Why the Film ‘CLIKA’ Is the Start of ‘A Long-Term Effort to Tell More Stories’ to Uplift the Underrepresented

Before Jay Dee became the lead singer of pioneering trap corridos troupe Herencia de Patrones, the artist born Jesús Diego Orejel spent his days picking peaches in Northern California’s vast agricultural fields. The fuzz from the fruit often caused his skin to itch, a constant reminder of the grueling labor he dreamed of leaving behind to chart a future in music.

His journey from farmworker to frontman is at the heart of CLIKA [“The Gang”], a film executive-­directed by Jimmy Humilde, founder and CEO of label Rancho Humilde. Due for release in January 2026 by Columbia Pictures in collaboration with Sony Music U.S. Latin and Sony Pictures, the movie offers an authentic look at the Mexican American experience while showcasing the corridos tumbados explosion of recent years — and the cultural movement it inspired.

“It all started with an idea, something that had to do with the culture, how we’re building corridos and how we didn’t have to go to Mexico to [do so],” Humilde says. “We created it here in the U.S. for the U.S. audience, and now it has gone global.” Adds Txema Rosique, senior vp of A&R for Sony Music U.S. Latin, “CLIKA is grounded in real experiences, promoting self-worth, perseverance and cultural pride… We see this as the start of a long-term effort to tell more stories that uplift and empower underrepresented communities.”

The film is loosely inspired by the rise of Rancho Humilde, the independent label Humilde founded in 2011 to elevate artists like Natanael Cano, Fuerza Regida and Herencia de Patrones. For years, the label’s viral music videos, many of which depict artists flexing luxury rides and stacks of cash, have racked up hundreds of millions of YouTube views. These visuals served as storytelling pieces for the budding corridos tumbados movement and helped cement the rise of Jay Dee’s group, which broke through in 2019. Soon enough, Humilde realized those stories could extend beyond music videos: “I thought, ‘Why don’t we make a movie?’ We already had the audience.”

The film was also a natural next step for Jay Dee, who makes his acting debut in the lead role. “It felt like shooting a music video, and because this story was so close to my own life, it was easier to step into those shoes,” he says. “Up here in Northern Cali, that’s what a lot of people know — my family members and the people that I roll with in my crew, they all know farmwork. They all got their hands dirty and know what it’s like to pick peaches, deshijar [“to remove shoots and suckers”], podar [“to prune”].”

Formed in Yuba City in 2016, Herencia de Patrones is widely credited with helping pioneer a style that fuses traditional regional Mexican corridos and norteño with hip-hop wordplay. The film’s narrative parallels Jay Dee’s personal milestones, including the release of “Cosa de la Clika,” his group’s breakthrough corrido featuring Fuerza Regida and Legado 7 from its 2019 studio debut, Pa las Vibras. “That was the track that changed everything,” Jay Dee recalls.

For Humilde, the movie reflects the same philosophy that made Rancho Humilde a success. “This film is to show people that anything you set your mind on to do is possible,” he says. “We created all [of this] with thought, faith and a lot of belief in ourselves.”

This story appears in the Oct. 11, 2025, issue of Billboard.