The trap corridos story continues with the release of Corridos Tumbados Vol. 2 on May 28. The emerging genre’s wunderkind Natanael Cano is back with his Rancho Humilde squad for another round of corridos from the streets.
Cano, who hails from Senora, Mexico, first made an impact with this new wave of corridos last Halloween when he dropped the original Corridos Tumbados album. The 21-song collection put Cano in the spotlight while highlighting his labelmates like Junior H, Dan Sanchez, and La Nueva Era. Their combined efforts saw the compilation peak at No. 4 on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Albums. Over on the Regional Mexican Albums chart, Corridos Tumbados has held onto the No. 1 spot for almost the entirety of its run (save for just two weeks).
The anticipation for the second installment in the Corridos Tumbados series was building. Cano and more of his labelmates, including Rancho Humilde’s first woman signee Ivonne Galaz, delivered on the hype with 19 tracks. The album made the eligibility cutoff for the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards. It will be interesting to see if the Latin Recording Academy takes notice of the genre like Estrella Media’s Premios de la Radio last year. Here’s five of our favorite songs on Vol. 2.
“Bien Tumbado”
Cano teams up with Rancho Humilde’s rising singer Ovi on the album’s opener “Bien Tumbado.” Ovi makes the statement: “No pueden tumbarme.” That’s particularly striking following recent comments by Pepe Aguilar that were seen as him talking down on the corrido trap scene. Ovi stands his ground with his sweet vocals that Cano rounds out with his hood demeanor. The guys have each other’s backs and don’t back down on this anthem of pride for their genre.
“Bien Montados”
With the help of the group La Nueva Era, Cano doubles down on trap corridos’ well-earned place in regional Mexican music with “Bien Montados.” The singers in La Nueva Era match Cano’s fiery performance as they reflect on their come-up and the genre’s sudden rise. Both acts commit to leading the movement with swagger and style like on Cano’s previous hit “El Drip.” La Nueva Era and Cano are firm in staying put with this collaboration that’s teeming with big patrón energy.
“La Rueda”
Rancho Humilde’s first woman signee Ivonne Galaz, who also hails from Cano’s home state of Sonora, teams up with another young woman on the label, Natalie López, for “La Rueda.” Galaz and López trade verses about holding it down for the women in the trap corrido scene. They complement each other well with Galaz’s deeply rich voice rounded out by López’s dulcet vocals. The future of the genre is female and together both women deliver pure patronapower on this knockout collaboration.
“El Mágico”
The paisanosCano and Galaz regroup for the duet “El Mágico.” Galaz made her debut with Rancho Humilde last December on “Golpes de la Vida,” one of the best tracks on Cano’s Mi Nuevo Yo EP. They recapture the magic from that first collaboration on this newest one. Galaz holds her own with Cano as the two singers look back on the hard work and sacrifices they put in to be living the high life now. That’s high in both the extravagant and marihuanosense. Cano and Galaz are a literal dream team.
“Diez Segundos”
Another future star on Rancho Humilde is Junior H. The Guanajuato-native appeared on the first Corridos Tumbados album last year and then he made noise of his own back in March with the Atrapado En Un Sueño EP. Junior H teamed up with an uncredited Cano on “Si Mañana.” The two singers are together again on “Diez Segundos.” In those few seconds, their careers flash before their eyes as they foresee the good of what’s to come from carrying their genre forward. Junior H and Cano remain ahead of the game with this powerful premonition.