ANAHEIM, Calif. — It’s fitting that Banda MS, the Mazatlan, Mexico-born banda group, started 2023 with the February release of “Un Chingo de Tequila,” a collaboration with Latin pop singer Mario Domm.
There’s likely to be a lot of tequila flowing all year long for the 18-member group since they’re out on the road on a tour dubbed MS 20 Años to commemorate two decades of making music. The tour is coming to the Kia Forum in Inglewood this summer for two evenings June 23-24.
“We challenged ourselves to stay together all these years, to evolve and grow and not just stay in one place or time. Things have changed so much in the last 20 years and we’ve adapted to those changes,” said Oswaldo Silvas, one of the band’s lead vocalists during an interview in Spanish following the press conference at Kia Forum on Monday.
Silvas, along with co-vocalists Alan Ramirez and David Castro, announced that a second date had been added to their time in Inglewood, while also confirming the May 5 release date for their latest collaboration, a song titled “Cuáles Fronteras?” with hip-hop legend and Los Angeles native Ice Cube.
“It’s a song that talks about a theme that’s very important. Here in the U.S., there is a community that is a community of immigrants that comes here to work hard for their families and this song talks about that,” Silvas said.
And they’re also trying to make the Inglewood stop a truly unforgettable one on this outing.
“We are hoping to have him onstage here,” Silvas said of extending an offer to Ice Cube to perform the song live. “We can’t promise anything, but he’s from here and we would love to have that surprise. It would be amazing, just imagine.”
Formed in 2003 by Sergio Lizárraga, who still heads the group but stepped off the stage a few years ago, the band is known as one of the most innovative groups in the banda genre, which is a subgenre of regional Mexican music driven by brass and percussion instruments that also floats between mariachi, ranchera and norteño.
Since its inception Banda MS has released 17 albums, sold more than 30 million records and currently the band has more than 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
In 2018, they earned the No. 6 spot on Billboard’s 50 Top Charting Latin Artists and in 2020, the group won top Latin albums artist of the year and regional Mexican artist of the year at the Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Their previous collaborations have included recordings with with pop artists like Yuridia and Carlos Rivera and even Snoop Dogg for the song “Que Maldicion.”
“We’re always for new things, keeping an eye on how culture is changing, and how the youth are changing the way they express themselves,” Silvas said. “Luckily we have loyal fans from 20 years and new fans from all over the world, of all ages and different generations.”
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BANDA MS
When: 8 p.m. June 23-24
Where: Kia Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood
Tickets: $59-$299 at ticketmaster.com.
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