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Reyna Tropical on her debut album, 'Malegría'

Fabi Reyna is the sole member of Reyna Tropical.
Devyn Galindo / Courtesy of the artist
Fabi Reyna is the sole member of Reyna Tropical.

The band Reyna Tropical began as a duo. Fabi Reyna and Nectali "Sumo" Diaz started making music together in 2016, quickly developing their own improvisational writing style.

Over the years, they released a couple of EPs, toured and played SXSW. Then, in 2022, when they had already begun working on music for their debut full-length album, Sumo died in an accident.

After Sumo's death, Fabi questioned whether she should keep making music as Reyna Tropical, but she began to channel her grief into what she now calls "the most beautiful thing" she's created.

The album is called Malegría, a Spanish portmanteau that combines mal, or hurt, and alegría, or happiness. While Fabi is now the sole member, what you hear on Malegría is still a duo, as she has incorporated recordings featuring Sumo throughout the record.

In this session, Fabi joins World Cafe to talk about making Malegría, plus we have live performances recorded in front of an audience during the 2024 NON-COMMvention at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
Copyright 2024 XPN

Raina Douris, an award-winning radio personality from Toronto, Ontario, comes to World Cafe from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she was host and writer for the daily live, national morning program Mornings on CBC Music. She was also involved with Canada's highest music honors: hosting the Polaris Music Prize Gala from 2017 to 2019, as well as serving on the jury for both that award and the Juno Awards. Douris has also served as guest host and interviewer for various CBC Music and CBC Radio programs, and red carpet host and interviewer for the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Association Awards, as well as a panelist for such renowned CBC programs as Metro Morning, q and CBC News.
Miguel Perez
Miguel Perez is a radio producer for NPR's World Cafe, based out of WXPN in Philadelphia. Before that, he covered arts, music and culture for KERA in Dallas. He reported on everything from the rise of NFTs in the music industry to the enduring significance of gay and lesbian bars to the LGBTQ community in North Texas.