Formed in 2016, Reyna Tropical began as an exchange between Fabi Reyna and Nectali “Sumohair” Diaz who met during a workshop series for emerging musicians. Reyna formed the band when she was immersed in full-time work founding She Shreds, the world’s first magazine dedicated to women and nonbinary guitarists. By January 2018, the band dropped their first self-titled EP.

In 2020, after eight non-stop years building a business without time off, Reyna withdrew to nature for a community retreat. For the next two years, Diaz and Reyna immersed themselves in a tropical journey—from Cartagena, Colombia, to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, to Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero, Mexico—along the way, forming a relationship with local land, culture, and music wisdom keepers.

Malegría (2024), Reyna Tropical’s long-anticipated debut full-length album, marks Reyna Tropical’s movement from a duo to a solo project after Diaz’s passing. The album title is inspired by a 1998 Manu Chao song with the same name and has a similar translation to “bittersweet” in English. The album is the culmination of self-exploration fortified through harmony with the land.