Mark Stefanos
“¡Pa’ sentir machín la adrenalina de andar tirando vergazos!” Jesús Ortiz Paz, the lead singer of Fuerza Regida, growled melodically into the mic, his voice filling MGM Grand Garden Arena for their debut performance at the Latin Grammys last night. “¡Nomás pilas con el radio!”
The frontman, better known as JOP, backed by the band’s signature brass blasts and trap-infused beats, tore through “Marlboro Rojo,” their latest chart-topper, telling us to feel the adrenaline rush of throwing punches, keep an ear to the radio, then pass a Marlboro Red — the notoriously harsh and punchy cig, a perfect emblem of their raw storytelling and commanding sound.
It was peak Fuerza Regida: fiery, a little chaotic, and impossible to look away from. In a night stacked with heavy hitters, the San Bernardino boys reminded everyone why they’re the heat of música Mexicana right now.
Fuerza Regida perform at the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Nov. 13, 2025 in Las Vegas. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy)
They didn’t take home a trophy last night (many calling their one nomination a snub), but the pioneering regional Mexican group isn’t short on accolades and admiration. They’ve gone from having to pull stunts to sell out their hometown show in 2022 to sweeping the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Awards a few weeks ago, snagging five trophies, including Song of the Year for the heartbreak anthem “Tu Boda,” and Regional Mexican Artist of the Year as a duo or group.
That’s on top of their stranglehold on the charts: “Marlboro Rojo” just claimed its fourth No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay in 2025 alone, while their album 111XPANTIA blasted to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 earlier this year — the highest debut ever for a música Mexicana project (it would have been No. 1 had Bad Bunny not re-released Debí Tirar Más Fotos that week). From a sold-out tour with stops at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl, to collaborations that cross borders and genres, Fuerza Regida has turned regional Mexican sounds global.
Tracing it back, the band’s story feels like a made-for-TV underdog tale. Formed in 2015 in the Inland Empire, a crew of young Mexican-American kids — led by JOP on vocals, with Samuel Jáimez handling backing vocals and 12-string guitar, Khrystian Ramos on rhythm guitar, José “Pelón” García on sousaphone, and adding Moisés López on tololoche in 2022 — cut their teeth covering classics at quinceañeras, house parties, and dive-bar gigs.
Then in 2017, they dropped their debut album Fuerza Regida and began catching fire in the underground. Fast-forward through viral TikToks, signing with JOP’s Street Mob Records, and relentless touring, and here they are, on national TV, headlining festivals and underscoring what it means to rep your hood on a world stage, a grind fueled by a relentless West Coast hustle.
What defines Fuerza Regida is their sonic alchemy, pioneering corridos tumbados by fusing norteño and sierreño traditions with trap, hip-hop, and urbano elements. On their 2024 album Pero No Te Enamores, they coined “Jersey corridos,” making house music with corridos’ narrative. Tracks like “Me Jalo” with Grupo Frontera and “Sabor Fresa” feature Spanglish lyrics and beats that reflect the experiences of the U.S.-born, shaped by both Mexican folk traditions and urban American sounds. In a rapidly growing genre, the band maintains versatility while staying true to its core.
Latin Billboard Awards: Óscar Maydon accepts award with Fuerza Regida in Miami, FL on Oct. 23, 2025. (Photo by: Alexander Tamargo/Telemundo via Getty Images)
Through every sold-out show and streaming milestone, they’ve stayed repping San Bernardino, the city that informs their lyrics with themes of community, family, and unbreakable IE pride. They’ve shouted it out in songs, flown the 909 flag, and now they’re building on it with the second edition of Don’t Fall in Love Fest, their brainchild hitting the NOS Events Center on November 22. Last year’s inaugural bash drew thousands for a lineup blending regional Mexican heavyweights like Luis R. Conriquez and Clave Especial with rap icons like Kodak Black and Bone Thugs, and this year’s lineup has Future, Chief Keef, Banda MS, and Los Tucanes De Tijuana joining the fray, building on the festival’s role as a community gathering.
Beyond music, the band shows their community leadership through a series of philanthropic programs. When fires tore through the southland in January, they rented out an entire hotel to provide temporary housing for impacted families. They launched their Fuerza Music Foundation, partnering with El Super and Street Mob Records to provide free meals to families affected by the SNAP shutdown in the IE and LA, donated to the CA Street Vendors Campaign to help fund efforts to legalize and implement street vending laws, covered legal fees for those affected by immigration raids, and established a scholarship for students at CSU San Bernardino — a deliberate return of resources to their roots. “If we’re blessed, we got to bless others,” Moisés told us.
The night before their Grammy performance, we spoke with Moisés, José “Pelón” and Samuel about their instinct to innovate genres and bring that ethos to Don’t Fall in Love Fest ‘25, how they work together, and what it means to carry San Bernardino on your sleeve.
LA WEEKLY: You guys have been in the game for 10 years. I hear people always say things happen slow then they happen really fast — all of a sudden you guys are on everyone’s radar, blowing up over the last few years, now performing at the Latin Grammys. How does it feel?
Moisés Lopez: We’re very grateful with all these accomplishments. Like you said, it’s been 10 years as a band and with all the hard work, we deserve something like this. So we’re very excited to perform tomorrow at the Grammys for the first time. And thanks to the fans and all the people that support us.
Samuel Jáimez, Khrystian Ramos, Jesús Ortíz Paz, Moisés López and José García of Fuerza Regida at The 26th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
José Garcia, AKA Pelón: Throughout this whole year, we’ve just been seeing Fuerza Regida growing a lot. And we have a lot of fans that have been showing up to all of our concerts. We have a great support and we’ve just been blowing up and just growing, bro.
Moisés: We love to do historical stuff, you know, like Madison Square Garden and the next day, Hollywood Bowl. Two sold-out back-to-back is very crazy, so we like to do history.
111xpantia, I learned, means manifest, and you really have manifested it through these years. How do you stay focused and stay working hard to make these things happen?
Moisés: What keeps us motivated is that we stay in top charts, in our genre, and this music industry that’s getting global. And it keeps us motivated to keep going, working hard every day.
Do you have a routine?
Moisés: Sometimes we got a schedule, and sometimes just naturally wake up, some stuff comes up and we’re just working.
Where do you guys live?
Moisés: We live right there in San Bernardino, California. All five of us are close to each other. It’s easier for us to work when we’re all close to each other.
Fuerza Regida performs at Amazon Music Live Season 4 on November 6, 2025 in Glendale. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Amazon Music)
Do you guys hang out outside of the music?
Pelón: We’re practically always working together. Sometimes some of us can’t show up because we got families and stuff. But the main thing is we prioritize Fuerza Regida just to make things happen all the time. We do what we have to do to continue this stuff that we have going on with Fuerza, man.
What’s special about the IE? What don’t people know about the IE and San Bernardino?
Pelón: What’s special about the IE is that not a lot of people make it out, and for the reason we made it out. Thank God for all the fans, especially since the IE is our hometown. We have a lot of fans that support us, so we feel like we’re at home all the time. IE is our place to be at. It’s our comfort zone, from just chilling to going out to eat, being with the family.
When listening to your music, what sets you apart is how you’re able to blend all these different styles, like introducing Jersey corridos and song samples—
Moisés: We try to do a little bit of everything. We like to just try different flavors, try to jump into Jersey, into hip hop, just a mix of cultures. That’s what’s helping us grow.
The Don’t Fall In Love Fest lineup has Future on it—
Moisés: Yeah, you got Chief Keef, Saweetie, Los Tucanes, Neton, Banda MS, Fuerza Regida. Man, it’s gonna be crazy.
What does it mean to bring the rap along with all the different kinds of Latino sounds together at a festival like that?
Moisés: We came up with a mixed culture, so we want to give everybody what they like to listen to — give them the Mexican music, and throw in a little bit of everything: Future, Chief Keef, and we got to throw in Los Tucanes for our people. It’s just a mix so that everybody leaves happy.
Samuel Jaimez: The crazy part about it is that this lineup that we got, they’re all headliners, dude. Everybody’s just complete hits. So whether we put on Banda MS first or last, they’re all popping.
Fuerza Regida performs at Amazon Music Live Season 4 on November 6, 2025 in Glendale. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Amazon Music)
You guys have done so much philanthropy this year, starting with housing for people impacted by the California wildfires, portions of the hat collab and Fest proceeds and going to support Immigrant Legal Aid. Then there’s the Fuerza Music Foundation, CSUSB scholarships and all these different things — so much.
Moisés: Like Jesús says, if we’re blessed and we have all this work, Fuerza Regida was always meant to show love back to the people that show us love.
How does your family and how do your parents feel about all your success?
Pelón: Our parents have been supporting us since the jump. And they obviously see all the hard work that we’ve been through, and they’re proud and happy for us. They’re there to support us all the time. Our parents have always inspired us. It’s because of them we’re here. They’re there for us and we’re there for them as well.
Moisés: They showed us not to stop working, to keep on going.
Are there any artists you would like to collab with?
Moisés: It would be dope to collab with Los Bukies. Karol G. We’re open to collab with some big artists — that would be really dope.
A homegirl of mine wanted to know — who’s single?
Pelón: The world may never know on that one. *Laughs*
So kind of coming back to that — the title of the fest is “Don’t Fall In Love.” And that’s obviously off the last album [Pero No Te Enamores]. What’s the meaning behind that?
Samuel: Don’t Fall In Love doesn’t mean specifically “don’t fall in love” with a certain someone. It’s meant for anything, like, for example, for your job. Don’t fall in love with just being a construction worker. Look for something better.
Looking ahead, what would be some even bigger goals that you would like to achieve?
Moisés: Man, our biggest goal as a team is to conquer the whole world, to have our music playing everywhere. That’s our main goal as a band, to conquer the world.
Follow Fuerza Regida on Instagram @FuerzaRegida. Don’t Fall in Love Fest is coming to NOS Event Center on Nov. 22. For more information, visit dontfallinlovefest.com. Interview edited for length and clarity.
Fuerza Regida on the Nov. 14, 2025 cover of LA Weekly. (Photo courtesy of Fuerza Regida; cover design: Mark Stefanos)