Meet Danny Felix – Billboard

Danny Felix’s rodeo spanned nearly two decades – but it was only in recent years that he gained long-awaited exposure in the music industry, guiding some of Natanael Cano’s early successes, collaborating with Karol G and finally landing on the Billboard graphics.

“I’ve been producing music since I was 17,” said the 29-year-old Phoenix-based artist. Billboard. “At that age, I made over 100 songs, easily, for local artists.”

His passion for music, however, dates back to the age of 10, thanks to his musically motivated family. His father, brother and uncles had a local band in the early 2000s, inspiring the singer / songwriter / producer to follow the same path.

“It’s crazy because they never did it professionally but their talent was in the blood,” he says, adding that he, too, has never considered himself a big music star. “I would do that just as a hobby,” he admits.

But learning to play various instruments, produce his own music and write his own lyrics came naturally to Felix, who had his first big opportunity in 2013 on Luis Coronel’s “Dime Que Te Paso” and shortly thereafter launched his career alongside Cano.

“I produced the very first recorded songs of Natanael when he was only 14 years old,” he recalls. “We always kept in touch and that’s how I then produced his remix with Bad Bunny on ‘Soy El Diablo’. I am so proud of the sound I created with it.

A new regional urban sound, which, he says, was born only from experiments in his home studio.

“I was doing things that nobody did back then, like English songs in sierreño and adding beats to cumbia songs,” he notes, crediting artists such as Eminem, Dr. Dre, Reik and Romeo Santos, for inspiring his style.

Considered one of the pioneers of the trap corridos movement, Felix’s avant-garde fusions between tradition and modernity can be heard on his Seen album, and even more his innovative “Mariachi Tumbado” with Tecalitlan’s Mariachi Vargas, which entered both billboards Mexican Regional Airplay and Latin Airplay table this year.

Now he’s being discovered by new fans after teaming up with Karol G for his very first corridor, “200 Copas” (out of KG0516 album), and join her on stage in key performances. He explains that Colombian hitmaker Ovy On the Drums contacted him by direct message and that in two days he had all the guitars and bass ready.

“I feel unstoppable,” he says proudly. “I don’t have to do tumbados all the time. I can always go back to traditional regional music and from there create new things.

Learn more about this week’s Latin artist on the climb below:

Last name and first name: Daniel “Danny” Félix

Age: 29

Recommended song: “Mariachi Tumbado” with Mariachi Vargas from Tecalitlan

Major achievement: “I always said he was able to take regional and traditional guitars to Puerto Rico with Bad Bunny and to Colombia with Karol G.”

And after: “My new EP is coming out next month. After that, I’m going to release a duo project with OG artists such as Miguel y Miguel and Los Cuates de Sinaloa, who are pioneers of 12-string guitars in the Regional. Then I plan to return to the corrido tumbados.