Part of the appeal of Yahritza Y Su Esencia’s first viral moment—a cover of Ivan Conejo’s “Está Dañada”—was how stripped down it was: Two kids, Yahritza and her brother Jairo playing in a darkened room with their brother Armando harmonising off-screen; more a practice than a performance. But it also mixed singer-songwriter intimacy with música mexicana in a way that felt distinctly of-the-moment, not to mention captured a rawness that has driven some of viral music’s most impacting tracks. “When I’m going on Instagram and TikTok and stuff, I see people; they’re so heartbroken,” Yahritza said in the group’s Up Next interview for Apple Music. “I wanna make something they can relate to.” When their debut single “Soy El Unico” started doing numbers in the millions, they were as surprised as anyone—it was the first song Yahritza’d ever written. Raised in Yakima, Washington, they started playing together as kids, covering ranchera, corridos and other classic Mexican music at family parties for fun before releasing their debut EP, Obsessed Deluxe, in 2022. And while the roots of their sound are traditional, the freshness of their approach has helped make regional styles appealing to younger audiences who might’ve otherwise dismissed them as old-fashioned. And in a culture dominated by male artists, Yahritza’s high, feminine voice represents a subtle shift—proof that even old sounds can find new life.