"The trio- lead singer Alejandro Ahumada, guitarist Leonardo Lomeli and tololoche player Rogelio Gonzalez - felt so compelled to make the pilgrimage to the North Carolina grocery store where Juan has been sequestered for months, that they ditched all press events for their latest EP "Afterafter," released on April 30, in order to meet and serenade him. The band even awarded a $5,000 scholarship to his son, Angel."
""Why? Because it felt so right," said Ahumada. "His story connected with us, because we also come from hardworking parents that really gave it all for us." As the rush of East Coast travel wore off, Clave Especial returned to Salinas to throw a huge homecoming bash. "It's like a full-circle moment," said Ahumada of their May 4 performance at the Salinas Sports Complex."
"They joined a video call from their childhood bedrooms to discuss "Afterafter," a five-track project set to a fiery tempo - 140 BPM to be exact - that is nostalgic for summer days and the never-ending after-parties they bring. The songs were selected from their vault, they said, which includes a long list of tracks that didn't make the cut for "Mija No Te Asustes," the band's 2025 critically acclaimed debut that featured co-signs by Fuerza Regida, Edgardo Nuñez and Luis R Conquirez."
"In the last two months, the corrido tumbado band from Salinas, Calif., performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Texas-and made headlines by singing a narcocorrido; spoke to Latino students at Cornell University in upstate New York; and even embarked on a impromptu 10-hour road trip to show their support for Juan, a contestant from Mexico on one of MrBeast's latest challenges who has become a viral sensation."
Clave Especial took a break while staying active across major events and viral moments. The corrido tumbado trio from Salinas, California performed at South by Southwest in Texas, drew attention for singing a narcocorrido, and spoke with Latino students at Cornell University in New York. They also joined an impromptu 10-hour road trip to support Juan, a Mexico-based contestant on an MrBeast challenge who became a viral sensation. The band skipped press events for their April 30 EP Afterafter to meet and serenade Juan at a North Carolina grocery store where he had been kept for months. They awarded a $5,000 scholarship to Juan’s son, Angel, and later returned to Salinas for a May 4 homecoming performance. Afterafter is a five-track project at 140 BPM with nostalgic summer energy and after-party themes.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]