Last year, twins Marcelo and Eugenio Garza turned 18 and – like many newly-bloomed adults – made a mad dash for the city. Only this time, the city was in a different country – they left Monterrey, Mexico, for Los Angeles, with dreams of becoming R&B artists.
They lived together in a tiny studio apartment, working tirelessly on their duo project, Vice Menta, messaging every label they could find.
“We thought about how we were different from all of the thousands of people trying to make it and we were like, ‘Well, we’re Mexican — we’re actually from there. Let’s work with that,’” Eugenio told Remezcla.
Eventually, the pair landed a meeting with renowned Canadian producer Ray Daniels.
Del Norte wey…🇲🇽 // Blessings🙏🏼
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After meeting, Daniels said if they moved to Atlanta, Georgia, he’d take them in. It was a slow process but the twins learned a lot watching other artists produce music and took this knowledge home to put towards their own music.
What they created was an instant hit and artists quickly began asking to collaborate, including Theron Thomas of the duo Rock City.
Their music is an unflinching reflection of themselves – R&B fanatics who love to sing in Spanish. They refuse to assimilate or bend to a stereotype.
“We loved R&B so much and learned to sing those melodies,” Marcelo told Remezcla. “It took a while to realize, ‘Bro what are we doing? We’re from Mexico; we can sing in Spanish and it sounds way better.’ We can do this in our own way.”
Their success is a testament to the power of unapologetically being yourself.
Watch their newest video ‘Paraíso’, featuring Yakki. It was released through Remezcla.