*This is the second article published through the column “Hay que hablar de México;” a column on regional Mexican music written by reporter Evelyn Salazar.*

In recent years, regional Mexican music has made its way to the newer generations in many ways. However, the recent generation in Mexican music royalty seem to be continuing their grandparent’s and father’s paths in their music careers. The tradition and talent won’t be stopping anytime soon, and the family legacies are starting to be dominated by women.

Musicians Camila Fernandez and Lupita Infante, both being a part of musical royalty, have shown that the dynasties will continue to spread more of their music and traditions to other generations.

Fernandez is apart of the Fernandez dynasty; a very well known family that has made a legacy for themselves in Mexican music. Their pioneer was none other than Vicente Fernandez, a musical ranchera legend and actor. Her father is Alejandro “El Potrillo” Fernandez, another well-known popular pop ranchera genre singer.

Infante is another that’s making her own name in music while also carrying on her family legacy. Infante’s grandfather is the great Pedro Infante; an icon in Mariachi music. Her father Pedro Infante Jr. also pursued a career in music.

Both of these artists carry a heavy weight upon them since both are apart of two of the most famous pioneering families in Mariachi music. But this shouldn’t be too much of a worry for the two women since, by the looks of it, both of them have made it evidently clear to audiences that they have the talent to be in the industry and are worth a listener’s time.

On the other hand, many people do criticize the third generation singers because they don’t think they can live up to the expectations set forth by their ancestors. There is a shared mindset about the new generation of royalty singers in which viewers think that they will, and are, copying the musical style of a family member and not offering anything new to the table. In other words, they will just repeat what has already been done.

But after reviewing what they have done in past and in recent years, I think they show the opposite of what people argue. I think that, yes, they do repeat classic songs, but they make it modern while still keeping the essence of the past generations alive.

Also, these women’s fame is not something that came easy for them. They didn’t take help from their family’s connections in the industry.

For example, Infante actually auditioned on La Voz Mexico (The Voice) in 2017. Her rendition of a Pedro Infante classic “Amorcito Corazón” won the judges hearts with her style and unique voice.

Most people didn’t know that Pedro Infante Jr. even had a daughter, but it became publicly known after her appearance on La Voz. That opportunity finally granted her the position in music that she now holds today.

After releasing her debut album “La Serenata,” she landed her first Grammy nomination for Best Regional Mexican Album for this project. She also received another Grammy nomination in 2020 for her single “Dejare.”

As for Fernandez, she also started releasing music in 2017 with the pop song “Mio.” She continued releasing music in this style until 2022 when she released her first Mariachi song “Amor Eterno.” Her cover of this song jump-started a new era for her and her career.

In 2023 she decided to finally release her long-awaited album entitled “Camila Fernandez.” This project was actually dedicated to her late grandfather. In an interview, she stated that her grandfather told her that he really wanted to produce her album, but he sadly passed away in 2020 and didn’t get to hear the full finished project.

Both women deserve a lot more recognition than they get because they truly created their own paths and took it upon themselves to be where they are right now. To me, I truly admire these women because it’s not an easy path to get into with the enormous amount of pressure they endure.

They have been making music for around seven years now and have gained respect from other dynasties and, most importantly, much of the audiences of regional Mexican music.

Let’s support the women in these dynasties the way the men are accepted and represented. Women deserve as much of a chance at the spotlight as men do, especially the generational talents that are Fernandez and Infante.