After a decade-long wait, Bruno Mars released his highly anticipated fourth solo studio album, “The Romantic,” on Friday . The nine-track project kicks off with one of the most saccharine forms of affection known to man: a traditional Mexican serenade.

The day before the album debuted, Mars released his music video for “Risk it All,” a bolero imbued with wailing mariachi trumpets and violins. Directed by Mars and Fresno’s Daniel Ramos, the video notably guest-stars the Los Angeles band Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara, who can be seen playing outside the Guardian Angel Catholic Church in East Hollywood.

According to bandleader Joel Jacques, the mariachi band was hired to pretend to play the instruments — but after taping a few takes using the yet-to-be-released recording, the group ended up memorizing the exact musical notes by ear.

“Many artists don’t get real musicians,” says Jacques, who played the guitarrón, an acoustic bass guitar, in the video. “So when you see a music video, you can often see that people don’t play the real notes, but if you look, [we do].”

Jacques recalls that the band’s swift adoption of the song came as a surprise to Mars, who let out a chuckle in amazement when he heard his song live for the first time.

“He’s Puerto Rican, we’re Mexican,” says Jacques. “All Latin Americans have this beautiful romanticism and emotion that we transmit through our music.”

Now counting nearly 15 million views, “Risk It All” has been dubbed by fans an instant classic wedding song. Various Mexican artists praised Mars on Instagram — including Mexican American singers Jesús Ortiz Paz of Fuerza Regida, Ivan Cornejo and Lupita Infante, granddaughter of the beloved ranchera king Pedro Infante.

Born Peter Gene Hernandez in Honolulu to parents of Puerto Rican, Filipino and Ashkenazi Jewish descent, Mars pays homage to other parts of Latin culture throughout “The Romantic” — like in the Cuban-inspired track “Cha Cha Cha,” and “Something Serious,” which recalls Santana’s 1970 song “Oye Como Va,” a cha-cha-cha song originally composed and recorded by Tito Puente in 1962.

Although based in L.A., Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara has roots in Mexico. Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the birthplace and capital of mariachi music, Jacques studied guitar under his father, Lazaro Jacques. He later attended the municipal school of El Mariachi in Guadalajara under the tutelage of Lino Briseño — original member of the group Mariachi Vargas De Tecalitlan, which is known best for performing with ranchera singer-actors Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete.

In 2007, Jacques formed Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara. He later moved the operation to Los Angeles in 2018, where he settled down after meeting his wife. “Los Angeles is a breeding ground for musicians,” he says.

As the leader of Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara, Jacques prides himself in wearing the charro suit with all the gallantry and dignity that it deserves — from the matching buckle, buttons, bows and charro hat.

“We’re a group that does música mexicana with quality,” he says, which is why his group was keen on memorizing “Risk it All.”

When Jacques got the call from the production team, he gave them a brief history of mariachi by sharing popular clips, such as Elvis Presley’s “Guadalajara,” which featured the real-life Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. He also cited the Mexican mariachi legend Vicente Fernandez, who often performed his music with an 11-piece ensemble, unlike many other singers who simply used the band members for display.

Explaining the rich history of mariachi music, which was added to UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011, is part of why Jacques thinks his band was selected to play alongside a 16-time Grammy winner like Mars.

“Our Mexican music is truly an intangible cultural heritage of humanity,” says Jacques. “Thanks to this kind of music that’s being made now, with artists like Bruno Mars, it’s really giving a boost to our Mexican music and also our Latin culture.”