When Fuerza Régida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz sat down with Rolling Stone late last year, a phone call from Myke Towers interrupted the interview. The night prior, the two had hit the studio in Miami.
“He said he fucks with my music,” Ortiz said at the time. “Hopefully we do a collab… We want to go global, but never forget about our roots.”
Now, that Towers-Fuerza Régida song is finally here. On Friday, the Mexican-American band and Puerto Rican star released “Pariente,” Towers’ first foray into corridos and Música Mexicana.
“The more diamonds the chain has, the more cabrón it looks,” sings Towers on the chorus in Spanish, his voice flowing with the backing sound of the tuba. “My neck’s frozen, but my heart is cold.”
In one verse, Ortiz calls back to his albums Pa Que Hablen and Sigan Hablando, as he sings, “Rare to see those who keep doubting/It’s cool, just sigan hablando.” (“Keep talking” in English.)
The video for the track captures both artists singing along to the lyrics of “Pariente” from a multi-car garage, outside a gas station, and inside a studio together.
Back in March, Towers spoke to Variety about working with Fuerza Régida for the first time, telling the outlet that he was “really nervous” that his voice wouldn’t fit with the corrido.
“We live in completely different worlds in terms of music. I have an incredible respect for their style, so I was slightly intimidated,” Towers told the outlet. “I listen to [corridos] but it’s not the same as putting yourself in the position to record them. They fell in love with it and I’m honestly really proud of how I sound in it.”
The new track with Towers is the latest of a string of collabs from Régida, which last dropped “Santo Patrón” and “Mentira No Es” with Banda MS. Ortiz also joined Becky G onstage at Coachella to perform their collab “Te Quiero Besar” along with Gruo Frontera collab “Bebé Dame.”
With the growth of Música Mexicana, Ortiz has his sights set high on what he wants to do with his band and its growing fanbase. “I want a feature with Lil Baby. I respect the way he moves and the way he does his shit. He’s American, bro. I’m American. We just come from different places,” he said in December.
“Now I can do this Marshmello shit. Now I can do this Myke Towers shit,” Ortiz added. “My people are going to respect it and then we’re going to go crazy and change the game.”