Amid a burgeoning regional Mexican scene in 2018, Alex Ahumada and his cousin Leonardo Lomeli began playing gigs in their hometown Salinas, Calif., — an agricultural hub located just south of the San Francisco Bay Area — mainly as a hobby, after all, they’d both soon go off to college.
Inspired by legacy acts like Valentín Elizalde and Ariel Camacho, Ahumada sang covers while Lomeli played the requinto at family backyard parties or events around town, their repertoire ranging from old-school corridos to cumbias. “We wanted the party to be lit,” Ahumada tells Billboard. The 24-year-old doesn’t come from a family of musicians but corridos and regional Mexican music in general soundtracked his childhood. “A lot of Mexicans live in Salinas,” he adds. “Growing up, we’d always have música mexicana on, for instance you’d hear it in the streets, parties, the Salinas community showed us to be proud of our roots.”
The first-gen Mexican Americans — whose parents emigrated from Jalisco, Mexico and worked in the fields as farm workers — were performing four events a month, charging around $100-200 an hour. While college made it particularly challenging to gig consistently, their summer breaks were booked playing in Salinas and nearby cities like Fresno and Sacramento. “Those gigs built us,” Ahumada says today. “We were able connect with our community and understand what they really wanted to listen to.”
Clave Especial — comprised of Ahumada, Lomeli and tololoche player Rogelio González, who was also born and raised in Salinas and joined the group in 2021 — is a growing force in regional Mexican music thanks to their take on corridos, incorporating charchetas and trombones to their style. In March, Clave’s debut album Mija No Te Asustes — via Street Mob Records — featuring collabs with Luis R Conriquez, Fuerza Regida and Los Dareyes de La Sierra, debuted and peaked at No. 8 on Billboard‘s Top Latin Albums chart and at No. 5 on Regional Mexican Albums.
Earlier this month, the band scored its first Billboard No. 1 thanks to “Tú, Tú, Tú” with Edgardo Nuñez, a track that’s also from Mija No Te Asustes. “All those songs are bangers,” says Lomeli. Ahumada adds, “We had been releasing singles but people wanted the album, so we locked ourselves in the studio for like two or three months, crafting songs specifically for the artists that are featured. We didn’t just want them to jump on any song, we had a specific artist in mind for each collaboration. It all feels like a dream but we’ve worked hard for this.”
Ahumada didn’t know he could sing until one day his cousin got ahold of a guitar. “He called me while I was at work with my dad one summer and he started playing a tune and I just started singing over the phone,” he says, feeling encouraged that no one was watching him. “I was embarrassed but then Leo and I would get together at my house and just practice in my room when no one was home. We started getting more comfortable and sang in family parties or when we were with our friends from high school.”
They also began uploading songs on Instagram and YouTube but had no expectations. “We had faith in our craft but we were realists,” Ahumada says. At the time, a number of young acts were taking center stage fueling the Mexican music movement. “There were so many new artists, all with different styles. That’s why we stuck to our lifestyle and never dropped out of school. We kept grinding and started writing our own songs, too. If this was going to happen for us, it would happen organically.”
That moment came in 2021, after they had graduated from college, with “El Tranki,” released independently, which they said went “viral” on YouTube, getting more 10,000 views. “For us, those were a lot of views and we’d get excited,” adds González. It wasn’t the group’s big break but it encouraged them to keep going. Two years later, “Rápido Soy” catapulted them to a new level, with one million views on YouTube. It’s when the labels started calling, one in particular that they’d hope would reach out.
Street Mob Records, founded by Fuerza Regida’s Jesús Ortiz Paz, signed the group in 2023 on the heels of “Rápido Soy’s” growing streaming numbers. The track earned Clave its first entry on a Billboard chart peaking at No. 39 on Hot Latin Songs in February 2024.
“I used to watch JOP’s blogs when I was in high school,” says Ahumada. “He’s also from California so he gets us and he used to gig locally, playing in backyard parties. Now he’s doing these huge concerts, it’s inspiring.” Since, Ahumada, Lomeli and González say their lives have completely changed, spending more time in L.A. in the studio but also gearing up for their first U.S. tour set to launch in September. “We’re hiking a lot, trying to eat better, to charge up and be 100% ready,” Ahumada says.
What’s most rewarding is that they’ve made their parents proud. “My mom’s like, ‘Mijo, me estas saliendo diario en mis redes,‘ she says she sees me all over her social media feed,” Ahumada says with a laugh. They’re super proud. We come from a hard-working Mexican family and we want to show kids to dream big and work hard.” They’ve also intentionally created a team that includes people mainly from Salinas. “We’re bringing the whole town with us on this journey,” Lomeli adds proudly.
Below, learn more about August’s Billboard Latin Artist on the Rise:
Names: Alex Ahumada, Leonardo Lomeli and Rogelio González
Ages: Ahumada is 24 years old. Lomeli and González are both 23.
Biggest Accomplishment: “Going No. 1 on Billboard. We’re always checking the charts and when we got the No. 1, we immediately showed our families,” Ahumada says. “But also our debut album because that’s a representation of what we can do.”
Recommended Song: “Tú, Tú, Tú” with Edgardo Nuñez. “A lot of people think we’re just corridos, but we also like to sing romantic songs,” Ahumada explains.
What’s Next: Produced by Live Nation, Clave Especial is set to embark on their first U.S. tour. The 17-date stint will kick off Sept. 25 in San José, Calif., and will make stops in cities like Chicago, Las Vegas and Atlanta before wrapping up Nov. 29 in Los Angeles. Check out the complete list of dates here.
