Country music is Mexican (Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera)

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

More often than not, country music is seen as an "American" genre – meaning that the music is seen as strictly from the United States. In some ways, that's true; but the genre's iconography, sound, and ethos can actually be traced to the south of the border, in Mexican regional music. The worlds have been more intertwined than you would think, and in musica mexicana, we find the closest comparison to what we traditionally call "country music." In this episode of Switched On Pop, in honor of country week, we take a look at the cumbia-corrido hybrid "Me Jalo" from Fuerza Regida and Grupo Frontera, two U.S. based acts performing Mexican regional music, to see what ties the cultures together. Songs discussed: George Strait – El Rey Carín León – Necesito Encontrarte Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera – ME JALO Fuerza Regida – TQM Grupo Frontera, Bad Bunny – un x100to Fuerza Regida – SECRETO VICTORIA Grupo Frontera, Grupo Firme – EL AMOR DE SU VIDA Fuerza Regida, Grupo Frontera – Bebe Dame Shania Twain – Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under Hank Williams – Your Cheatin' Heart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Port for Switched on Pop comes from Sonos.
0:02.6	Take it from us podcasters and music fans.
0:04.8	When you've been wearing headphones for hours, your ears and head can start to ache.
0:09.7	Well, if you're looking for a pair that's designed to deliver excellent sound for your long listening sessions, then check out the Sonos Ace headphones.
0:16.9	They're soft, adjustable, and offer up to 30 hours of battery life so you can comfortably listen for ages without having to worry about frequent charging.
0:26.0	Ready for better listening, go to sonos.com to learn more.
0:33.6	Stage on pop.
0:41.9	Welcome the Switched On Pop. I'm producer Rihanna Cruz. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.
0:54.4	And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. And I got bad news for you guys. We're nearing the end of Country Week here at Switched on Pop. Say it ain't so. I think it deserves a little sad, he, yaw.
0:55.5	He ya.
0:57.1	Like that.
0:57.5	Yeah.
0:59.0	Sounds like a horse a little bit.
0:59.5	Thank you.
1:01.9	We got to get hea in the vocabulary.
1:03.5	So way to bring it back, Greana.
1:05.4	I'll never let you live that down, Charlie.
1:07.2	What's the purpose of today?
1:07.9	What are we doing?
1:12.3	Why does this matter? Well, throughout the week, we've looked at the way country music has transformed and shifted over time from the genre's sounds, backgrounds,
1:17.6	and archetypes. But today, I want to look at not just country music's transformation, but
1:23.5	it's expansion. We see country as an American genre, but I would argue that it's more than that.
	...

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