With his tribute to a girl who loves low-cost luxury, country star Walker Hayes and his “Fancy Like” hit blew up earlier this year. The track and has since spent 11 weeks and counting at Number One on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart — and even helped revive fans’ love for Applebee’s Oreo Cookie shakes — but a freshly released mashup gives the track a whole new “flavor.”
Teaming up with regional Mexican artist Carin Leon and Amazon Music, Hayes has reworked a Spanish-language remix of “Fancy Like,” putting a South of the Border spin on his Platinum hit. All about date nights that don’t break the bank and the priceless charm of true love, it’s still just as much fun as the original — but now features a rootsy Tejano vibe, with traditional Mexican elements such as trombones, gut-string guitars and Leon’s expressive vocal joining the booming beats.
The pairing was made by Amazon Music as the streaming giant celebrates Country Music Month, and with a video filmed in Nashville about the collab, Hayes and Leon explore how much they have in common, despite their musical differences.
“Hearing my song sung in Spanish for the first time was pretty mind-blowing,” Walker Hayes says of the new track. “Carin just sounds awesome; he has a lot of swag. It sounds great and I hope his fans will love what he’s come up with for ‘Fancy Like.’”
“When I first started, we did not think of achieving this level of success or think that our regional Mexican music would reach spaces in the Anglo market, much less in a genre as strong as country,” Leon adds. “As a musician and also as a person, it means a lot to be one of the first to be doing this kind of collaboration. As a musician, being able to do something like this refreshes what we’ve been doing, especially being able to collaborate with such a talented artist as Walker and his entire team. Going to Nashville, a city which is home to country music, blows my mind; at times I feel like I need to be pinched to believe it a little bit.”
According to Amazon, country music and regional Mexican are two of its biggest streaming segments. The company will be celebrating country all through October with more original songs and special programming, including a live Q&A with Reba McEntire on October 12. Amazon has also further explored the link between country and Mexican music with its new Whiskey & Tequila playlist.