About this Artist

Reyna Tropical are composed of Mexican expats Fabiola Reyna and Sumohair. The duo met as part of Red Bull Music Academy’s Bass Camp at Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2017—chosen as two of 20 up-and-coming producers and musicians from around the country. It was there that they bonded over their love for the tropical diaspora and began experimenting with their unique writing process: a process inclusive of pure improvisation consisting of a four hour session per song aimed at capturing the moment and the environment. 

Having started off without any intention of distributing their music beyond their circle of friends and family, seven months after meeting and creating “Niña” and “No Me Quieres” the duo was featured in NPR’s “Songs We Love.”  The acknowledgment and interest towards their music encouraged them to upload their songs to Spotify, again without much interest or desire in anything else developing, especially since both Sumohair and Reyna have historically been deeply involved in other forms of community work. 

Since 2012 Fabi Reyna has been the creator, curator, and CEO of She Shreds Magazine—the world's first and only print publication dedicated to women guitarists and bassists and featuring artists from around the world such as Willow, H.E.R, Mitski, and many more. Reyna has also been in and performed in various bands such as Sávila, Priests, Chain and The Gang, Sleater-Kinney, Raveena, and more since 2010. Nectali Diaz—who is best known through his producer moniker, Sumohair—is a beloved member of the Los Angeles underground Latine nightclub scene, co-founder of one of the first Cumbia parties in LA, Dinamita, and recently co-founder of Papaya Club, a collective raising awareness and funds for underrepresented and under-funded communities throughout Latine America. 

Together with 20+ years of community organizing, their visions were set on the continuation of that work, with no plans to perform their music live. It wasn’t until they received a personal message from Li of Bomba Estéreo asking them to open for their December, 2018 US Jungla Tour. In this moment the trajectory of their lives changed. Overnight Reyna Tropical went from never having performed their music live to performing in front of an audience of 3,000+ a night, not to mention in front of one of the biggest bands in Latin America, quickly becoming mentors and friends. 

With the continued support of artists such as Bomba Estéreo, Lido Pimienta, Portugal The Man, Y La Bamba and Helado Negro, Reyna Tropical has also been recognized by Remezcla (Reyna Tropical: A Queer Love Revolution), Grimy Goods (Reyna Tropical Pay Tribute To The World’s Bodies Of Water And Life On Sublime New Ep Sol Y Lluvia), and NPR’s 2022 artists to watch. 

Today, Reyna Tropical merges their passion for social justice and community organizing with the space and opportunities that they can create through their music. As the bands tagline, “Queer Love & Afro-Mexico” is dedicated to raising awareness and funds to issues connected to the environment, inclusive of Indigenous rights, Afro-Mexican rights, missing and murdered indigenous women, and the many injustices that live in and in between the spectrum of Queer Love & Afro-Mexico.