A fortune cookie from PF Changs predicted Deyra Barrera’s Friday: “Tomorrow will be a very important day for you.”

That morning, the 49-year-old mariachi singer from Tucson, Arizona, woke up to a text from a friend telling her that Kendrick Lamar had a surprise release GNX – and Barrera’s vocals opened the album. Barrera was shocked.

“My skin gets goosebumps because this all happened so quickly for me,” she says Rolling stoneminutes after Lamar dropped the project.

“I felt your presence here last night,” she sings in the album’s first few seconds, channeling her ranchera bravado over an operatic chorus. “And we start crying.”

By then, Barrera had only listened to the LP’s song “Wacced Out Murals.” During our phone conversation, she learned that her vocals were also featured elsewhere on the album, including Tupac tribute “Reincarnated” and the SZA-assisted closer “Gloria.”

“I want to cry. This surprises me,” she says in response.

Barrera thinks it was a baseball-playing angel that brought her here.

Just weeks ago, the mariachi singer was tapped by the Dodgers to pay tribute to late legend Fernando Valenzuela during Game One of the World Series. She took the stage to perform “El Corrido de Fernando Valenzuela,” and a medley that included “Yo Te Extrañaré,” a powerful farewell song.

“I was in tears and singing for my late friend in a packed stadium,” Barrera said. “And, El señor Lamar was there. He heard me sing.”

Aside from the fact that the Dodgers ultimately won the game, and the World Series in general, Barrera thinks the moment was a “blessing” from Valenzuela. She and Valenzuela became old friends after meeting at LA’s Tepeyac Café, where she performed on Sunday, and the late singer was a fan of her voice.

“I believe in angels,” Barrera says. “And he is an angel to me.”

Within days of the World Series game, Barrera was in Lamar’s studio. His team played her the beats they would use on the album and gave her a description of the emotions Lamar wanted to evoke. Using a pen and paper she brought with her, Barrera scribbled a few lines that matched what Lamar was looking for. (Lamar’s own vocals still had to be placed in the song.)

“I had no idea what I would record. I make mariachi, not rap,” says Barrera. “They told me they wanted my style and my voice. I had no idea how it would end up on the record.”

At one point, Lamar stopped by to meet Barrera and thanked her for joining the project. She says Lamar stuck around to hear some of her recordings, but they didn’t spend much time together. “He welcomed me and was so nice. He said, ‘You have such a powerful voice. Thanks for coming.” I had no idea what to say,” Barrera says. “Lamar is a genius, one master. Everything he creates is magic.”

Barrera hopes the Lamar collaboration “opens doors for her.” Barrera has traveled throughout Los Angeles County as a singer since immigrating to the US from Villa Juárez, Sonora in 1993. Following in her mother’s musical footsteps, Barrera was inspired by ranchera greats such as Amalia Mendoza, Lucha Villa and Lola Beltrán.

“Ever since I can remember, we’ve been singing to pay the rent and make enough money to eat,” Barrera says. “It’s been many years of highs and lows, but I haven’t thrown in the towel because this is what I love.”

Although she cites this Lamar collaboration as her greatest achievement, Barrera has taken a stab at singing competition shows on Spanish-language TV. She first arrived in Mexico The Academia in 2010, reaching third place on Univision’s Reina de la Cancion in 2017. She then returned to Mexico, where she was praised for her evocative singing on Mexico’s The voice in 2021.

In addition to making music as a soloist (she has only two of her many recorded albums on streaming platforms), she makes a living by performing at restaurants, weddings and quinceañeras as part of the group Trío Corazón.

“I hope this helps me. This sector is really difficult,” says Barrera. “I have to take advantage of this God-given moment to grow as a singer. From now on, I have to work a lot to get more people to listen to my music and learn who I am.”

Barrera has her eyes high on what she hopes will come from this. After all, she fought hard for what she earned.

“I know Kendrick is going to do the Super Bowl Halftime Show… imagine if he invites me to sing with him? That would be incredible,” she says. “I hope people know it’s Deyra Barrera who’s on these songs.”