Narcocorrido
Encyclopedia
A Narcocorrido is a type of Mexican music and song tradition which evolved out of the norteño
folk corrido
tradition. This type of music is heard on both sides of the US–Mexican border. It uses a danceable, accordion-based polka
as a rhythmic base. The first corridos that focus on drug smugglers—the narco comes from "narcotics"—have been dated to the 1930s. Early corridos (non-narco) go back as far to the Mexican Revolution
of 1910, telling the stories of revolutionary fighters. Other music critics have compared narcocorrido music to gangster rap.
Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events and include real dates and places. The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of illegal criminal activities such as murder, torture, racketeering
, extortion
, drug smuggling, illegal immigration
, and sometimes political protest due to government corruption.
In the 1980s, Rosalino "Chalino" Sánchez
contributed to narcocorridos. Known throughout Mexico as "El Pelavacas" (Cow Skin Peeler), El Indio (The Indian, from his corrido "El Indio Sánchez"), and "Mi Compa" (My Friend), Sánchez was a Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles. He then began distributing his music for a sale price. His lyrics composed of heartbreak, revolution, and socioeconomic issues. Soon he was selling mass copies. Chalino Sánchez was murdered in 1992 after a concert in Culiacán
. In death, he became a legend and one of the most influential musicians to emerge from California, he was known throughout Mexico and United States as El Rey del Corrido (The King of the Corrido).
From the 1990s through 2000s, the number of bands that played narcocorridos increased dramatically. Among the most popular groups that performed such songs were El Cuquio AKA Frankie Franco de Cuquio Jalisco Mexico, El As de la Sierra, El Original de la Sierra, Los Huracanes del Norte, Los Alegres del Barranco, Los Morros del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana
, Los Inquietos del Norte, Los Amos de Nuevo León, Los Cuates de Sinaloa, El Potro de Sinaloa, Los Originales de San Juan, Grupo Exterminador, El Tigrillo Palma, Beto Quintanilla
, Los Canelos de Durango, Larry Hernandez, Roberto Tapia, El Halcon de la Sierra, El Compa Chuy, Los Titanes de Durango, El Komander, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Los Razos de Reynaldo, Banda Nueva Clave de Oro, Colmillo Norteño, Fuerza Norteña, Revolucion Norteña, Explosion Norteña, El Gavilancillo, Jorge Gamboa, Arley Perez, La Nueva Rebellion, Los Incomparables de Tijuana, Los Nuevos Rebeldes & Grupo Cartel. For some of these groups, the narcocorrido was only one of many song styles utilized; others specialized in narcocorridos almost exclusively.
Various companies, governmental agencies, and individuals have sought to ban narcocorridos. These attempts include a voluntary radio station
black-out in Baja California
. Representative Casio Carlos Narváez explained that radio executives did not want to make "people who break the laws of our country into heroes and examples". Former President of Mexico
Vicente Fox
also proposed banning narcocorridos.
. The most popular musicians killed were Valentín Elizalde
, and Sergio Gómez
, the lead singer of Chicago-based Duranguense band K-Paz de la Sierra
. In December 2007, both men were nominated posthumously for Grammy Awards in the banda
category. On June 26, 2010, Sergio Vega, known as El Shaka, was gunned down in Sinaloa state. He was shot dead only hours after he had denied reports of his own murder.
Other murdered music industry figures include Javier Morales Gómez a singer for Los Implacables del Norte, four members of Tecno Banda Fugaz, four members of Los Padrinos de la Sierra, Zayda Peña, singer for Zayda Y Los Culpables
, trumpeter José Luis Aquino of Los Conde, record producer Marco Abdalá, manager Roberto del Fierro Lugo, Jorge Antonio Sepúlveda, Jesús Rey David Alfaro Pulido, Nicolás Villanueva of tropical group Brisas del Mar, and four members of Los Herederos de Sinaloa. Three members of Explosión Norteña were shot and wounded in Tijuana
in August 2006. In October 2010 the singer Fabian Ortega Pinon (El Halcon de la Sierra) was executed along with two other victims in Guerrero, Chihuahua.
While few if any arrests have been made in these cases, experts and musicians themselves say that the murders can be explained by many Mexican musicians’ proximity to drug traffickers. Some speculate the killings could be related to romantic disputes and jealousy. Others cite cases in which a musician writes a song praising or criticizing a drug trafficker. Many assert that Valentín Elizalde's murder, for example, was related to a song of his, "A Mis Enemigos," which some interpreted as an attack on the Gulf Cartel
following its appearance in a widespread YouTube
video.
There has been debate over the motives behind the killings and over to whether the media has exaggerated the trend. Narcocorrido expert Elijah Wald
has disputed the assumption that any of the murders were related or that musicians on the whole are targets for drug traffickers. But given the grisly nature of the murders, some of which were accompanied by torture and disfigurement, few doubt that drug cartel hitmen are to blame.
In the wake of the high-profile murders of Elizalde and Gómez, among others, some prominent corrido musicians postponed concert dates in certain parts of Mexico. Others have said they are afraid to sing narcocorridos in public for fear of offending the wrong person. Likewise, some vendors of narcocorrido CDs have reported low sales, citing fear among listeners of buying a CD featuring songs favoring one group of traffickers over another.
Song listing of "narco anthems"
Like rap/hip hop
and other genres, Narcocorridos describe the lives of the poor, destitute and of those who seek power in a violent manner. However, unlike Hip-Hop and Rap music, narcocorridos are listened to by a large portion of Spanish speakers who greatly vary in age and is widely popular among people who are non-cartel or gang related. This is a genre that is becoming main stream in many Spanish speaking countries in recent years, it is now entering countries like Guatemala
, Honduras
, Colombia
, Peru
and Bolivia
, countries of which at first had never heard of the genre in the past but are now playing the music on an everyday basis. Many of these described songs are based on real-life events as described at the beginning of the article. Also, some performers have composed songs either dedicated or tributing (besides drug cartel leaders) to some of the world's most controversial characters from Pancho Villa
to communist revolutionary Che Guevara
and even terrorist Osama Bin Laden
.
These are:
Original Spanish verse:
"Desde que yo era chiquillo tenia fintas de cabron; ya le pegaba al perico, y a la mota con más razón
Es que en mi México lindo Ahí cualquiera es cabron"
Exact English translation:
"Ever since I was a lad (child) I had the fame of a badass, already hittin the parrot (Cocaine
) and blowing dope (Cannabis/Weed
) with more reason
It's because in my beloved Mexico anyone there is a badass"
, the episode entitled "Safe", a narcocorrido is found. It was a song about an unrequited love, and the man killed her. However, several bodies are found, from meth lab exposure. Later evidence proves that she is alive and living with the boyfriend, so the narcocorrido turned out to be fake. The detectives use the corridos albums to close cases from stories that are true.
In the 2005 episode "Snakes", CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
took on the subject of narcocorridos. In it, a freelance reporter who has gone undercover in the narcocorrido-producing subculture is killed over an article critical of the genre.
In the 7th episode of the 20th season of Law & Order
, a narcocorrido is used as evidence in a murder.
In 2008, the Fox TV show America's Most Wanted
had also mentioned the genre while depicting the case of a wanted criminal that is wanted for murder and trafficking. This wanted individual may be traveling back and forth between Mexico and the United States.
The 7th episode of the 2nd season of Breaking Bad
opens by sampling Negro Y Azul, a narcocorrido by Los Cuates de Sinaloa, cowritten by Vince Gilligan
, inspired by the events depicted in the series.
On the radio, airplay of narcocorridos has increased in recent years. Artists such as Larry Hernandez, El Compa Chuy and El Potro de Sinaloa
, and songs such as "El Katch", "El Piloto Canavis (The Cannabis
Pilot)" and "El Señor de la Hummer (The Man with the Hummer
)" have increased the genre's popularity. Listener requests have helped to overcome radio stations' reluctance.
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
folk corrido
Corrido
The corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of Mexico. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for peasants, and other socially important information. It is still a popular form today, and was widely popular during the Mexican Revolution and Nicaraguan...
tradition. This type of music is heard on both sides of the US–Mexican border. It uses a danceable, accordion-based polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
as a rhythmic base. The first corridos that focus on drug smugglers—the narco comes from "narcotics"—have been dated to the 1930s. Early corridos (non-narco) go back as far to the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
of 1910, telling the stories of revolutionary fighters. Other music critics have compared narcocorrido music to gangster rap.
Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events and include real dates and places. The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of illegal criminal activities such as murder, torture, racketeering
Racket (crime)
A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
, extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, drug smuggling, illegal immigration
Illegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
, and sometimes political protest due to government corruption.
History
Among the earliest exponents of narcocorrido music were Los Alegres de Teran, who recorded many.In the 1980s, Rosalino "Chalino" Sánchez
Chalino Sánchez
Rosalino "Chalino" Sánchez was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Early life:Born and raised in a poor family on a ranch called "Las Flechas", Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. His father was Santos Sánchez and his mother Sannorina Felix. He had seven siblings: Armando, Lázaro, Régulo, Lucas,...
contributed to narcocorridos. Known throughout Mexico as "El Pelavacas" (Cow Skin Peeler), El Indio (The Indian, from his corrido "El Indio Sánchez"), and "Mi Compa" (My Friend), Sánchez was a Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles. He then began distributing his music for a sale price. His lyrics composed of heartbreak, revolution, and socioeconomic issues. Soon he was selling mass copies. Chalino Sánchez was murdered in 1992 after a concert in Culiacán
Culiacán
Culiacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
. In death, he became a legend and one of the most influential musicians to emerge from California, he was known throughout Mexico and United States as El Rey del Corrido (The King of the Corrido).
From the 1990s through 2000s, the number of bands that played narcocorridos increased dramatically. Among the most popular groups that performed such songs were El Cuquio AKA Frankie Franco de Cuquio Jalisco Mexico, El As de la Sierra, El Original de la Sierra, Los Huracanes del Norte, Los Alegres del Barranco, Los Morros del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana
Los Tucanes de Tijuana
Los Tucanes de Tijuana is a Latino Regional Band founded on April 13, 1987 by Mario Quintero Lara and a group of talented friends in the City of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. From humble beginnings, starting their musical career by playing at nightclubs they rose to become the most successful...
, Los Inquietos del Norte, Los Amos de Nuevo León, Los Cuates de Sinaloa, El Potro de Sinaloa, Los Originales de San Juan, Grupo Exterminador, El Tigrillo Palma, Beto Quintanilla
Beto Quintanilla
Beto Quintanilla was born Norberto Quintanilla Iracheta in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He was a popular narco corrido singer with a unique scratchy voice.He died as a result of a heart attack on March 18, 2007...
, Los Canelos de Durango, Larry Hernandez, Roberto Tapia, El Halcon de la Sierra, El Compa Chuy, Los Titanes de Durango, El Komander, Los Dareyes de la Sierra, Los Razos de Reynaldo, Banda Nueva Clave de Oro, Colmillo Norteño, Fuerza Norteña, Revolucion Norteña, Explosion Norteña, El Gavilancillo, Jorge Gamboa, Arley Perez, La Nueva Rebellion, Los Incomparables de Tijuana, Los Nuevos Rebeldes & Grupo Cartel. For some of these groups, the narcocorrido was only one of many song styles utilized; others specialized in narcocorridos almost exclusively.
Various companies, governmental agencies, and individuals have sought to ban narcocorridos. These attempts include a voluntary radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
black-out in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. Representative Casio Carlos Narváez explained that radio executives did not want to make "people who break the laws of our country into heroes and examples". Former President of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
also proposed banning narcocorridos.
Violence in narcocorrido industry
Between 2006 and 2008, over a dozen prominent Mexican musicians, many of them connected to the narcocorrido genre, were murdered. The violence came in the midst of the Mexican drug warMexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
. The most popular musicians killed were Valentín Elizalde
Valentín Elizalde
Valentín Elizalde Valencia was a Mexican banda music singer gunned down in an ambush. Known by the nickname "El Gallo de Oro" , his biggest Banda hits included "Vete Ya," "Ebrio de Amor", " Vete Con Él", "Vuelve Cariñito", "Como Me Duele", "Vencedor", " Mi Virgencita", and "Soy Así"...
, and Sergio Gómez
Sergio Gómez
Paulo Sergio Gómez Sánchez , better known as Sergio Gómez, was a Mexican singer who was the founder and lead vocalist of the duranguense group K-Paz de la Sierra.-Biography:...
, the lead singer of Chicago-based Duranguense band K-Paz de la Sierra
K-Paz de la Sierra
K-Paz de la Sierra is a Duranguense band that was formed in Chicago, Illinois by Mexican natives. The group was formed on Christmas Eve of 2002 by some departing members of Montez de Durango. The company ProcanRecords gave them the opportunity. K-paz De La Sierra was well known in the U.S. in the...
. In December 2007, both men were nominated posthumously for Grammy Awards in the banda
Banda music
Banda is a brass-based form of traditional music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros. Bandas are most widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern Mexican pop, rock, and cumbias...
category. On June 26, 2010, Sergio Vega, known as El Shaka, was gunned down in Sinaloa state. He was shot dead only hours after he had denied reports of his own murder.
Other murdered music industry figures include Javier Morales Gómez a singer for Los Implacables del Norte, four members of Tecno Banda Fugaz, four members of Los Padrinos de la Sierra, Zayda Peña, singer for Zayda Y Los Culpables
Zayda Y Los Culpables
Zayda Y Los Culpables is a Mexican grupero band. The group sang romantic ballads about love and loss. The song "Tiro de Gracia" , describing a failed relationship, was one of the most popular songs from the band.-Death of Zayda Peña Arjona:Zayda Peña Arjona was the lead singer of Zayda y...
, trumpeter José Luis Aquino of Los Conde, record producer Marco Abdalá, manager Roberto del Fierro Lugo, Jorge Antonio Sepúlveda, Jesús Rey David Alfaro Pulido, Nicolás Villanueva of tropical group Brisas del Mar, and four members of Los Herederos de Sinaloa. Three members of Explosión Norteña were shot and wounded in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
in August 2006. In October 2010 the singer Fabian Ortega Pinon (El Halcon de la Sierra) was executed along with two other victims in Guerrero, Chihuahua.
While few if any arrests have been made in these cases, experts and musicians themselves say that the murders can be explained by many Mexican musicians’ proximity to drug traffickers. Some speculate the killings could be related to romantic disputes and jealousy. Others cite cases in which a musician writes a song praising or criticizing a drug trafficker. Many assert that Valentín Elizalde's murder, for example, was related to a song of his, "A Mis Enemigos," which some interpreted as an attack on the Gulf Cartel
Gulf Cartel
The Gulf Cartel is one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, and perhaps the oldest organized crime group in the country...
following its appearance in a widespread YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video.
There has been debate over the motives behind the killings and over to whether the media has exaggerated the trend. Narcocorrido expert Elijah Wald
Elijah Wald
Indeed, his first book was a collaboration with his biologist mother entitled Exploding the Gene Myth, in which they wrote that "The myth of the all-powerful gene is based on flawed science that discounts the environment in which we and our genes exist." "There are no definitive histories," he...
has disputed the assumption that any of the murders were related or that musicians on the whole are targets for drug traffickers. But given the grisly nature of the murders, some of which were accompanied by torture and disfigurement, few doubt that drug cartel hitmen are to blame.
In the wake of the high-profile murders of Elizalde and Gómez, among others, some prominent corrido musicians postponed concert dates in certain parts of Mexico. Others have said they are afraid to sing narcocorridos in public for fear of offending the wrong person. Likewise, some vendors of narcocorrido CDs have reported low sales, citing fear among listeners of buying a CD featuring songs favoring one group of traffickers over another.
Narco anthems and their lyrical contents
Since music plays an important role and major influence in the narco culture, the following "rolas" (songs) have been tagged as "anthems" for such nature and have been banned from airplay in Mexico and parts of the United States. However, the banning has failed in Mexico because the music is somewhat still displayed and available on the web for listening and downloading. Pirated (Bootleg) copies of this music are sold in the "tianguis" (outdoor markets) at affordable prices.Song listing of "narco anthems"
Like rap/hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
and other genres, Narcocorridos describe the lives of the poor, destitute and of those who seek power in a violent manner. However, unlike Hip-Hop and Rap music, narcocorridos are listened to by a large portion of Spanish speakers who greatly vary in age and is widely popular among people who are non-cartel or gang related. This is a genre that is becoming main stream in many Spanish speaking countries in recent years, it is now entering countries like Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, countries of which at first had never heard of the genre in the past but are now playing the music on an everyday basis. Many of these described songs are based on real-life events as described at the beginning of the article. Also, some performers have composed songs either dedicated or tributing (besides drug cartel leaders) to some of the world's most controversial characters from Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
to communist revolutionary Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
and even terrorist Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
.
These are:
- "En Preparacion" (In Preparation) (a song that refers to the life of violent cartel leader Manuel TorresManuel TorresManuel Torres may refer to:* Manuel Montt Torres , president of Chile between 1851 and 1861* Manuel Torre or Manuel Torres , flamenco singer-Sports:*Víctor Torres Mestre , Spanish footballer...
known as "El Ondeado", brother of Javier Torres known as "El J.T.") by Gerardo Ortiz - "La Muerte del Pelavacas" (The Death of Pelavacas) by Chalino SánchezChalino SánchezRosalino "Chalino" Sánchez was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Early life:Born and raised in a poor family on a ranch called "Las Flechas", Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. His father was Santos Sánchez and his mother Sannorina Felix. He had seven siblings: Armando, Lázaro, Régulo, Lucas,...
- "El Señor de los Cielos" (The Lord of the Skies) by El As de la Sierra
- "A Mis Enemigos" (To All My Enemies) by Valentín ElizaldeValentín ElizaldeValentín Elizalde Valencia was a Mexican banda music singer gunned down in an ambush. Known by the nickname "El Gallo de Oro" , his biggest Banda hits included "Vete Ya," "Ebrio de Amor", " Vete Con Él", "Vuelve Cariñito", "Como Me Duele", "Vencedor", " Mi Virgencita", and "Soy Así"...
- "El Coco" (The coke head) by El Halcon de la Sierra
- "Rigoberto Campos" (a tribute to the drug trafficker) by Chalino SánchezChalino SánchezRosalino "Chalino" Sánchez was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Early life:Born and raised in a poor family on a ranch called "Las Flechas", Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico. His father was Santos Sánchez and his mother Sannorina Felix. He had seven siblings: Armando, Lázaro, Régulo, Lucas,...
- "Nave 727" (refers to the "Boeing 727Boeing 727The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
" aircraft) by Grupo Laberinto - "Cuerno de Chivo" ("Goat's Horn", Spanish slang/term that refers to the AK-47AK-47The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault riffle.) by Los Huracanes del NorteLos Huracanes del NorteLos Huracanes del Norte are a Mexican Norteño group, originally from Tangancicuaro, Michoacan but based out of San Jose, California, USA. They are one of the genre's most popular performers.... - "Mis Tres Animales" (My Three Animals) refers to the 3 main types of narcotics. by Los Tucanes de TijuanaLos Tucanes de TijuanaLos Tucanes de Tijuana is a Latino Regional Band founded on April 13, 1987 by Mario Quintero Lara and a group of talented friends in the City of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. From humble beginnings, starting their musical career by playing at nightclubs they rose to become the most successful...
- "El Macho Prieto (a supposed tribute to drug trafficker Gonzalo Inzunza) by Luis Salomon El Arremangado
- "Ajustes Inzunza" (Retaliations Inzunza) by Colmillo Norteño
- "La Vida Mafiosa" (The Mafia Life) by Los Canelos de Durango
- "El Chapo Guzmán" (a supposed tribute to drug lord Joaquín "Chapo" Guzmán) by Los Tucanes de TijuanaLos Tucanes de TijuanaLos Tucanes de Tijuana is a Latino Regional Band founded on April 13, 1987 by Mario Quintero Lara and a group of talented friends in the City of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. From humble beginnings, starting their musical career by playing at nightclubs they rose to become the most successful...
- "El Jefe de Jefes" (The Boss of Bosses) by Los Tigres del NorteLos Tigres del NorteLos Tigres del Norte is a norteño-band ensemble based out of San Jose, California, hailing from Rosa Morada, Sinaloa, Mexico.- History :...
- "Chuy y Mauricio" (Chuy and Mauricio) by Los Canelos de Durango
- "Chingon de Chingones" (The Badass of Badasses) by Los Razos de Sacramento y Reynaldo
- "Los Duros de Colombia" (The Colombia Hardhitters) by Gerardo Ortiz
- "Carteles Unidos" (United Cartels) by El Movimiento Alterado
- "El Cartel de las Calles" (The Streets Cartel) (This also gave the name to the Chicano Gangster Rap group Kartel de las Calles) by Los Razos de Sacramento y Reynaldo
- "El Sr. Mayo Zambada" (Mr. Mayo Zambada) (a song dedicated to another one of Mexico's dangerous cartel leaders, Ismael "Mayo" ZambadaIsmael Zambada GarcíaIsmael Zambada García , also known as El Mayo Zambada, is a Mexican drug lord and one of the two Sinaloa cartel leaders...
) by Enigma Norteñoical content was taken from a Narcocorrido anthem; Here is a verse of the song "El Cabron" (2005) by Los Capos.
Original Spanish verse:
"Desde que yo era chiquillo tenia fintas de cabron; ya le pegaba al perico, y a la mota con más razón
Es que en mi México lindo Ahí cualquiera es cabron"
Exact English translation:
"Ever since I was a lad (child) I had the fame of a badass, already hittin the parrot (Cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
) and blowing dope (Cannabis/Weed
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
) with more reason
It's because in my beloved Mexico anyone there is a badass"
On TV and other Media
In the third season of The ShieldThe Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, the episode entitled "Safe", a narcocorrido is found. It was a song about an unrequited love, and the man killed her. However, several bodies are found, from meth lab exposure. Later evidence proves that she is alive and living with the boyfriend, so the narcocorrido turned out to be fake. The detectives use the corridos albums to close cases from stories that are true.
In the 2005 episode "Snakes", CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
took on the subject of narcocorridos. In it, a freelance reporter who has gone undercover in the narcocorrido-producing subculture is killed over an article critical of the genre.
In the 7th episode of the 20th season of Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, a narcocorrido is used as evidence in a murder.
In 2008, the Fox TV show America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
had also mentioned the genre while depicting the case of a wanted criminal that is wanted for murder and trafficking. This wanted individual may be traveling back and forth between Mexico and the United States.
The 7th episode of the 2nd season of Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...
opens by sampling Negro Y Azul, a narcocorrido by Los Cuates de Sinaloa, cowritten by Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the highly acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. Gilligan has also worked on the hit series The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen. He is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University...
, inspired by the events depicted in the series.
On the radio, airplay of narcocorridos has increased in recent years. Artists such as Larry Hernandez, El Compa Chuy and El Potro de Sinaloa
El Potro de Sinaloa
José Eulogio Hernandez, better known by his stage name El Potro de Sinaloa, is a Mexican conjunto singer born in Tapias, Sinaloa.Both of his brothers, Ignacio and Tomas, had careers as musicians in Mexico. Early in his career he adopted his stage name , and became a popular performer throughout the...
, and songs such as "El Katch", "El Piloto Canavis (The Cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
Pilot)" and "El Señor de la Hummer (The Man with the Hummer
Hummer
Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the Humvee; and the H2 and H3 models that were...
)" have increased the genre's popularity. Listener requests have helped to overcome radio stations' reluctance.
Films
- 2006 - Al Otro Lado (dir. Natalia Almada)
Academic articles and books
- Astorga, Luis: Mitología del traficante en México. México: UNAM / Plaza y Valdés, 1995.
- Astorga, Luis. "Corridos de traficantes y censura". Región y Sociedad 17.32 (2005): 145-165.
- Astorga, Luis. "Los corridos de traficantes de drogas en México y Colombia". 21 de marzo, 2006. Online. http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/LASA97/astorga.pdf
- Cabañas, Miguel A. "El narcocorrido global y las identidades transnacionales." Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 42 (2008): 519-542.
- Cabañas, Miguel A. "Lo popular transnacional: el narcocorrido como género musical en los Estados Unidos, México y Colombia." Intersecciones: Abordajes de lo popular en América Latina. Zulema Moret, ed. La Página 74-75 (2008): 89-101.
- Edberg, Mark Cameron. "El Narcotraficante: Narcocorridos & The Construction of a Cultural Persona on the U.S.-Mexican Border." Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
- Flores y Escalante, Jesús. "El narcocorrido: Tradición sin tiempo ni frontera." Somos. (Número dedicado a Los Tigres del Norte). 13.228 (febrero 2003): 72-79.
- Herrera-Sobek, María. "The Theme of Smuggling in the Mexican Corrido." Revista Chicano Riqueña. 1979:7 No. 4: 4961.
- Nicolopulos, James. "The Problematic Question of the Earliest Narcocorridista: Manuel C. Valdez or Juan Gaytán?" Ballad Mediations: Folksongs Recovered, Represented and Reimagined. Eds. Roger de V. Renwick and Sigrid Rieuwerts. Traer: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Traer, 2006. 51-57.
- Quinones, Sam. True Tales from Another Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New México Press, 2001.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos.Cantar a los narcos. voces y versos del narcocorrido. México: Editorial Planeta, 2011.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos."El narcocorrido religioso: usos y abusos de un género." Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. XXIX 2011.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "Los corridos de Juan Meneses: dos antecedentes tempranos del narcocorrido en la frontera México-Estados Unidos." Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. Vol. XXXV, No. 2 (Fall 2010).
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "Del corrido de narcotráfico al narcocorrido: Orígenes y desarrollo del canto a los traficantes." Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. Special issue on border culture. XXIII (2004):21-41.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "Búsquenme en el Internet: Características del narcocorrido finisecular." Ciberletras # 11. Special issue "End of 20th Century Mexican Literature". (July, 2004)
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "El corrido de narcotráfico en los años ochenta y noventa: un juicio moral suspendido". The Bilingual Review/ La Revista Bilingüe. XXIII.2 (May–August 1998): 145-156.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan. "En torno al primer narcocorrido: arqueología del cancionero de las drogas." A Contracorriente: Journal of Social History and Literature in Latin America. . (Spring 2010).V. 7, No. 3.
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan. "Chicago lindo y querido si muero lejos de ti: el pasito duranguense, la onda grupera y las nuevas geografías de la identidad popular mexicana." Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos. (2010): 31-45.XXVI.1
- Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan. De El Periquillo al pericazo: Ensayos sobre literatura y cultura mexicana. Ciudad Juárez: Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Press 2006.
- Simonett, Helena. "Narcocorridos: An Emerging Micromusic of Nuevo L.A." Ethnomusicology. 45.2 (Spring/Summer 2001): 315-337.
- Wald, Elijah. Narcocorrido: Un viaje al mundo de la música de las drogas, armas, y guerrilleros. Nueva York: Rayo, 2001
- Wellinga, Klaas. "Cantando a los traficantes."Foro Hispánico: Revista Hispánica de los Países Bajos, 22 (2002): 137-54.
- Villalobos, José and Juan Carlos Ramírez-Pimienta. "Corridos and la pura verdad: Myths and Realities of the Mexican Ballad." The South Central Review. Special issue "Memory and Nation in Contemporary Mexico". 21.3 (Fall 2004):129-149.
External links
- http://narcocorrido.wordpress.com/
- True Tales From Another Mexico: the Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx by journalist Sam Quinones, includes the story of narcocorrido legend Chalino Sánchez.
- Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas, a journalistic book about this style, including interviews with most of the foremost composers.
- Timeline of narcocorrido censorship attempts
- BBC article on Narcocorrido
- Compiled media reference file on Los Tucanes de Tijuana
- New Yorker article on the new narcocultura
- Mexico: Trouble in Culiacán, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
- Mexican singer El Shaka killed after denying his murder
- New York Times article on Colombian narcocorridos http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/world/americas/05colombia.html