In producing their ‘Por Amor’ campaign, Don Julio is determined to shine a light on a modern Mexico – one that’s far more diverse, vibrant and metropolitan than most of the agave-field-focused imagery that the category typically portrays. Rather than centering exclusively on heritage and rural craft, the series aims to highlight contemporary urban culture—art, music and nightlife - and has been driven by a group of pioneering Mexican creatives, including Director JC Molina, Cinematographer Flavia Martinez. In keeping with this approach, the team’s musical direction looks to showcase Mexico City’s status as a thriving global hub and a melting pot of Latin culture. Our campaign was launched in collaboration with Lao of CDMX-based record label NAAFI, who produced a custom remix of Rafael Solano’s 1968 bolero classic ‘Por Amor’ - a song which would go on to form the backbone of the campaign. NAAFI have come to represent “the cutting edge of Mexican club culture”, and are part of a wave of club music from the Global South that has "helped to loosen the west’s stranglehold" on the local scene, and “initiated a movement to decolonize the dancefloor” (The Guardian). To soundtrack each piece, a different artist is asked to breathe new life into Solano’s original bolero - sampling the track, and reimagining it through the lens of a range of other Latin genres, from nu-cumbia to reggaeton, baile funk and Dembow Dominicana. A few standouts: Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sound) brought a vintage live sound to our ‘Don Julio 70’ spot, recorded with a full band in his Roma Norte studio; Honduran-American rapper Aaron Bodden soundtracked an underground party in a corner store with a fiery hip hop track for ‘Frio’; and rising star El Baby R produced a track for the brand’s Super Bowl collab with Popeyes, blending the vocal sample-heavy style of Dominican club music with some Big Easy-inspired brass, bringing us what may well be the first ever Dembow Dominicana x NOLA Big Band crossover.