Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

10 hours ago

S&P 500, Nasdaq Near Record Highs as Rate-Cut Bets Creep Up

16 hours ago

Bobby Sherman, Easygoing Teen Idol of the 1960s and ’70s, Dies at 81

16 hours ago

Cargo Ship That Caught Fire Carrying Electric Vehicles Sinks in the Pacific

16 hours ago

US Supreme Court Backs South Carolina Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

16 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

1 day ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

1 day ago

Fresno Residents Join Nationwide Fast to Call Attention to Gaza Crisis

2 days ago

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

2 days ago
Singer-Songwriter Ivan Cornejo Fuses Alternative and Regional Mexican Music on New Album, 'Mirada'
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 11 months ago on
August 6, 2024

Ivan Cornejo performs during Festival d'ete de Quebec on Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Quebec City. (AP/Amy Harris/Invision)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

MEXICO CITY — In singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo’s world, regional Mexican music can have pop, ballads and also a bit of melancholic lyrics. His most recent and third studio album, “Mirada,” is a mixture of styles, without neglecting his interest in modern corridos and sad sierreño.

Cornejo, 20, is originally from California. His maternal grandfather played guitar, accordion and harmonica, among other instruments, so music was always a part of his life. But Cornejo started to play guitar and compose by watching tutorials on the internet.

The curiosity to make music began in childhood, when his family got together every weekend and listened to songs by artists like the Mexican band Los Bukis and romantic songs such as Emmanuel’s “Quiero Dormir Cansado,” which he covers on “Mirada.”

“My parents played that song, and when I heard it again for the first time a few years ago, I got nostalgic and fell in love with the song a lot,” he said in a recent Zoom interview from his parents’ home in Riverside.

The conversation was conducted mostly in Spanish. Cornejo says he wants to practice more of the native language of his parents, who are originally from Michoacán, Mexico.

Cornejo’s Early Musical Journey

At age 15, Cornejo began uploading corridos on social networks. By 2021, when he was 17, he released his first album “Alma Vacía,” which he made with the help of his cousin Edgar Alejandro Cornejo, a collaboration that continued on his second album, “Dañado.”

Cornejo is the youngest of three brothers and says he is very close with his family. His sister is his manager, and his brother has also joined his team. His mother is a housewife — “she likes to have a very clean house and cooks every day,” he said — and his father worked as a truck driver, including garbage and cargo collection, but is now retired.

Cornejo describes his music as “the elements of a modern corrido mixed with a bit of pop and … very alternative mixtures,” he said. “It’s a fusion of many genres.” Cornejo thinks of singing in Spanish as a particular form of expression — an extension of his vast musical loves, which also include rap, alternative music and reggae.

“My roots are Mexican, and I really like Mexican music,” he said. “I ventured to start recording songs because I felt that I had to be able to make something unique with all my inspirations.”

The Making of ‘Mirada’

Cornejo composes his own songs, although on “Mirada,” he co-wrote with the Mexican musician Arath Herce and the Mexican composer Édgar Barrera. The album was mostly recorded in California.

The video for the title track “Mirada,” which shows Cornejo creating an orange painting, helps explain a bit the origin of the album cover. On it, he appears sitting on a couch dressed in black, one of his favorite colors, with a faded orange background.

“I wanted something that felt very vibrant, full of life and color. I wanted it to feel a little nostalgic,” he said. “A bit like a sunrise and like a sundown, a mixture of feelings, and also that it felt like summer.”

The album, released in July, debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums charts and entered the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The first half of “Mirada” evokes a style close to regional Mexican music and, after an interlude, changes to more alternative tunes.

“Everything was very intentional with the order (of the songs) and the names, even the lyrics and everything. Almost all my projects are very intentional and the order of the songs, we do plan a little,” he said.

Standout Tracks and Upcoming Tour

“Herida Abierta,” a heartbreak song, is one of those first songs on the album that has a more regional Mexican sound.

“It has the tololoche, the charchetas and the trombone; I wanted to get my feet in that area for the first time,” he said.

“Donde Estás,” which he says discusses the desperation of “not finding your love and losing it,” was recorded together with his producer Frank Río. It is one of the songs composed exclusively by Cornejo.

Another of the outstanding songs is “Aquí Te Espero,” which he released a year ago. Cornejo said it took months to prepare it in the studio, making sure that every instrument and every guitar chord was exactly as he had imagined it. It has since accumulated 22 million views on YouTube and more than 84 million plays on Spotify.

“It’s one of my most emotional songs,” he said.

Cornejo will tour starting on August 15, hitting Tampa, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Boston; San Antonio; Tucson, Arizona and Palm Desert, California. In October, he will perform at the Tecate Peninsula Festival in Tijuana, Mexico.

“I’m super excited to see how my fans react and interact with the new songs on the record,” he said.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

DON'T MISS

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

UP NEXT

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

UP NEXT

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

UP NEXT

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

UP NEXT

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

UP NEXT

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

UP NEXT

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

UP NEXT

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

UP NEXT

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

UP NEXT

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

UP NEXT

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

8 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

9 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

10 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

10 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

10 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

11 hours ago

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

11 hours ago

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

12 hours ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

12 hours ago

New Data Clarifies a Lingering Question on 2024 Turnout

12 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

WASHINGTON – Hawaiian Airlines said on Thursday that some of its IT systems were disrupted by a hack, adding its flights were operatin...

7 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines airplanes on the runway at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. April 28, 2020.
7 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

A view of Harvard campus on John F. Kennedy Street at Harvard University is pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., December 7, 2023. (Reuters File)
8 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

A convicted felon was arrested in Fresno County after investigators found a rifle, handgun, and ammunition while serving a search warrant. (Fresno PD)
8 hours ago

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

8 hours ago

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

American_Flag_Bitcoin_1280x720
9 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

Journalist Bill Moyers delivers the keynote speech at the People for the American Way Foundation's Spirit of Liberty dinner in Beverly Hills September 21, 2004. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
10 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

Clovis police are searching for Surinder Pal, 55, an at-risk man last seen in Fresno, after his car was found abandoned. (Clovis PD)
10 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend