Ven Conmigo was recorded at record producer Joey Lopez' Zaz Studios in
San Antonio. The band entered the studio "with more musical firepower than ever before". Quintanilla III
arranged the album and chose what would be included on it, "carefully select[ing] the songs [that would] jumpstart [Selena's] transition into a larger Latino market". Keyboardist
Ricky Vela programmed the entire project, while band members contributed to the recording by composing seven of the album's ten songs.
Ven Conmigo contains half
cumbias and half
rancheras. It includes musical influences from:
salsa,
rock and roll,
rap and
soul music,
traditional Mexican music,
Mexican folk,
polka,
country, and
Colombian music.
Abraham Quintanilla Jr.—the group's manager and Selena's father—suggested the idea of having a variety of genres on the album: "I always felt that the buyer, the listener, would enjoy this and would not get bored hearing just one particular style of music." The compositions for the album were musically varied— more "broader-based and more adventurous than any mainstream Tejano act" according to biographer Joe Nick Patoski. Selena and her band were "evolving a rhythmic style that demonstrated its prowess for catchy cumbias".
Ven Conmigo scrapped the conventional styles and track organization of the typical Tejano album of "a two-sided single sandwiched between a bunch of polkas and oldie-but-goodie [songs]". On "Yo Te Amo", the band decided to go with a
bridge–interlude format rather than a typical
chord progression they had recycled; "[W]e were growing, we were evolving" as Vela later put it. It was "neither Texan nor Mexican" in its form, but a representation of international Spanish music "under the guise of a slow cumbia". Similarly, "Yo Me Voy" has the same qualities as "Yo Te Amo". Vela enjoyed
Rocío Dúrcal's 1987 version of "Yo Me Voy", a
Juan Gabriel song. He wanted Selena to record it and played Dúrcal's recording to A.B. who agreed that the song would suit
Ven Conmigo. A.B. collaborated on the arrangement with Vela. Local songwriter, Johnny Herrera, wrote "Aunque No Salga el Sol", which was originally written for
Lisa Lopez as a follow-up to her 1982 number-one single "
Si Quieres Verme Llorar". Lopez had rejected the song, finding it weaker than other recordings that were provided to her. Patoski thought the song was "one of the most poetic works ever written by a Texas composer". It was given to Selena to record in 1985 for
Bob Grever's record label; she later re-recorded it for
Ven Conmigo. Vela used "more
percussion and
sequencing" than similar
pop ballads. Quintanilla III worked with
Pete Astudillo on a concept
melody he had thought of while the band was resting following a concert in West Texas. Called "
Baila Esta Cumbia" it was recorded for
Ven Conmigo. Beginning with this album, Selena started experimenting with
vocal arrangements during recording sessions. She added an
outro to "Baila Esta Cumbia", her first attempt at adding "counter melodies " to finished projects; "she would often change vocal [notes] to suit her and what she thought [sounded] better" recalled
Chris Pérez. "Baila Esta Cumbia" echoed works by
Fito Olivares, and became a
hit single in Mexico, "opening the doors" for the group in that country. Astudillo co-wrote the title track, "Ven Conmigo", with A.B. using the same stylistic sounds found in
música norteña recordings. Vela and A.B. traveled to
Poteet, Texas, and hired
David Lee Garza, his brother, and father to play and record the
accordion,
drums, and
bajo sexto, respectively for the track that gave it "a Tejano flavor". After discovering that Behar invited high-profile pop music executives to the
1990 Tejano Music Awards, Abraham argued that a
hip-hop-esque song could impress them and solidify a crossover deal. A.B., Astudillo, and Vela worked on the idea through the night at a
Motel 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, using eight keyboards, a
mixing console, and monitor systems. "[B]ack then we didn't have the fancy computers with all the sequencing" A.B. recalled during a retrospect interview. They created a Spanish-language translation of "Is It the Beat?", an English language demo track she had recorded the previous year, entitled "
Enamorada de Ti", a
freestyle dance-pop track that drummer
Suzette Quintanilla compared to a
Top 40 recording that illustrated Selena's "
soul side". Selena recorded the track before the Tejano Music Awards on March 9, 1990, and rehearsed a routine with backup dancers for the event. Quintanilla Jr. suggested the idea of reworking the popular Cuban song "
Guantanamera" into a
house music track. Quintanilla III created an instrumental. Quintanilla Jr. liked it and encouraged Quintanilla III to write lyrics for it, resulting in "
No Quiero Saber". Astudillo recalled how he worked with Quintanilla III on the track, noting that "No Quiero Saber" was lyrically different from their repertoire of
love songs and the heartache of failed relationships. ==Promotion==