{ "slug": "mariachi", "name": "Mariachi", "aliases": [ "son jalisciense", "ranchera", "mariachi music" ], "description": "Western Mexico's string band tradition, from the Jalisco countryside to the plazas of Mexico City, formalised in the twentieth century around violins, trumpets, vihuela and the great bellied guitarrón.", "origin": { "place": "Jalisco, Mexico", "year": 1900 }, "lineage": [], "bpm": { "min": 90, "max": 160 }, "updated": "2026-08-30", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/mariachi/", "trackCount": 8, "curatedBy": [], "playlists": {}, "tracks": [ { "rank": 1, "trackKey": "quirino-mendoza-y-cortes--cielito-lindo", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/quirino-mendoza-y-cortes--cielito-lindo/", "title": "Cielito Lindo", "artist": "Quirino Mendoza y Cortés", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/quirino-mendoza-y-cortes/", "year": 1882, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A son written before mariachi had trumpets, and now the thing a stadium full of Mexicans sings without being asked. Dated to its composition; it predates the ensemble that owns it.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Quirino%20Mendoza%20y%20Cort%C3%A9s%20Cielito%20Lindo", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KoVY2_oepXg", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 2, "trackKey": "jose-alfredo-jimenez--el-rey", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/jose-alfredo-jimenez--el-rey/", "title": "El Rey", "artist": "José Alfredo Jiménez", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/jose-alfredo-jimenez/", "year": 1971, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A man with nothing insisting he is still the king. Jiménez could not read music and wrote a thousand songs; this is the one carved on his tomb.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Jos%C3%A9%20Alfredo%20Jim%C3%A9nez%20El%20Rey", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=0eSzutqhWBA", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 3, "trackKey": "ruben-fuentes--la-bikina", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/ruben-fuentes--la-bikina/", "title": "La Bikina", "artist": "Rubén Fuentes", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/ruben-fuentes/", "year": 1964, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Fuentes was the arranger who standardised the modern mariachi sound, and this is his best tune — a woman walking past, and a whole town watching.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Rub%C3%A9n%20Fuentes%20La%20Bikina", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NCvJwzDQTBM", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 4, "trackKey": "vicente-fernandez--volver-volver", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/vicente-fernandez--volver-volver/", "title": "Volver, Volver", "artist": "Vicente Fernández", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/vicente-fernandez/", "year": 1972, "label": "CBS", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The definitive ranchera performance. Fernández holds the last note past the point of comfort, which is the entire art form compressed into four seconds.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Vicente%20Fern%C3%A1ndez%20Volver%2C%20Volver", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BW2xNLIPxdE", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 5, "trackKey": "chavela-vargas--la-llorona", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/chavela-vargas--la-llorona/", "title": "La Llorona", "artist": "Chavela Vargas", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/chavela-vargas/", "year": 1993, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Vargas sang rancheras in trousers, without a mariachi, and slower than anyone thought possible. She proved the songs survive being stripped of everything.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Chavela%20Vargas%20La%20Llorona", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtMfkYyKjM", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 6, "trackKey": "mariachi-vargas-de-tecalitlan--son-de-la-negra", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/mariachi-vargas-de-tecalitlan--son-de-la-negra/", "title": "Son de la Negra", "artist": "Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/mariachi-vargas-de-tecalitlan/", "year": 1940, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The unofficial anthem of the form, by the ensemble that effectively defined it. The trumpet figure at the top is what most of the world hears in its head when it hears the word.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Mariachi%20Vargas%20de%20Tecalitl%C3%A1n%20Son%20de%20la%20Negra", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=XTwmQ-R7Joc", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 7, "trackKey": "lola-beltran--paloma-negra", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/lola-beltran--paloma-negra/", "title": "Paloma Negra", "artist": "Lola Beltrán", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/lola-beltran/", "year": 1960, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Beltrán at full power, jealous and furious and entirely in control. The counterweight to every claim that this is a men's tradition.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Lola%20Beltr%C3%A1n%20Paloma%20Negra", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=pvtS_Wm9hxc", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 8, "trackKey": "jose-alfredo-jimenez--ella", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/jose-alfredo-jimenez--ella/", "title": "Ella", "artist": "José Alfredo Jiménez", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/jose-alfredo-jimenez/", "year": 1950, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Drinking, dignity and a woman who left. Jiménez wrote the same song repeatedly for two decades and it was a very good song.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Jos%C3%A9%20Alfredo%20Jim%C3%A9nez%20Ella", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ae7PdKveUjY", "exact": true } } } ] }