The music is most often based on duple and triple metre and its lyrics often deal with socially relevant topics, although there are also many norteño love songs.

[2] Emperor Maximilian I brought Central European music to México during his reign (beginning 1863) in the Second Mexican Empire.

Many of Maximilian's former soldiers and fellow countrymen fled north and dispersed into what is now the southwestern United States.

[3][4] European immigrants from Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States also brought dance traditions such as the varsovienne.

More recent bands such as Intocable integrate elements of rock music and other popular styles.

In 2014, Los Tigres del Norte released the album Realidades, which contains the song "Era Diferente" ("She Was Different") about a lesbian teenager who falls in love with her best friend; according to lead singer and songwriter Jorge Hernández, this is the first time a norteño band has ever written a gay love song.

Several bands are influenced by grupero music and incorporate an electronic keyboard for their ballads and romantic cumbias.

Norteño-Banda: Is essentially pacific norteño, but replaces the bass with a sousaphone; an instrument typically used in banda music for the low notes.

Some artists include Calibre 50, Voz de Mando, Colmillo Norteño, Revolver Cannabis, and Código FN.