How Kendrick Lamar Enlisted Mariachi Singer Deyra Barrera for ‘GNX’: ‘Everything He Makes Is Magic’

Many were taken aback when they played Kendrick Lamar‘s surprise album GNX and the first voice they hear is a woman singing in Spanish: “I felt your presence here last night, and we started to cry.”

Well, that voice belongs to 49-year-old mariachi singer Deyra Barrera from Tucson, Arizona. Barrera became good friends with Mexican baseball player Fernando Valenzuela over the years after meeting at Tepeyac Café in L.A., according to Rolling Stone. So when the Dodger great died in October just as the L.A. ball club was set to meet the Yankees in the World Series, the mariachi singer was tapped to sing in honor of her dear friend before Game 1. Lamar happened to be in attendance, and the rest is history.

“I was in tears, singing for my friend who died, at a packed stadium,” Barrera told Rolling Stone. “And el señor Lamar was there. He listened to me sing.”

Lamar, who was fresh off seemingly defeating Drake in one of the most notable rap battles in the history of the genre and being picked to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, invited Barrera to the studio. “I had no idea what I would record. I make mariachi, not rap,” she said. “They told me they wanted my style, my voice. I had no idea how it was going to end up on the record.” Adding, “He welcomed me and was so kind. He said, ‘You have such a powerful voice. Thanks for coming.’ I had no idea what to say,” she said of meeting the Compton rapper at the studio. “Lamar is a genius, a maestro. Everything he makes is magic.”

She also mentioned that she woke up to a text from a friend telling her that her voice opens up “Wacced Out Murals,” the album’s intro track. “My skin gets goosebumps because all of this happened so quickly for me,” she said. “I want to cry. This is taking me by surprise.”

There’s no telling what Kendrick might perform when he plays Super Bowl 59 in February, but she hopes to get a call from him again. “I know Kendrick is going to do the Super Bowl halftime show. … Imagine if he invited me to sing with him? That would be incredible,” she said. “I hope people know that it’s Deyra Barrera who is on these songs.”

Make sure to stream her music as only a couple of them are available on DSPs.