Jenni Rivera

In the ‘90s, vocalist/songwriter Jenni Rivera established herself as a major star in the regional Mexican market. Rivera's specialty is banda, which is also known as corrido and is one of the various Mexican styles that is extremely popular in Mexico as well as the southwestern part of the United States. Rivera is well aware of other Mexican styles, such as norteño, tejano, mariachi and ranchero--in fact, the Mexican-American singer has recorded norteño versions of some songs--but banda/corrido is her main focus. And the fact that Rivera is a major female star makes her a rarity for the banda/corrido field. While Mexican music has had plenty of famous female artists over the years--everyone from Rocio Durcal to Lola Beltrán to Selena to the controversial Gloria Trevi--banda has tended to be male-dominated. In the Mexican market, Rivera has been given such titles as La Diva de la Banda (the Diva of Banda) and la Primera Dama del Corrido (the First Lady of Corrido). It should be noted that not all Latin artists who use the word banda in their name actually play banda/corrido music; for example, there are merengue outfits with names like Banda X.Although Rivera is of Mexican descent, she didn't actually grow up in Mexico. Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, CA, the Los Angeles suburb that also gave us gangsta rap star Snoop Doggy Dogg.