What is Tejano Music?
Tejano music is known to be a complex set of musical groups, styles, and genres that started out as being categorized for Tejanos, residents of the state of Texas who were of Hispanic descent born but were living in the United States. This industry was primarily dominated by male artist and bands such as Mazz and David Lee Garza until the 1980s. Tejano is considered a form of border music reflective of the historical experiences of Mexican immigrants residing in Texas at the time. Traditional Tejano music focused primarily on vocal singing with a guitar or mariachi accompaniment. Years later it would incorporate and primarily use the accordion. Examples include Mazz’s “Vuelve,” which is focused on accordion and drums similar to that found in Los Lobos but at a slower tempo. David Lee Garza was also heavy on the accordion in songs such as “Hasta Cuando.” Both of these artists were men who had success in the Tejano industry but whose music was not really known outside the borders of Texas.
After some years, there was a decline in conjunto music and that was due to the lack of interest or rejection of accordion-based music especially in the more accultured, urbanized and younger members of the Mexican community at the time. According to Guadalupe San Miguel in Tex-Mex Music in the Twentieth Century, Tejano music, a male-driven industry, included female artists that were actually an extremely important force in the emerging Tejano music industry increasing the social base of Tejano music by appealing immigrants, working-class, and accultured groups of Tejanos (Guadalupe). Such artists included Lydia Mendoza, known as Queen of Tejano music years before Selena Quintanilla was popular. Her repertoire included “Mal Hombre” and “El Lirio.”
Where Does Selena Fall?
Selena Quintanilla would later become one of the most successful female artists in the Tejano industry with best-selling albums, Entre A Mi Mundo, released in 1992 and Amor Prohibido, released in 1994.
Her music was categorized as Tejano but was not accordion-based as seen in traditional Tejano music. This would be one of the first steps to rebelling and changing the strict norms of Tejano music. From 1960 to the 1980s, Tejanas were excluded and discouraged from recording and performing because of the sexism in the Tejano music industry as well as patriarchal ideas in the Tejano community which limited their participation. Selena and her band, Los Dinos, were neglected to perform at venues because she was the lead singer. Her father was also a believer that she was not going to be able to become a famous artist because of the competition in the industry by men (Limón). Yet this didn’t stop her from becoming the first female artist to receive a Grammy Award for the Tejano category and hitting #1 on Billboard’s regional Mexican charts multiple times (Billboard). This shows the cultural borders she had to overcome to become as successful as she is today. She was one of the few, along with Emilio Navarro, to help popularize Tejano music because there was a sudden increase of Mexican music and a limited influence and popularity of Tejano music out the Texas borders. She proved otherwise by becoming known to expand the musical repertoire adding Spanish-language Mariachi baladas, English Language pop love songs, and code-switching cumbias.
Her Dreaming of You album would be her first step towards globalizing her music and expanding her audience to the United States. It was released months after her death only showing how much more she could have done if she would have still been alive. Her ultimate goal was to crossover culturally similar to how Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, and many other artists at the time were doing. She changed the aspect of Tejano music as a more Mexican and American culture rather than just for the people in Texas. Her song “Dreaming of You” is actually considered as a pop song, different from the cumbias in many of her albums before her death.
“Como La Flor”
“Como La Flor” was released as a single on October 1992 in the United States and Mexico in her Entre A Mi Mundo album. It was ranked number #1 in Mexico Singles Chart (1992) and #9 in the American Billboard category of Regional Mexican Songs (1995). Her performance of “Como La Flor” was in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas on February 26, 1995, which also featured her latest album, Amor Prohibido. Although not part of the album, it was during that year that “Como La Flor” had broken a record in her career as a solo singer. It had been successful in the United States and crossed over to Mexico and remained #1 in the Mexico Singles Chart for eight weeks, breaking Tejano artist Emilio Navarro’s record. Below is included her full performance live from Astrodome.
David Lee Garza
David Lee Garza was born on February 15, 1957, in Jourdanton, Texas. His father taught him how to play the accordion at the age of eight and this would allow him to incorporate a lot of it in his music career. His songs were accordion-based with a mixture of banda style. Banda is known to be a style of Mexican music that is mostly brass and percussion. Selena’s music rarely uses any accordion and includes more cumbia rather than banda. In “Hasta Cuando,” the beginning starts off with an accordion introduction that serves as a fill-in throughout the song and when it comes to the break, it is the accordion that comes in to do a little solo. In “Como La Flor,” the synthesized piano is her main instrument and the “solo” and intro of her song. Moving on to the lyrical content of “Hasta Cuando,” this song is about his broken heart after the woman he loved left him and never came back. In “Como La Flor,” she talks about her broken heart after the guy she loved left her for someone else. The difference is that Garza begs for the love of his life to stay and that the only way he will be okay is if she comes back to him whereas Selena accepts the fact that he has left her and all she can do is hope he is happy and moves on with her life. Although they are both heartbroken, Selena takes a more mature and strong approach to the situation.
Lydia Mendoza
Lydia Mendoza was born on May 21, 1916, in Houston, Texas. She was one of the first real vocal stars in Mexican-American music. She was also known as the Queen of Tejano music years before Selena Quintanilla was popular. In Lydia Mendoza: A Family Autobiography, she acknowledges the disadvantage she had to be a female in the Tejano industry.
“It’s more difficult to build a career like I did for a woman than for a man.”
Like Selena, it was not easy for her to strive in the Tejano industry but yet she still became famous with her song “Mal Hombre” and as mentioned, becoming the first Queen of Tejano.
According to Angelica Lasala, “Ranchera songs – specifically those about love – became a hallmark of Mendoza’s work. They spoke directly to the lived experiences of Tejanos more than complex, orchestral works did (Lasala).” At the beginning of “Mal Hombre,” she starts off with vocals and guitar being the primary instrumentation for this song. Her vocals seem to be in a high restrained range as she is signing about a malevolent man who had no respect for her. The high restrained range is her pain and regrets for having laid eyes on him in the first place. She is not afraid to call him out as indicated in the lines, “Eres un canaya/ eres un malvado/ eres un mal hombre,” making her brave but yet her high vocals indicate that it isn’t easy for her to do so. She was focused on the more soulful aspect of her music whereas Selena incorporated a more upbeat rhythm in “Como La Flor” that made it more entertaining and less pessimistic especially if she is singing about moving on. She was considered as the Queen of Tejano because she also crossed cultural borders during her career.