| Grupera | |
|---|---|
 Ana Bárbara singing in concert | |
| Other names | Onda Grupera |
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Early 1970s,Mexico |
| Typical instruments | |
Grupera (also known asGrupero orOnda Grupera) is a subgenre ofregional Mexican music. It reached the height of its popularity in the 1990s, especially inrural areas.[1] Grupera music traces its roots to therock groups of the 1960s yet has evolved significantly over time. Typically performed by ensembles of four or more musicians, the genre prominently featureselectric guitars,Musical keyboards, anddrums. The popularity of grupera music surged notably during the 1980s, propelling it into commercial viability and establishing its place within theLatin music landscape. Today, the genre is widely acknowledged and celebrated in prestigious Latin music awards ceremonies such asLo Nuestro Awards and theLatin Grammy Awards, reflecting its enduring influence and cultural significance across Latin America and beyond. Grupera music is a distinct Mexican musical genre that blends traditionalranchera melodies with influences fromnorteño and other regional styles likecorridos,cumbias,charangas,ballads,boleros andhuapangos.
Some of the most recognized groups and artists in the grupera genre includeLos Temerarios,Los Bukis,Bronco,Grupo Bryndis, andGrupo Limite among others. Grupera music has enjoyed great popularity in Mexico and other parts ofLatin America, and continues to be an important part of Mexican musical culture.
The original wave of Mexican rock bands got their start mostly with Spanish covers of popular English rock songs. After this initial stage, they moved on to include in their repertoire traditionalranchera songs, in addition tocumbias andballads. Thus, the 1970s saw the rise of a number of grupera bands that specialized in romantic ballads and songs that up to that point had only been sung withmariachi.
The namegrupera comes from the fact that many of the bands had names starting withGrupo (Group).[2]Most of these groups had a rural origin and many previously playedrock music. According to Madrid, cited by Rivera Godina,[2] the grupero movement had its peak in the 1970s with many famous artists who were included under the labeltropical music, such as Mike Laure,Rigo Tovar,Chico Che, among others, both Mexican and from other countries, who fused romantic ballads with more danceable rhythms, such asLos Baby's,Los Freddy's, Los Corazones Solitarios,Los Pasteles Verdes,Los Barón de Apodaca, andLos Caminantes.Under the influence of the music and film industries, the most well-knownnorteño bands became synonymous withgrupero.[3]
In the 1990s the termgrupero and its variations started to be part of Mexico's music industry and began to receive media attention,[2] including different bands such asLos Temerarios,Los Bukis,Los Tigres del Norte,Bronco,La Mafia, La Industria del Amor,Conjunto Primavera,Ana Bárbara,Grupo Bryndis,Los Acosta, Liberación, Grupo Mandigo, Mi Bande El Mexicano,Banda Machos[4] and, as the first American artist popular on both sides of the border,Selena.The media industry popularized this term to generate products based on grupera, such as the radio stationXEQR-FM, whose slogan wasSalvajemente grupera (savagely grupero), specialized magazines likeFuria Musical and cable channels likeBandamax.Enterprises like Televisa included bands from the grupera wave like Bronco in telenovelas such asDos mujeres, un camino.[3]Later,tropicalcumbia artists such asCelso Piña, Margarita la Diosa de la Cumbia, andLos Ángeles Azules would be included under the termgrupera.
A turning point in the development of grupera was the popularization of groups based onbanda sinaloense mainly throughBanda el Recodo and others like La Original Banda El Limón andLa Arrolladora Banda El Limón.[5][3]
In the early 2000s, in Mexico the termRegional Mexican began to be used.Regional Mexican music had already been used for several years in the United States to refer homogeneously to the regional variations of rural Mexican music and avoid includingtropical music artists under the label. Meanwhile,grupera came to refer specifically to the bands and solo artists that use electric guitars and basses, electronic keyboards and drums, but that playedballads,cumbias,rancheras,corridos,boleros andhuapangos, with said genre being one of many styles under the Regional Mexican umbrella.
