When 28-year-old Talibelico steps out in a neatly tied teal turban, casual shirt and jeans in Modesto, California, strangers often assume he is on his way to a gurdwara. Instead, the singer is usually headed to Los Angeles for a music concert, where his Punjabi-Spanish fusion has been winning hearts.
Talibelico, whose first language is Spanish, has become an unlikely cultural bridge between California’s Punjabi and Mexican communities. Through collaborations with Punjabi singer Harveer Singh, and with videos that garner millions of views online, Talibelico is reviving a largely forgotten chapter of the city’s history — the century-old matrimonial and cultural ties between Punjabi immigrant families and Mexicans.
Born as Esdras — ‘God is my help’ in Spanish — in Redwood City, California, and raised by a Mexican mother in Tijuana, Mexico, Talibelico says music was inevitable in his life. “On my mom’s side, everyone was immersed in music. In the 1980s, they had a well-known group.”
His fascination with Sikhism began three years ago, seeing Modesto’s Sikh community. “I became intrigued. I researched online how to tie a turban and learned about its significance and responsibilities. I found it beautiful and dignified,” he says.
The turban, he adds, transformed him. “I feel different, like I am channelling powerful energy. I am also learning about the respect and responsibility it carries, and its profound personal significance.”
A forgotten history
“I first saw him wearing a turban and singing in Spanish while collaborating with Harveer Singh. My initial reaction was, ‘This is pretty cool’,” says Sikh American scholar Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal, whose research focuses on the Sikh diaspora.
For Talibelico, it is about history rather than novelty. “Historically, Punjabi men married Mexican or Hispanic women. But many people don’t know that history. The message of this connection is strong. We need to unite,” he says.
Karen Leonard, who retired as an anthropology professor from University of California, Irvine, in her paper, Changes over Time: Punjabis, Punjabi Mexicans, and Sikhs in North America, noted at least 385 marriages between Punjabi men and Mexican women in California’s agricultural valleys during the early decades of the 20th century. “In my experience, the post-1965 Punjabi Sikh immigrants most often have tried to downplay the early bicultural community,” she wrote.
Today, California’s Central San Joaquin Valley is home to nearly 2.4 million Latino residents, reports The Sacramento Bee. The state also has America’s largest Sikh population — estimated at 2,50,000 by the Sikh Coalition.
Talibelico, whose stage name combines “talisman” with belico, a style of corrido (Mexican folk), is aware that his turbaned appearance invites scrutiny. “People think we are doing this for attention. But that’s not the case,” he says.
He, however, is quick to dispel assumptions about his Sikh connection. “I prefer not to discuss my father because he was never truly present in my life. He left when I was just two. He was neither Mexican nor Punjabi.”
Even in turbans, black remains Talibelico’s signature colour. Though he now owns several, learning to tie one took patience. “Now I can tie it in about 15 to 20 minutes. Initially, it took me two and a half hours!” he says.
Within the Sikh community, many have welcomed him, as others have some questions. “The sight of a Mexican artist donning a Sikh turban raises important questions. Is this cultural appropriation or appreciation? Does he understand the significance of the turban and the responsibilities that come with it?” Bainiwal says. Even so, he believes the collaboration carries particular significance at a time of growing hostility towards immigrant communities in the United States.
Talibelico says his experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. “I have received appreciation in public places and stores. When I visited a Sikh temple in Bakersfield, I was embraced with tremendous love,” he says. Punjabi-Mexican families, he adds, say he is “honouring both heritages”.
A brotherhood born online
Talibelico’s journey into music began with singing at karaoke venues before he decided to pursue music professionally three years ago. His music, he says, “is about lifestyles, including themes of guns, love and sad songs”.
Tragedy also runs through his musical influences. His favourite Spanish singer is Ernesto Barrajas, founder of Enigma Norteño, while his favourite Punjabi artist is Sidhu Moosewala. Barrajas, 38, was shot dead in Mexico in August 2025. Moosewala, 28, was assassinated in Punjab in May 2022.
Two years ago, Talibelico discovered Harveer Singh, 30, on social media. “I was drawn to his Spanish singing. I recognised genuine artistry,” Talibelico says.
Harveer moved to the US from Punjab’s Jalandhar district in 2018 and now works as a commercial truck driver. Living in Yuba City, one of North America’s largest Punjabi hubs, where a substantial Latino population has lived alongside the Sikh community, he felt drawn to Spanish folk — mariachi and corrido.
Together, Talibelico and Harveer have released World Power, a song highlighting immigrants’ contributions to the US. “My mom is an immigrant. People’s rights should not be trampled, regardless of background. Social media sometimes vilifies immigrants unfairly,” Talibelico says.
This year, on April 25, the duo delivered a rap performance blending Punjabi and Spanish at an event organised by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Other Punjabi singers have approached Talibelico for collaborations, but he says he is in no hurry. “Right now, I am focusing on my own sound.”
By blending Punjabi and Mexican instrumentation, Talibelico and Harveer Singh want to create an entirely new musical genre. “Earlier collaborations mixed the lyrics, but the beats remained either Latin or Punjabi. We’re trying to fuse the music itself, not just the words,” Harveer says.
Talibelico believes the similarities are already there. “The accordion and the harmonium have comparable sounds. They are not exactly the same, but their patterns are similar,” he says.
Modesto Area Music Awards operations manager Middagh Goodwin calls the fusion of Indian rhythms with banda and mariachi “a perfect marriage”.
Modesto Area Music Association founder Chris Murphy says, “The more initiatives like Talibelico, the more we mainstream these cultures… For me, it makes a city truly vibrant.”
Gagandeep Singh is an investigative journalist based in the United States. He holds a master’s degree in Politics and Global Affairs from Columbia Journalism School. As a recipient of the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship from the Missouri School of Journalism, he focuses his reporting on migration, education, crime and justice, and the South Asian diaspora in the Americas.
