Roberto Tapia and Larry Hernandez

Before Tapia was born, his parents migrated to the United States and settled in San Diego for a few years. Not long afterwards Tapia’s family relocated back to Sinaloa, Mexico where Tapia spent a majority of his childhood. Tapia showed interest and skill as a musician at a young age. By the time he was 9 years old he was admitted in to the highly respected Difocur School of music in Culiacan. During his attendance at the school, Tapia specialized in the clarinet, but expanded his musical horizons, becoming proficient as a guitarist and percussionist.

Tapia got his start with live performance by playing alongside acts like the Symphony of Sinaloa. Though he was initially hesitant to perform as a solo act he refined his trait, performing at local venues, dance halls and receptions. Tapia played his first professional gig when he was 17 years old. The performance took place in Tijuana, Mexico and was in support for another Sinaloense artist, El Lobito de Sinaloa.

Tapia gradually started picking up a buzz and caught the attention of Sonny International who put out his self-titled debut in 2002. The record featured an integration of traditional Latin style with modern sounds of electronica and hip-hop.

Tapia’s album “Los Amigos del M” came out 6 years later. The album was released through(Machete Music) and was largely seen as an attempt to reach a new demographic. “El Nino De la Tuna” followed a year later and just a year after that he released his fourth album “La Batalla”. In 2011 Tapia issued both a studio album “El Corrido del nino” and a live release simply entitled “Live”.

Tapia issued his biggest album to date with 2012’s “El Muchacho”., which sailed to the top of the Latin Billboard Charts and also earned him artist of the year through Los Premios de la Radio.

Of course he sometimes contradicts this over serious iconography, posting video selfies of himself consuming banana’s and Chobani yogurt, and warming pictures of him with his family, but this also seems to show that there are many different dimensions in his character, which inadvertently also seem to filter through his music. His sound encompasses upbeat polka tempos, mysterious guitar sweeps, and the occasional heartfelt ballad. However a dance/party like aurora is almost always present.

Hernandez was born 10 March 1977 in Los Angeles, United States. He lived in the US until age four, but later moved to Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico where he spent the remainder of his childhood. He was brought up by a talent nurturing family, receiving a great deal of influence from his musically inclined grandfather and cousins.

Though Hernandez professes an eclectic range of influences, he states that singer/songwriter Chalino Sanchez had the biggest impact on his music. By the time he was eight Hernandez was already composing songs of his own. Though he had the support and constructive critique of his family he is a self-taught musician. Hernandez later enrolled in a music school in Culiacan and played drums for the act Los Amables del Norte during his time there.

Hernandez eventually broke out as a solo artist, and released his 1st album “Contellas Nortena” in 1999. It was followed by an outpour of consecutive releases. From 1999 - 2008 he released a total of 9 studio albums, developing a strong cult following, but never breaking into the mainstream. That changed in 2009 with the release of “16 Narco Corridors”, 1 of the 4 albums he released that year. The album consisted of mostly original material and featured a lyrical narrative, which was centered around Mexico’s drug trafficking culture. Three hit singles made there way onto the album” “El Querendon y Cajetoso”, “El Baleado”, and “Pilotos Canabis”. What makes this release an even bigger surprise hit was the fact it was recorded in only 1 day!

Hernandez’s next commercial hit was his album “En Vivo” Desde Culiacan”. This release climbed to no. 2 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, crediting Hernandez with his 2nd album to surface within the top 10 Latin Albums chart.