The Mysterious Mariachi Star of Kendrick Lamar’s GNX

On November 22, Kendrick Lamar capped off an extraordinary year that saw him besting Drake in a feud and scoring a No. 1 hit with the indelible “Not Like Us” by dropping a new album. GNX, featuring 12 entirely new tracks, hit streaming services around noon Eastern time, surprising fans and throwing a million year-end lists-in-progress into disarray.

But when fans queued up the rapper’s sixth studio album, the first voice that greeted them was not Kendrick’s but Deyra Barrera’s, a Mexican singer and mariachi performer, who sings a brief, rousing introductory verse at the top of the album, on “wacced out murals.” (The Spanish lyrics translate to: “I feel your presence here / Last night / And we start to cry.”)

The little-known Barrera — who, as of this writing, has fewer than 500 monthly listeners on Spotify — is also featured on two more tracks on GNX. Naturally, fans have questions about Kendrick’s unlikely new collaborator, and we’ve got some answers. (Barrera did not respond to an interview request for this piece.)

Who is Deyra Barrera?

According to a short bio on PBS SoCal’s website, Barrera, a regional Mexican singer, “has a long history as a Mariachi musician and has performed in national and international singing reality television shows.” She was a finalist on the singing show La Reina de la Canción back in 2017, and has also appeared on shows like La Voz and La Academia.

Additionally, Barrera sings with a Mariachi group called Mariachi Corazon de Mexico and, as Remezcla notes, released an album with Regional Mexican artists Carmen Ríos and Verónica Rosales. She also recently performed at the 2024 World Series in honor of the late Mexican baseball legend Fernando Valenzuela, which is how Kendrick reportedly discovered her.

Where can I hear Barrera’s vocals?

Three tracks on GNX kick off with guest vocals from Barrera: namely, “wacced out murals,” “reincarnated,” and “gloria.” The singer’s voice essentially bookends the album, and she has a co-writing credit on all three songs. These songs are among the most forceful and emotionally intense tracks on the album, and Barrera’s intros can be interpreted as one Spanish-language poem split into three parts.

Are there any other Mexican artists on the album?

Yes. On the title track, the first verse is by L.A.-based Mexican rapper Peysoh. (On Instagram, the young rapper posted the track and wrote, “This was for the west,” with a Mexican flag emoji.) Additionally, the Guatemalan-Mexican-American rapper Lefty Gunplay, who is based in Baldwin Park and has become celebrated as one of his generation’s biggest Latino rappers, guests on “tv off.”

Fans have noted that Kendrick is honoring the Latino music community on the album and recognizing the oft-overlooked Latino influence on hip-hop culture. And some have dug up a Kendrick tweet from way back in 2012, when he posted: “This is LA. I love all my extended Latino families. Their morals their culture. This is California.”

What has Barrera said about her appearance on the album?

Very little! She told Rolling Stone that she is still in shock about the whole thing: “My skin gets goosebumps because all of this happened so quickly for me. It’s magical. I want to cry.”

What has Kendrick said about the mariachi influence on the album?

Nothing! He’s Kendrick Lamar. He doesn’t have time to explain himself or do interviews.