check with this song that has a harder edge.
“‘Los Haters’ has an acoustic rock vibe,” Felix explains. “I feel like that’s what’s curious about my style. Then there’s ‘Intentalo,’ that song is more pop. I like to do it all. I like to test the waters. I just like music overall, so I don’t close the doors and say I’m only going to do this or that.”
On Vuelve, Felix also opens the doors of the genre to artists like Latine pop star Matt Hunter, who features on “Mala Deciciones,” and does a bit of rapping on songs like “La F**king Ola,” with Mexican corridos star Abraham Vazquez from Del Records.
After being in bands and behind-the-scenes, Felix is excited to introduce his music to the world with an album of his own.
“I feel really accomplished,” he says. “We see billboards in Times Square right now with Natanael, and it’s like, “Oh s**t!” Before we were used to seeing artists like J. Lo there. I feel like [corridos tumbados] are more respected [now].”
