Mexican Singer Ivonne Galaz is the First Woman to Release a Major Corridos Tumbados Album
Ivonne Galaz is breaking down barriers for women in the emerging corridos tumbados genre. With the appropriately-titled Voy En Camino, the Mexican singer becomes the first woman in the genre to release a major album (via Rancho Humilde and Cinq Music). In an exclusive interview with Latido Music, Galaz talked about her journey and how she hopes to inspire others.
Galaz promises that Voy En Camino is “chingón“.
“Truthfully I’m very nervous,” Galaz tells us about releasing the 9-track LP. “It’s my first album. It’s my first project by myself. I made this with my group and my co-writer.” She then confidently adds, “This discote is chingón.”
Galaz is the first female signee to Rancho Humilde, the label that’s home to corridos tumbados hit-makers like Natanael Cano, Junior H, and Ovi. The genre is a hip-hop twist these Gen-Z artists are giving the traditional corrido. She made her debut in December 2019 on Cano’s Mi Nuevo EP. The two did a duet of the song that she wrote “Golpes de La Vida.”
Galaz’s career really started to take off last year.
Galaz did other duets with Cano and Natalie López, another female artist signed to Rancho Humilde, last year. The Sonora native caught national attention last July when a corrido she wrote for murdered U.S. army soldier Vanessa Guillén went viral. Galaz kicked off her solo career in November with her debut single “A Mi Modo.”
She hopes to inspire other women to follow her lead.
Galaz cites women in regional Mexican music like Ana Gabriel, Jenni Rivera, and Chavela Vargas as her inspirations. In corridos tumbados, she’s the one that’s leading the way.
“With my music, I hope more than anything that they know me as the first woman that had bravery to open the doors for women in this genre,” she says. “There’s women who are afraid to get into this genre because they think corridos tumbados is just for the men when it’s not like that. I hope they see me as an inspiration. If they ask for my help, I’ll give them advice on how I did it and had the patience to do it.”
She’s a force to be reckoned with on Voy En Camino.
Like Galaz said, for most of Voy En Camino, she goes it alone in songs that are either vulnerable or exuding with the swagger that she carries as a musician. Galaz plays her guitar to reflect the intensity of her emotions. She holds her own with Del Records’ Abraham Vazquez in their fiery duet “Tú Qué Me Juzgaz.”
“Corridos tumbados is a movement that’s muy perro and it’s taking over,” Galaz says. “For a woman to come along and come through with an album of songs that talks about real life and broken hearts, it’s something that will make an impact.”
The title track speaks the most to her journey.
As for her favorite song on the album, Galaz says it’s the title track “Voy En Camino.” She wrote that one during a difficult time in her life and now it’s the centerpiece of her groundbreaking release.
“It’s a song I wrote in November 2019,” Galaz says. “During that time I felt destroyed with no motivation. I had nothing. However, I got the strength to write about everything that was happening to me. It’s something that gave me the impulse to not give up. I remember all those lyrics that I wrote and I’m like, ‘Wow, my life has changed so much.’ It’s like saying Ivonne Galaz is on her way.”
