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Being the official Head Bruja of De Los and all, it’s only right that I prepare you with a playlist of 15 spanking new songs and classic, haunting hits by Latinx artists who are not afraid to lean into their dark sides.

Whether La Llorona is held up as a form of resistance against oppression, owning her power or reclaiming the monstrous bruja within, the narratives of the wailing woman have endured for centuries, reimagined into a radical icon.

While dozens of artist friends helped create the new piece, its core group consists of Bustamante; the playwright and artist Pepx Romero, 30; and La Bruja de Texcoco, 35, an underground trans singer who references traditional Mexican music to debunk clichés like machismo and mariachi.

Then we all got our things together and made our way downstairs to face the bruja.

For a moment, I felt sorry for the old, broken-down woman whose loneliness had turned her into a bruja—a fate worse than death, a fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone, least of all Mamá.