Best Transborder Music of 2012

Check out who made GN$F!'s list in Best Transborder Music You Should've Watched in 2012.

What makes San Diego's music landscape so rich and unique is the fact that it's a bordertown with  Tijuana as its neighbor. Transborder musical exchanges inadvertantly occur, creating some pretty incredible sounds and musical acts: Julieta Venegas, Nortec Collective, Ceci Bastida and Carla Morrison to name a few. In fact, Tijuana's musicians are on the forefront of EDM with the ruidosón sound thanks to Los Macuanos, María y José and Santos. And for the record, transborder music isn't all percussion or en Español and neither is Latin Alternative music.

Born in Tijuana and raised in S.D., I understand what the transborder musicians go through -- they can't help loving both American and Mexican music. You kind of just learn to master the balancing act between the two cultures. The Latin alternative genre is rebellious yet rooted, which makes the music so deep and universal. We spoke with an impressive lineup of local and celeb musicians last year. Check out the Best Transborder Music You Should've Watched in 2012:

Bostich + Fussible
Yes, yes, y'all. The pioneers of Tijuana's nortec sound, Bostich + Fussible, took us out to the movies at UCSD to watch them compose a live score to Iron Fist, a Mexican silent from 1929. To describe  Iron Fist I would say it was way ahead of its time and a precursor to films like Reefer Madness. The Tijuana duo did not disappoint audiences, bringing the silent film back to life and even making us dance in our seats.
Watch: “Take in a Movie with Bostich + Fussible

Ana Tijoux
Interviewing Ms. Ana Tijoux – the Latin world's answer to Lauryn Hill – as our debut in Latin Alternative music was impressive and not to mention crazy exciting because I had to keep mum about the Chilean femcee's not-yet-revealed pregnancy. Tijoux rocked the Casbah crowd with baby bump, morning sickness and all. She even admitted to not being aware of AMC's Breaking Bad cool factor until she saw an episode that used her mainstream hit song, “1977.”
Watch: “'Breaking Bad' With Ana Tijoux

Rodriguez
When I found out about how '70s Mexican-American folk-rock legend Rodriguez's career resurrected in 2010 thanks to a documentary called Searching for Sugar Man, it was imperative to get an interview. His debut album Cold Fact may have not been a U.S. hit because of plain ignorance but it hit the mark overseas. In fact, his Casbah performance brought San Diego's South African community out in droves and they knew every lyric. And yes, there were even over-the-hill groupies ooing over Rodriguez. It's a cold fact: Rodriguez is one of our hidden national treasures.
Watch: “The Sugar Man Returns

All My Friends 2012 Music Festival
The festival's trinity, Argenis Garcia, Pablo Dodero and Marty Preciado, organized a mammoth of a music festival last year in Tijuana that helped break the Mexico and U.S. divide. The AMF festival brought a roster of 41 indie bands: local and U.S. from Brooklyn to Long Beach on three different stages. The most notable genre that's breaking EDM boundaries is ruidosón, a sound pioneered and coined by Tijuana's very own Los Macuanos, who also headlined with Chelsea Wolfe and Helado Negro.  
Watch: “All My Friends Are in Tijuana

Prince Royce
The 23-year-old Grammy winner from the Bronx showed us why ladies love Prince Royce at Humphreys. He's ridiculously charming and talented, not too mention over-the-top good looking. Prince Royce won American billboard charts over with his bachata rendition of B.B. King's “Stand By Me” and the rest was history. Prince Royce knows how to marry the genres of hip-hop, R&B and bachata like none other. He's the young pioneer who taught young American Latinos to love the roots of bachata music and that makes a lot of parents happy -- making him the official ambassador of bachata music.
Watch: “Hail To The Prince” 

Dita Quiñones
is a multimedia journalist with a passion for Latin alternative and hip-hop music news. In addition to SoundDiego, she contributes to Latina, FOX News Latino, Poder, VidaVibrante, and HipHopDx. She is also the founder of the infamous music and politrix blog GN$F! Follow Dita on Twitter.

Contact Us