On July 16, 2024, the Mexican-American band Fuerza Regida announced a surprise album, “Pero No Te Enamores,” which translates to “But Don’t Fall in Love.” The album surprised fans since they hadn’t promoted nor announced it until it was completed. Initially, the album was met with excitement, but as the release date got closer and the track list was released, fans realized the album wasn’t the typical Regional Mexican music that they were used to.
On July 25, 2024, when the album had finally been released, long-time and new fans excitedly opened their chosen streaming app and pressed play. The tracklist on July 22, 2024, revealed songs like “FRESITA” and “VALERIA” featured a different style of artists, like Bellakath and Maluma. These artists aren’t particularly known for “corridos tumbados,” a combination of regional Mexican music with a twist of rap or reggae, so clearly the album was going to be a surprise. As soon as the first song, “TUQLO” was introduced with a heavy EDM tone and no guitars, the difference of this album became obvious. This weird difference to their regular music was just not expected.
Is Fuerza Regida actually Fuerza Regida, or is it just the lead of the band, Jesus Ortiz Paz (JOP)? None of the other band members who played the instruments were on most of the songs, it was just JOP singing. At first, the album wasn’t particularly loved by fans, but as time went on, the album began to grow in listeners. “PERO NO TE ENAMORES,” “BELLA,” and are some of the more popular songs on the album, and it’s for a reason. These songs are 2 of the 3 “corridos” included in the album, and clearly fans like those a lot more rather than the EDM. They have a little more variety through the lyrics and aren’t just the straight EDM beats heard in “TUQLO.” The band is still going strong through their “Pero No Te Enamores” tour, which presents concerts throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
Overall, the album isn’t terrible, but it definitely isn’t their best either. JOP, the lead singer, announced that this album was very experimental and that Fuerza Regida would keep doing corridos but also with a mix of new music in the future.
