WEBVTT - Selena: Rise to the Astrodome 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:05.320 It's nineteen eighty nine, the year Taylor was born. Just kidding, 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.840 it's nineteen eighty nine and it is eighteen years old. 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:13.240 Selena has two major record labels in a bidding war. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.840 So many offers on the table, a bitch got to 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:16.680 eat on the couch. 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.800 First, she was approached by the head of EMI Latin, 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.720 the just launch Latin music division of major British record 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:23.640 label EMI. 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.040 It was Selena's second time at the Tejano Music Awards, 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:31.080 and she cleaned house. She dazzled the crowd, and she 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:32.680 and the Dinos took home. 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.760 Six honors, convinced that they had found the next Gloria 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:41.680 Stefan Music executive Jose Bahar found Selena backstage signing autographs 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.199 and introduced himself as the head of EMI Latin, and 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:49.800 Selena replied, yeah right, but Bihar was the real deal, 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.600 and he wasn't the only scout in the crowd. 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:55.840 The heads of Stony Music were in attendance too. They 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.920 were just as impressed with Selena, and their eventual offer 0:00:58.960 --> 0:01:01.920 for her was twice as generous as emis for a. 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.120 Young musician who had been living on the road in 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.360 a converted bus with her family. This was the. 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.319 Dream, But for any young artist, a decision like this 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:13.200 can also be treacherous. 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.120 I also think a lot about what it must have 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.080 been like for Abraham back then, right, Like he had 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:20.080 been in the music industry, but let's be honest, his 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.280 band did not have anywhere near the success that Selena 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:24.480 and Losinos. 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:24.440 Were going to have. 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:28.120 Contracts had to be hard. Like Abraham wasn't a lawyer, 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:30.360 he didn't have access to that. And I think about 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:33.080 how many times I've signed a contract that was not 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.280 in my best interest. How many times you hear about 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:40.360 musicians like even Taylor Swift, right, yeah, you think about 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:42.600 one of the biggest artists in the world that had 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.480 all of those resources, that had two parents, that probably 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.440 could have hired whoever, and she still feels like she 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.400 got royally screwed in these contracts because it's hard, it's 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.760 a business that is not in the artist's favor. It 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.480 can really make or break a career. I think, well, see, 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:58.720 that's kind of how contracts work. 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:01.000 I feel like they can make you until you think 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:02.880 you're something, and then when you tried to go off 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.160 on your own, that's where they have this contract because 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.640 they own you, but you do need each other. 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.600 One of the first like TV things I did. I 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:13.160 think I signed away the rights for them to use 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.200 my image in perpetuity. 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:16.119 No, no, Stu. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.680 Yeah. So if you ever see a hologram of me 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:20.760 at a casino. 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:26.239 Gambling, you're like a casino girl. See and look, you're 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.280 smart and you know all this shit now. But like 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.359 they got you on your very first contract. 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:33.880 Back then, they were like, we will pay you an extra. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:36.120 Then I was like, where do I sign? Where do 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:36.480 I sign? 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:38.880 We'll see, and that's where something like this happens. 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.120 Up until this point, Selena and her family had dealt 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:47.480 with small regional labels across Texas. This was a new 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:48.320 level of. 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.280 Business, and just as he had been throughout her whole 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:54.720 career up until now, Selena's father, Abraham was the one 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:56.359 in front of this decision. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.840 Around Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Abraham Keythinia had already 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:05.040 garnered a reputation for being iron willed and stubborn and 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:06.920 for his hair trigger temper. 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:11.080 Behar had his own reputation, perhaps making him an Abraham 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.160 a perfect match. Years later, Behar would say in an interview. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.320 Selena's father to this day says he signed with me 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.760 because I already had a reputation in the business for 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.880 being a little bit aggressive, especially in that region of 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.040 the country. Although he tortured me for like five or 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:29.560 six months, making it like he didn't want to sign 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.520 with me, and all that he still tells me to 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:33.880 this day, he knew he would sign right away. 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.240 The day after the Tajano Music Awards, Abraham Caithania and 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:42.360 jose bahar hammered out a deal over breakfast. Selena would 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:44.840 be the first artist to sign to EMI Latin. 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:49.360 The reason was simple. Abraham believed Selena was a star, 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.920 and EMI would let Selena attempt a crossover album. 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:56.360 But not without conditions. 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.040 I'm your Hoe, Liliana Oscaz. 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:06.040 And I'm Joseph Carrio And This is Becoming an Icon. 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.000 A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:13.320 how today's most famous Latin v stars have shaped pop culture. 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:15.440 And given the world some extra tuble. 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:18.240 Sit back and get comfortable. 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.360 Because we are going in the only. 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:26.640 Way we know how, with when us, whenasriesas, and a 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.159 lot of opinions as we relive their greatest achievements on 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.279 our journey to find out what makes them so iconic. 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:48.440 Let's talk about Selena's very first album cover. Joseph. One 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:49.479 word to describe it? 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:56.839 Oh god, one word? Uh? Why I don't have any mark? Yeah? 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:03.000 Question mark. It's just all so wrong, just everything about it, 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.400 and it just makes me sad, you know, just looking 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.280 at it. Do you don't want to buy that album? 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:13.120 It's such an odd presentation of who we know and 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:19.200 love as Selina Quintania. It's such an odd presentation of anybody. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.480 Period, any human alive. I would say, but how would 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:25.200 you describe it? Like visually, what are you looking at? 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:32.640 It's very like Moroccan Arabian nights in the desert, Like 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.640 if a camel popped up, I would not be surprised. 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:37.480 Yeah, and she's. 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:40.640 Wearing like a head wrap with big earrings and a 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.440 big necklace and like a bralatt and the skirt that's 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:48.560 maybe like bautique print. Let me just be very very honest. 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:53.560 This is somebody at a label that has confused cultures 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.880 and was just like thinking, oh, she's exotic, she's Mexican, 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.200 and they're like, where have I been? That's exotic? I've 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:05.640 been to Morocco and they just are basically conflating anything exotic. Yeah, 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:09.440 they put into this buckets. The good news is it 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:10.920 didn't make sense to Selena either. 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.880 They hated the makeup, they hated the hair, they hated 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:19.599 the clothes, and Selena from the get was just not 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:23.280 happy with this. And the label did end up calling 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.920 this cover the worst they'd ever gotten, Like. 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:29.680 Literally the worst they'd ever gotten. It was the worst 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:31.880 that has ever been produced on planet Earth. 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.120 It was also their fault. Our Girl had nothing to 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:35.640 do with us. 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:38.919 Okay, that's no shade to the album itself. It was 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.560 a top performing debut that week on Billboard's Regional Mexican 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:46.520 Albums Chart at number seventeen, our girls very first time 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:47.120 on the chart. 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.239 But the story of this cover tells you a lot 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:54.000 about the high expectations around Selena at this point and 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.680 all the competing pressures and conflicting visions creatively around her. 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.279 Apart from the lifelong pressure to support her family with 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.240 her art, Selena dealt with the pressure from the label. 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.360 The parent label for Emi Latin saw the new division 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.320 as a quote unquote gamble, so Bihar had to deliver 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.560 and Emi had scoffed at Behar's claim that he had 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:20.240 found the next Gloria Estephon, telling him he had only 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:21.840 been in Texas for a week. 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.400 Before the recording of Selena's major label debut was finished, 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.800 Bihar and his fellow execs Stephen Finfer, had requested permission 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.040 for her to begin recording material for a crossover. 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:37.200 Album aka The Whole Reason Abraham chose Emi over Sony, 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.680 but Emi insisted that Selena needed a bigger fan base 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.520 in order for a crossover to be successful. 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.600 Behar alleges that Emi didn't believe a Mexican American woman 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:49.640 had crossover potential, and. 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.080 So the strategy was to follow through on the parent 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:56.160 label's expectation that Selena first dominate the Mexican and South 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.960 American markets before attempting the English language cross. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.800 So but think about that for a minute. Selena ylos 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.120 Dino's spent their whole childhood playing in shows in Texas. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.960 Their dad raises them on the Tahano music of his youth. 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:14.760 They're listening to American pop. It's like what Abraham said 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.320 all over again. They have to be more Mexican than 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.560 Mexicans and more American than the Americans. I think any 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.480 Latin person in the US who's ever had imposter syndrome knows. 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:25.360 This is literally the nightmare. 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:30.280 It's so true. It's exhausting to try to win at both. 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.240 But as a Selena fan, I will say that she 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.400 had the chops to do it right, like she had 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.559 the raw talent to do it. But if we've learned 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.320 anything through two seasons of becoming an icon, it's that 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.959 a lot of these icons had like five, six, seven, eight, nine, 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:54.160 ten albums before they had global success. 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:59.440 Selena's brother ab expressed that the band couldn't take a failure, 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.920 that under performing would put them at the bottom of 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:03.280 the totem pool for the label. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:05.800 And I totally get that you only get one shot 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:08.680 at this, but I think that's like scarcity mindset, and 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:13.080 he needed to really believe in the talent that Selena 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.559 and the band had, and I get it. As the 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.200 lead producer for the album, I'm sure Abe felt tons 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:23.440 of pressure right because Abraham had also stipulated that his 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.120 son would produce the first full length album. 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.520 If the record underperformed, the label would find a producer 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.040 of their own for the follow up, like do a 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.079 good job, or we'll find someone who can. 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.800 As fate would have it, Aby did do a good job. 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.959 The debut album featured plenty of the Tahano sounds Selena 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:47.960 Ilosinos had cut their teeth on, like Quirostad, which dominated 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:49.439 airways in Texas that year. 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.960 It also had some curveballs, like my love dance track 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.840 That's a Little Madonna a Little Gloriac. There was also Sukiyaki, 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.120 a Spanish cover of a Japanese pops from the sixties, 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:02.120 not My. 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:07.600 Favorite's Gonna Lie, and the classic Besitos, which introduced Goumbia 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:12.360 to Selena and the band's repertoire. The track was the 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:17.360 first collaboration between AB and Pete Estubio, a songwriter AB 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:19.840 would frequently collaborate on as time went. 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:24.000 On, Was it synth Ritz and Cumbia ritmon Besitos pointed 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:26.559 the way for Selena and the band's creative future. 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.920 What I find so interesting about the association we have 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:34.280 with Selena's style of music, which is the Hano music 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:40.040 but also Gumbia music, is that in researching for this episode, 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.440 in my head, I always thought that Cumbia belonged to Mexicans. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:49.640 Wait it does, Wait it doesn't. 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:54.880 So Gumbia is actually Colombian. It's their music. It was 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.160 brought to Mexico. I think, like in the nineteen forties, 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:01.560 and we kind of adopted it and obviously like added 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:03.280 our own style of instruments to it. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:04.800 We borrowed it permanently. 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.960 All told, Selena was really happy with the album. She felt, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.240 in her words, that all the hard work paid off. 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.600 And it did, Hannah. The album would peak at number 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.720 seven on Billboard's Regional Mexican Album chart, making Selena the 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:22.319 Dehanna to watch. 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:25.880 And it opened the door to touring across the Southwest 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:30.240 into Mexico and through the Midwest Washington and Florida. 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.120 We ain't in Texas anymore, Toto. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:37.000 Selena's success was a decent indication that EMI's quote unquote 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.160 gamble might just pay off. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.280 Abe would remain the principal producer on the next album, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.520 nineteen nineties Ven Gonemule, and. 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:48.000 Perhaps embolden by the success of her major label debut, 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.160 Selena would begin taking some risks. 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:53.840 Risks and looks and in love. 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.880 In nineteen ninety, Selena's second album, Then Gonnigle, gave us 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:12.800 the all time classic Bye Lastacumbia. 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:16.079 Bye La Baye lah is Tacumbia. I just love that song. 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:20.439 Also, by the way, let's not forget gave us Selena 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.920 in a mohawk, and here to tell us all about 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.960 that look is a man sporting a mohawk himself at 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.400 the moment, Joseph, it's true. Do you want tell us 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:31.040 a little about it? 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:34.560 Yes. After the embarrassment of the last album cover, Selena 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.920 decided to be bold. The night before they shot the 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.280 new cover, Our girl had a punk rock makeover montage 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.839 moment and hacked her hair off. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:49.120 We're talking jon Jet, needle drop, sink full of hair dye. 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.720 That's the vibe. Selena showed up to the shoot the 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.800 next day in a dyed black mohawk, and the label 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.360 was livid. They're trying to present Selena as a good 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:00.960 girl and she's over here looking red to smash a 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:02.080 freaking guitar. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.679 Although the Dinos were still very much part of the equation, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.599 Emi Latin was promoting Selena first and foremost. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.719 And around this time Selena would start taking a bit 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.720 more ownership of her personal life. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.199 It's time to talk about Chris. 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.600 Selena's guitarist and eventual love interest, Chris Bettis would enter 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.840 the picture during the recording of ven Gunmigo in nineteen 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:28.440 eighty nine, Aby recruited him off his big reputation within 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:29.880 the Tano music scene. 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.360 Lakintanias went to see him perform. Betez reciprocated, and after 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.320 seeing Selena and the band's chops, he was sold. 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.000 He loved the Dino sound, and on top of that, 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.760 he was excited to learn about musical arrangement from ab 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:44.600 I get Ce brothers. 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:49.600 Beez introduced harder edge guitar work the Dinos sound, which 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.520 would turn out to be a crucial ingredient. 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.760 But Abraham wasn't crazy about his harder edged rocker look 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.360 and insisted that Betty's clean up to align with his 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:01.400 family friendly vision fors. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.400 Which makes Selena's jone jet moment all the more interesting. 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:10.840 At nineteen, Selena was an adult, but Abraham was still abrahaming. 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:15.120 And despite Beta's musical contributions, Abraham by all accounts, had 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.600 a skeptical eye on him from the jump. 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.800 Abraham was afraid Peez would sing the band, but Petez 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:25.360 and ab formed a strong collaborative friendship, and the first 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.040 routs of that friendship came the same year he started 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:29.360 getting involved with the band. 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.560 Selena would appear in a Coca Cola commercial in Mexico, 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.440 which b T dubs that's how you know you've made 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:35.960 it over there? 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.760 Oh yeah, it's a quick spot. Selena sings a little 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.680 jingle to camera and dances with a. 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.440 Partner in a red dress given to her by Mexican 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:45.800 actress and singer Lucy Amendez. 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:47.760 Which also tells you a little bit about Selena's growing 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.960 footprint be on the Texas border. Oh and the jingle itself, 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:54.680 it was composed by Aby and Chris. 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.600 After Selena shot the commercial, ab treated the band to 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:01.760 a vacation in a comple and that's where Selena and 0:15:01.840 --> 0:15:03.400 Chris's romance blossomed. 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.080 Chris did try to fight it at first, and not 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.960 just because he was being professional, but because he had 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.320 a girlfriend in San Antonio. 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:15.280 And the low it was arobi though on a few level, honey. 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.760 But Chris ultimately couldn't fight it, and neither could Selena. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.440 So they confess their feelings for one another at the 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:28.400 most romantic spot in the San Antonio metropolitan area, where 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:33.840 over personal pan pizzas. Pizza hut, No, y'all, I'm kidding. 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:35.600 I don't know they had personal pant pizzas, But what 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.840 else are you eating? At Pizza Hut. Maybe the salad 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.440 bar I don't know, but whatever they were at pizza. 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:43.640 Hut, I was going to say, what was the oragor y'all, 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.920 Selena and Chris were eighteen and twenty when they met. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.760 But it's such a teen romance. I mean a pizza hut. 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.800 Come on, we know our girl loves a pizza. She 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:57.760 loves Pepperoni pizza. But right, imagine passing through to pick 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.680 up your favorite pie and seeing them huddle together at 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.920 a table over to Cox. You think, aw get cute 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:07.520 and head back to the parking lot. 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:09.960 You wouldn't think for a second that that was an 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:12.800 artist who was playing crowds up to sixty thousand people 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:13.520 by that. 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:17.040 Point, well unless maybe you'd seen that coke. But point being, 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:21.080 Selena's career was at an inflection point when Petez joined. 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.480 The record were selling, the fan base was growing, and 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:26.080 the band was branching out. 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.040 Musically, and yet Abraham saw Chris as a threat. So, 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.520 to Selena's dismay, she and Chris would keep their relationship 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:34.920 a secret. 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:39.120 I can kind of see why Abraham feels like that, 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.160 where this person coming in. If he influences his daughter, 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:45.560 he can probably you know, she might side with him, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.080 and that's just a natural threat. I would say, like 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.280 as a as a macho man. Right, we'll call it that. 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.040 Well, I think saying I think using the word macho 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.240 here is kind of the perfect way to describe what's 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:56.800 going on. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:57.200 Right. 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.120 You have Abraham who is very much like household, head 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:06.439 of musical group, head of everything in his head, and 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:08.880 to me, it's like a control thing, right. I think 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.960 he wanted to control his daughter. I think he wanted 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:16.280 to control Selena the performer and exerting control over her 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.440 by telling her who she could and couldn't date. It's 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:21.000 just another way that he really wanted to kind of 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:24.199 like live out his vision for this family group. But 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.639 you know, Selena was a teenager, Like teenagers are going 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:28.960 to do what teenagers do. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:30.480 That's what I was going to say. You know. Also, 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.119 the thing is is that she's just also so young 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:35.360 like and unfortunately he does see her as a meal 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:37.399 ticket and you can't fuck with with my money. 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.440 That's kind of the vibe that I get after having 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.560 read so much about the relationship. It was kind of like, 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:46.240 I don't want to be poor, I don't want to 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.720 be broke. My entire success, our entire livelihood as a 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.000 family is riding on the success of this band. And 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.639 you know, you throw in a curveball, and let's be honest. 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.200 Chris did not have the best history, right. He had 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.119 had some like big party on the road. He had 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.320 had some kind of brush up with the law. There 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:07.000 were allegations of drug use, right, So he wasn't like 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.080 a straight and narrow right. He played the guitar, he 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.040 had long hair, all of these ideas of like what 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:17.000 Abraham deemed, you know, not a good influence on his daughter. 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.080 He kind of possessed all of those things. But what's 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:24.440 crazy is that battle between Chris and Abraham. It went 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:29.480 on their entire relationship even after Selena passed away. You know, 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:32.160 the two of them have been battling for her since 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.640 the day they met. And I get it, like I'm 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.360 going to be I'm going to have opinions about who 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.240 my son ultimately wants to be with. But at the 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:42.359 end of the day, like we all know how that 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.800 turns out if you exert authority there, like they're going 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:50.840 to push and Selena pushed. In any case, Selena and 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:54.920 Chris would eventually be found out by Suzette midway through 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:55.359 a tour. 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.240 Okay, first of all, I know you know Susette, So 0:18:58.320 --> 0:19:01.399 tell her that I'm pissnoid with her that she narked 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.920 on her sister. Well, Selena's mother was approving of the relationship. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.520 Abraham pulled Chris off the tour of us and told 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:10.320 him it's over. 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.800 But Selena and Chris continued dating in secret. You can't 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:18.359 stop love bus. Okay, and we can't confirm whether Selena 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.919 still had the mohawk at this point, but off the 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:22.480 energy is there. 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:25.720 Just imagine she does have the mohawk for this next part, 0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:27.440 because it's just better that way. 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:28.880 Okay, I'm there, I'm there. 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:33.080 One day, Abraham again stops the bus. He stomps over 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:35.359 to where Selena and Chris are sitting and shouts again 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.480 that it's over, but Selena screams. 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:41.240 Back at him, that's kind of big, Like maybe this 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:44.399 is about a little more than a secret relationship, like 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:45.640 that kind of big. 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:49.920 Meanwhile, Chris tries to mediate between the two until Abraham 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:52.960 calls him, quote unquote a cancer to the family. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:57.160 Damn Abraham. Well, with Chris now in the fray, Abraham 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.960 threatens to disband Selena E Loosino's if the relationship continues, 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:04.120 that is so much drama. 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:05.680 Like you need to do least guys saw him. 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:10.840 I know the young lovers stand down, and Abraham fires 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:11.720 Chris from the group. 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:15.240 Abraham told Texas Monthly that he dropped the guitarist off 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.960 at a Waterburger parking lot and told him to find 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.800 his way home. Which that's harsh, but you could do 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.439 words and Waterburger. I love me a number seven, so 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:23.840 do I. 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:29.399 In the Texas Toast hits every time, so good A 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:32.560 breakfast Burger probably wouldn't ease the hurt of losing your 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:35.760 girlfriend and your job at the same time. But Chris, 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:39.040 by his account, had been exhausted from dealing with all 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:41.919 of Abraham's drama and moved back to San Antonio. 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:46.520 Selena, however, was devastated. The two would continue to try 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:48.720 to see each other whenever she was in the area, 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:51.240 in secret, of course, but this would. 0:20:51.000 --> 0:20:54.159 Prove too hard for Selena, so one night she banged 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:56.119 on the door of his hotel room in Corpus Christy 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.080 and demanded he elope with her, And just. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.800 Like that, Selena and Chris, at twenty and twenty two, 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:07.520 were married, at the Nuess County Courthouse. Abraham initially took 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.800 the news badly, but eventually accepted their marriage and allowed 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:12.320 Chris back into the band. 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:15.840 Duh, Chris would say, in hindsight, I thought with great 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:18.840 certainty that remembering those marriage vows would always be a 0:21:18.880 --> 0:21:21.840 sort of glue holding us. We had every intention of 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:25.200 living happily ever after. Nobody could stop us from doing 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:25.960 that now. 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.720