Throwback Thursday: La Mafia and La Diferenzia Performed for Go T

Rodeo Houston's Go Tejano Day has been a heated topic for many years now. The long-running debate is: Do the musical acts that perform at Go Tejano reflect the Tejano culture in Texas? However, the Tejano culture is not just about the music.

Your opinion about Go Tejano Day is not wrong.

Whatever your thoughts about Go Tejano Day are, you are NOT wrong! However, some people are very passionate about this topic and get defensive. Why? Can we just take a moment to appreciate that Rodeo Houston showcases the Mexican American culture and raises scholarship money for our youth. This years performer is Pepe Aguilar following Grupo Frontera in 2025.

Back in 1996, Go Tejano Day had one of the best GTD performances featuring Oscar DeLaRosa Y La Mafia and Ricardo Castillon Y La Diferenzia at the Houston Astrodome. I was at this show, and the energy was incredible.

La Mafia was #1 on the Latin Billboard charts in 1996

This was the year that La Mafia's "Un Milloin De Rosas" charted #1 on the year-end Billboard Hot Latin songs (1996). La Mafia beat out artists such as Latin giants. Enrique Iglesias, Marco Antonio Solis, and Christian Castro. This was back when Tejano music had the support of big record labels such at Capitol EMI, Sony Discos, and Arista.

At the time of the performance, Ricardo Castillon Y La Diferenzia was riding the wave of popularity. This was after the success of their album "La Diferenzia" with featured giant hits "Linda Chaparrita" and "Anoche Sone Contigo."

Other mainstream Tejano artist to performed on GTD.

Over the years, GTD has seen some of the best mainstream Tejano artists, like Mazz, Roberto Pulido, David Lee Garza(reunion show), Little Joe, Ruben Ramos, Kumbia Kings, Jimmy Gonzalez, Emilio, and Selena.