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narcocorrido

{{Short description|Type of narrative ballad originating in Mexico}}

{{Redirect|Drug Ballad|the Eminem song|The Marshall Mathers LP}}

{{More footnotes needed|article|date=April 2012}}

{{Infobox music genre

| name = Narcocorrido

| stylistic_origins = Polka, ranchera, norteño, corrido, banda

| cultural_origins = Early 20th century Mexico

| derivatives = Country

| subgenrelist =

| subgenres =

| fusiongenres =

| regional_scenes = Mexico (with origins in the states of Sinaloa, Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Nuevo León, Durango, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, and Michoacán)

United States (notably in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas)

Central America (notably in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala)

South America (notably in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia)

| other_topics =

}}

A narcocorrido ({{IPA|es|naɾkokoˈriðo}}, "narco-corrido" or drug ballad) is a subgenre of the Regional Mexican corrido (narrative ballad) genre, from which several other genres have evolved. This type of music is heard and produced on both sides of the Mexico–US border. It uses a danceable, polka, waltz or mazurka rhythmic base.

The first corridos that focus on drug smugglers—the narco comes from "narcotics"—have been dated by Juan Ramírez-Pimienta to the 1930s. Early corridos (non-narco) go back as far as the Mexican Revolution of 1910, telling the stories of revolutionary fighters. Music critics have also compared narcocorrido lyrics and style to gangster rap and mafioso rap.{{cite journal |first1=Juan Carlos |last1=Ramírez-Pimienta |year=2004 |title=Del corrido de narcotráfico al narcocorrido: Orígenes y desarrollo del canto a los traficantes |language=es |journal=Studies in Latin American Popular Culture |volume=23 |pages=21–41}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/sep/19/urban1 |title=Death in the midday sun |first1=Martin |last1=Hodgson |work=The Guardian |date=19 September 2004 |access-date=August 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527091310/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/sep/19/urban1 |archive-date=27 May 2013 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}}

Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events and include real dates and places.[http://www.chalino.com/ Musica Regional Mexicana para toda la Plebada! | Corridos | Musica Nortena | Musica de Banda | Musica Duranguense | Mexican Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100512133243/http://www.chalino.com/ |date=2010-05-12}}{{failed verification|date=April 2012}} The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of illegal activities, mainly drug trafficking.

History

This genre of music is the evolution of traditional corrido ballads of the Mexican-US border region, which stemmed from the 16th-century Spanish genre of romance.

In the late 1980s and early 90s, Chalino Sánchez contributed to narcocorridos. Known throughout Mexico as "El Pelavacas" (Cow Skin Peeler) and "Mi Compa" (My Friend), Chalino was a Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles. He began distributing his music for a sale price. His lyrics dealt with love, betrayal and the reality of life in Mexico. 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 Mexican musicians to emerge from California, he is known throughout the United States and Mexico as El Rey del Corrido (The King of the Corrido).{{cite book |first=Sam |last=Quinones |year=2001 |title=True Tales from Another Mexico |url=https://archive.org/details/truetalesfromano00samq |url-access=registration |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=Albuquerque |isbn=978-0-8263-2296-8}}{{page needed|date=April 2012}}

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.{{cite web |first=Elijah |last=Wald |url=http://www.elijahwald.com/corcensors.html |title=Corrido Censorship: A Brief History |access-date=2005-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050208151851/http://www.elijahwald.com/corcensors.html |archive-date=2005-02-08 |url-status=live}}{{self-published inline|date=April 2012}} On the other hand, former Mexican foreign secretary Jorge Castaneda has argued that "corridos are attempts by Mexican society to come to terms with the world around them...You cannot blame narcocorridos for drug violence. Drug violence is to blame for narcocorridos".{{cite news |first=Josh |last=Kun |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/arts/music/07narcocorrido.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |title=Minstrels in the Court of the Kingpin |date=March 7, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=February 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926090722/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/arts/music/07narcocorrido.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=September 26, 2017 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}

Lyrical content

File:El Komander - La Corona (En Vivo 2017).webm]]

Since music plays an important role and major influence in the narcoculture in Mexico, some songs have been tagged as "anthems" and banned from airplay in Mexico and parts of the United States. However, the banning has failed in Mexico because the music is still displayed and available on several radio stations in the United States,{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/28/narcocorrido-sound-los-angeles |title=Narcocorrido, the sound of Los Angeles | Music |work=The Guardian |date=2012-03-28 |access-date=2017-11-08 |last1=Denselow |first1=Robin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003030842/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/28/narcocorrido-sound-los-angeles |archive-date=2017-10-03 |url-status=live}} near the border with Mexico, which still reaches the northern Mexico audience,[http://dangerousminds.net/comments/narcocorridos_the_outlawed_commerical_jingles_of_violent_mexican_drug_lords Narcocorridos: The outlawed commerical jingles of violent Mexican drug lords]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508191904/http://dangerousminds.net/comments/narcocorridos_the_outlawed_commerical_jingles_of_violent_mexican_drug_lords |date=2015-05-08}} {{sic|hide=y}}{{Cite news |last=Summers |first=Chris |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm |title=Americas | Mexico's forbidden songs |publisher=BBC News |date=2004-10-03 |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122215030/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm |archive-date=2017-11-22 |url-status=live}} while another important point of narcocorrido distribution method has been the internet{{cite web| url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2013/10/25/new-documentary-looks-at-narco-cultura-on-both-sides-border/| title=New Documentary Examines the Impact of 'Narcocorridos' on Both Sides of U.S.-Mexico Border| website=Fox News| date=2013-10-25| access-date=2015-05-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512062102/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2013/10/25/new-documentary-looks-at-narco-cultura-on-both-sides-border/| archive-date=2015-05-12| url-status=live}} for listening and downloading. Pirated (bootleg) copies of this music are sold in the "tianguis" (outdoor and flea markets).

Narcocorridos describe the lives of the poor, the destitute, and those who seek power through illegal means. Like hip-hop and rap music, the narcocorrido is heard by many Spanish speakers who vary in age, and is popular among people who are not associated with cartels or gangs. The genre is becoming mainstream in many Spanish-speaking countries in recent years, along with the emergence of Narco-subcultures and Drug consumption cultures; it is now entering countries like Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, where the music is available on an everyday basis.{{cite journal |first1=Chris |last1=Muniz |year=2013 |title=Narcocorridos and the Nostalgia of Violence: Postmodern Resistance en la Frontera|journal=Western American Literature |volume=48 |issue=1–2 |pages=56–69|doi=10.1353/wal.2013.0032 |s2cid=162312060}}

Examples of such anthems include:

This verse of the song "El Cabron" (1998) by Los Capos is an example of typical narcocorrido subject matter.

Original Spanish verse:

:Desde que yo era chiquillo tenia fintas de cabrón; ya le pegaba al perico, y a la mota con más razón

:Es que en mi México lindo ahí cualquiera es cabrón

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] with more reason

:It's because in my beloved Mexico anyone there is a badass.

=Movimiento alterado=

A recent trend of hyper-violent narcocorridos has been labeled Movimiento alterado, a Spanish term translated as Agitated movement or the Altered movement,{{cite web|author=Milenio Digital |url=http://www.milenio.com/region/Movimiento-alterado-narcosale-closet_0_276572792.html |title=Movimiento alterado: cuando el narco 'sale del clóset' - Grupo Milenio |date=4 July 2014 |publisher=Milenio.com |access-date=2017-11-08}} The name is a reference to the physiological effect of cocaine consumption, an altered state of mind.

In the same way that normal narcocorrido lyrics contrast with old traditional corridos (that narrated stories about revolutionaries, "benevolent bandits" or that attempted to give moral message), the lyrics of the 'Movimiento Alterado' songs contrast with previous narcocorridos. More traditional narcocorridos romanticized the trafficking lifestyle, but used many euphemisms (with words like "polvo" (powder) for cocaine and "cuerno" (horn) for the AK-47), and kept violence at a minimum (used only when or where a tragic event occurred).{{Cite magazine |last=Mcgirk |first=Tim |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2026902,00.html |title=Narcocorridos: The Balladeers of Mexico's Drug Wars - TIME |magazine=Time |date=2010-11-01 |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024170253/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2026902,00.html |archive-date=2016-10-24 |url-status=live}}

However, in the Movimiento alterado trend, the songs cynically and deliberately express the pride that modern narcotraffickers have in murdering, torture, beheading, and dismembering their rivals, using explicit descriptions of their exploits, and also naming the military grade weaponry they use (grenade throwers, body armor, "bazucas", AR15, 50 caliber bullets, knives etc.){{Cite magazine |author=product review |url=https://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/pl_narcoscorridos/ |title=Narcocorridos: Music to Mexican Drug Lords' Ears |magazine=Wired |volume=19 |issue=2 |date=2011-01-31 |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320182223/http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/pl_narcoscorridos |archive-date=2014-03-20 |url-status=live}}

The lyrics of a famous Movimiento alterado song, dedicated to the notorious cartel enforcer Manuel Torres Félix, starts as follows:

{{Blockquote|With an AK-47 and a bazooka behind my head
cross my path and I'll chop your head off
I'm crazy and I like to kill my enemies,
we're the best at kidnapping
We are always in a posse with bullet-proof vests, ready to execute.{{cite news|last=Denselow|first=Robin|title=Narcocorrido, the sound of Los Angeles|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/mar/28/narcocorrido-sound-los-angeles?INTCMP=SRCH|access-date=26 July 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=28 March 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420093235/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/mar/28/narcocorrido-sound-los-angeles?INTCMP=SRCH|archive-date=20 April 2013|url-status=live}}}}

The songs under this trend have been also labeled as:{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/es/article/alterados-y-arremangados-trailer/ |title=Alterados y arremangados - Trailer |publisher=VICE |date=2014-04-24 |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082347/http://www.vice.com/es_mx/video/alterados-y-arremangados-trailer |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://objetivo7.com/el-movimiento-alterado-alabanza-a-decapitamientos-y-descuartizamientos-se-origino-en-culiacan/ |title=El Movimiento alterado, alabanza a decapitamientos y descuartizamientos se originó en Culiacán – Objetivo7 |publisher=Objetivo7.com |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305121001/http://objetivo7.com/el-movimiento-alterado-alabanza-a-decapitamientos-y-descuartizamientos-se-origino-en-culiacan/ |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.diariolaestrella.com/2012/10/25/125470_gerardo-ortiz-impulsa-el-corrido.html |title=Diario la Estrella | 10/25/2012 | Gerardo Ortiz impulsa el corrido progresivo con entrega y talento |access-date=2015-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925122835/http://www.diariolaestrella.com/2012/10/25/125470_gerardo-ortiz-impulsa-el-corrido.html |archive-date=2015-09-25}}

  • corridos arremangados (rolled-up sleeves ballads)
  • corridos alterados (alertness ballads)
  • corridos progresivos (progressive ballads)
  • corridos enfermos (sick or insane ballads)

Narcocorrido and crime

=As money laundering scheme=

In Mexico, parts of South America and some regions of the US{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jul-01-mn-51900-story.html |title=Record Label Exec Agrees to Plead Guilty to Payola - latimes |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=1999-07-01 |access-date=2017-11-08 |last1=Philips |first1=Chuck |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417210948/http://articles.latimes.com/1999/jul/01/news/mn-51900 |archive-date=2016-04-17 |url-status=live}} south border it is common to hear the sudden appearance of "new artists", mainly in folk radio stations, who are not known in the music industry, have no previous career and with no explanation of where they come from. These music groups and singers start to appear consistently on radio, television and public broadcasts with a strong promotion of their concerts. This happens for a fixed amount of time, and in the same sudden way they appear, they stop their promotion and disappear from the music scene, or change their stage name. Such artists are commonly manufactured by producers of dubious origin, who pay payola and do events in order to launder money from drug trafficking, prostitution or other illegal operations.{{Cite web |url=http://www.zetatijuana.com/html/Edicion1888/Espectaculoz_Principal.html |title=ZETA > Espectaculoz |access-date=2015-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090431/http://www.zetatijuana.com/html/Edicion1888/Espectaculoz_Principal.html |archive-date=2014-04-07 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/01/18/06an1esp.php |title=La Jornada Virtu@l |publisher=Jornada.unam.mx |access-date=2017-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720213522/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2003/01/18/06an1esp.php |archive-date=2017-07-20 |url-status=live}}

=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 war. 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/murdered-mexican-trumpeter-3rd-musician-killed-in-a-week-1.653860 |work=CBC News |title=Murdered Mexican trumpeter 3rd musician killed in a week |date=7 December 2007 |access-date=22 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080605202801/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2007/12/07/mexico-murder.html |archive-date=5 June 2008 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all}} 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.{{cite news |first=Lauren |last=Johnston |date=June 28, 2010 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/06/28/2010-06-28_famed_mexican_singer_sergio_vega_shot_dead_hours_after_denying_reports_hed_been_.html |title=Famed Mexican singer Sergio Vega shot dead hours after denying reports he'd been murdered |work=Daily News |access-date=2013-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100701074703/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/06/28/2010-06-28_famed_mexican_singer_sergio_vega_shot_dead_hours_after_denying_reports_hed_been_.html |archive-date=July 1, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}}

Ramiro Caro, Gerardo Ortiz's manager and cousin, was also killed when Ortiz's Chevy Suburban was attacked by men with AK-47's in an attempt to kill Ortiz. Ortiz escaped unhurt.{{cite web|url=http://www.lapoliciaca.com/nota-roja/intentan-ejecutar-a-cantante-mueren-su-representante-y-chofer/|title=Intentan ejecutar a cantante; mueren su representante y chofer | Noticias De Colima ||website=La Policiaca - La Nota Roja De Mexico|date=2011-03-20|access-date=2013-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200553/http://www.lapoliciaca.com/nota-roja/intentan-ejecutar-a-cantante-mueren-su-representante-y-chofer/|archive-date=2013-10-29|url-status=live |last1=Policiaca |first1=La }}

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 (a 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, four members of Los Herederos de Sinaloa, and the singer Fabian Ortega Pinon (El Halcon de la Sierra), who was executed along with two other victims in Guerrero, Chihuahua, in August 2006. Additionally, three members of Explosión Norteña were shot and wounded in Tijuana, in August 2006.{{cite news| url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/717553.html| work=El Universal| title=Asesinan al cantante El halcon de la sierra| date=26 October 2010| access-date=16 April 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416210312/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/717553.html| archive-date=16 April 2014| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10429934.stm|date=June 28, 2010|work=BBC|location=Latin America & Caribbean|title=Mexican singer El Shaka killed after denying his murder|access-date=June 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628184907/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/latin_america/10429934.stm|archive-date=June 28, 2010|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|location=Americas|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm|work=BBC News Online|date=October 3, 2004|title=Mexico's forbidden songs|author1=Summers, Chris |author2=Bailey, Dominic |access-date=January 3, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819064824/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3552370.stm|archive-date=August 19, 2007|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}

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.{{cite web|date=December 27, 2008 |author=deBree, Jordan |author2=Worlfolk, Clayton |url=http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/north-america/mexico-trouble-culiac%C3%A1n|title=Mexico: Trouble in Culiacán|website=Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting|access-date=September 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913084256/http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/north-america/mexico-trouble-culiac%C3%A1n|archive-date=September 13, 2016|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}} Some speculate the killings could be related to romantic disputes and jealousy.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/25/AR2007122501437.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Manuel | last=Roig-Franzia | title=The Savage Silencing of Mexico's Musicians | date=26 December 2007 | access-date=5 September 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121131037/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/25/AR2007122501437.html | archive-date=21 November 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all}} Others cite cases in which a musician has written a song praising or criticizing a drug trafficker; many assert that Valentín Elizalde's murder, for example, was related to his song, "A Mis Enemigos", which some interpreted as an attack on the Gulf Cartel following its appearance in a widespread YouTube video.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801005.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Manuel | last=Roig-Franzia | title=Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube | date=9 April 2007 | access-date=5 September 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121024910/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801005.html | archive-date=21 January 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all}}

There has been debate about the motives behind the killings and about whether or not 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.{{cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |url=http://www.najp.org/articles/2008/04/shock-horror-narcocorrido.html |title=Shock! Horror! Narcocorrido! - ARTicles |website=Najp.org |date=2008-04-13 |access-date=2013-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304221847/http://www.najp.org/articles/2008/04/shock-horror-narcocorrido.html |archive-date=2013-03-04 |url-status=live}} But given the grisly nature of the murders, some of which were accompanied by torture and disfigurement, few{{who|date=April 2014}} 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.{{cite news |author=Llana, Sara Miller |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0407/p07s03-woam.html |title=Odes to Mexican drug gangs lose their appeal |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=April 7, 2008 |access-date=2013-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006065051/http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0407/p07s03-woam.html |archive-date=October 6, 2008 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}} Narcocorrido singers travel with relative ease and security inside the United States, but many Mexican American narcocorrido singers take extra precautions while venturing into Mexico by hiring extra security, traveling in well-guarded caravans, not being as open to the public in larger concerts, and limiting their tours in high violence cities in 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. The Zetas cartel has been known to torture and kill online and social media bloggers who speak about them. In one incident, the tortured and mutilated bodies of a man and a woman who had posted about cartels on social media were found hanging off a bridge in the city of Nuevo León, in September 2011. A sign stating, "This is going to happen to all the Internet busybodies", was found next to them signed with the letter Z.{{cite news |author=Llorente |first=Elizabeth |date=September 15, 2011 |title=Cartel Kills Two People Who Used Social Media to Write About Gang Violence |work=Fox News Latino |url=http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/09/15/mexican-gangs-claim-responsibility-for-killings-two-people-who-used-social/ |access-date=January 28, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816040448/http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/09/15/mexican-gangs-claim-responsibility-for-killings-two-people-who-used-social/ |archive-date=August 16, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}

Growing popularity in the United States

Recently, much of the new narco corridos music is being aimed directly at the American market, and produced mainly by Mexican-American entrepreneurs. Like many other concerts or sport events, many corrido artists are choosing American cities as venues for the ability to fill the concert halls at higher ticket prices than would be affordable by the average Mexican citizen. Many of the music and CDs are distributed by American labels as well as videos intended solely to be sold in the United States.

The growing popularity of the music in the U.S. is correlated with Mexican immigration. Over a quarter of the residents of the Los Angeles area are now Mexican, and they have brought this folk music style with them. Narcocorridos are now played in L.A. clubs, on radio stations, and do not have the negative stigma attached to them by some in Mexico, this is mainly because the Spanish lyrics are only understood by Hispanophones, and the distance American society has with the reality of Mexico, makes them feel they are only listening to works of art and fiction.Elijah Wald, "Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas," HarperCollins, 2001, 131-132, 137.

In art, entertainment and media

=Films=

Mexploitation films, especially the subgenre narcocinema, feature narcocorridos. Many of these feature appearances by famous narcocorrido singers{{cite news|url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1408572-alfredo-rios-el-komander-la-voz-de-los-narcocorridos-mexicanos|title=Alfredo Ríos, "El Komander", la voz de los narcocorridos mexicanos|author=Tieleman, Alex|date=25 September 2011|newspaper=La Nación|access-date=7 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008132905/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1408572-alfredo-rios-el-komander-la-voz-de-los-narcocorridos-mexicanos|archive-date=8 October 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} and are rumored to be financed by drug lords themselves (although only a few cases of the latter have been proven).{{cite web|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/espectaculos/77014.html|website=El Universal|title=Espectáculos - 'Narcos fueron actores'|date=3 September 2015|access-date=7 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620133202/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/espectaculos/77014.html|archive-date=20 June 2013|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}

{{cite web|url=http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/09/01/la-barbie-admite-que-protegio-al-jj-tras-el-ataque-en-el-bar-bar|title='La Barbie' habla de otros capos y de la película inspirada en él|website=CNN|location=Mexico|access-date=2016-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018053404/http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2010/09/01/la-barbie-admite-que-protegio-al-jj-tras-el-ataque-en-el-bar-bar|archive-date=2015-10-18|url-status=live}} Some other films which feature narcocorridos include:

  • Al Otro Lado (2006, To the Other Side){{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/alotrolado/|title=Al Otro Lado (2006)|website=PBS|author=Almada, Natalia (Director)|access-date=2017-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506035311/http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/alotrolado/|archive-date=2009-05-06|url-status=live}}
  • Narco Cultura (2013, Narco Culture){{cite web|website=IMDb|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2504022/|title=Narco Cultura (2013)|author=Schwarz, Saul (Director)|access-date=2018-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180806073207/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2504022/|archive-date=2018-08-06|url-status=live}}

=Radio=

On the radio, airplay of narcocorridos has increased significantly in recent years. Although illegal in Mexico, given the prohibition of lyrical content promoting crime and violence, US-based Spanish-speaking stations have promoted artists such as Larry Hernández, 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 to play this type of music.{{cite magazine|author=Cobo, Leila |title=Beyond Borders|magazine=Billboard|date= 10 October 2009|volume= 121 |issue= 40|page=52}}

=Television=

  • In 2008, the Fox TV show America's Most Wanted mentioned the genre while depicting the case of a criminal wanted for murder and trafficking, who may be traveling back and forth between Mexico and the United States.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}
  • Breaking Bad season 2, episode 7 ("Negro y Azul"), opens with a narcocorrido by Los Cuates de Sinaloa, co-written by Vince Gilligan and inspired by the events depicted in the series.{{cite news|title='Breaking Bad' crosses over into narcocorrido territory|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/1687472581.html?dids=1687472581:1687472581&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+26%2C+2009&author=Josh%20Gajewski&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=%27Breaking+Bad%27+crosses+over+into+narcocorrido+territory&pqatl=google|work=Chicago Tribune | first=Josh | last=Gajewski | date=26 April 2009}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|url=http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2009/04/los-cuates-de-sinaloa-interview.php|title=Q&A - Los Cuates de Sinaloa (Narcocorrido Band)|work=www.amctv.com |publisher=AMCTV Breaking Bad blog|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726210659/http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2009/04/los-cuates-de-sinaloa-interview.php|archive-date=2010-07-26}}
  • In the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Snakes" (2005), a freelance reporter who has gone undercover in the narcocorrido-producing subculture is killed for writing an article critical of the genre.
  • In Law & Order season 20, episode 7, a narcocorrido is used as evidence in a murder.
  • "Tuyo" ("Yours"), the theme song of the Netflix Original series Narcos (which debuted in September 2015), is a Spanish-language narcocorrido written and vocalized by Rodrigo Amarante, which reflects the type of music drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's mother would have listened to when raising her son.{{cite web|url=http://decider.com/2015/08/31/narcos-theme-song-tuyo-english-translation-netflix/|author=Armstrong, Olivia|website=Decider|title=EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 'NARCOS' HYPNOTIC THEME SONG (Including its Translated Lyrics)|date=August 31, 2015|access-date=2016-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908153546/http://decider.com/2015/08/31/narcos-theme-song-tuyo-english-translation-netflix/|archive-date=2016-09-08|url-status=live}} The song debuted at No. 6 on the Latin Pop Digital Songs around the 2015 series premiere{{cite web|date=September 6, 2016|title=HOW THE LYRICS TO THE 'NARCOS' THEME CONNECT TO PABLO ESCOBAR'S LIFE ("Tuyo" or "Yours" is written from the perspective of Escobar's mother)|author=Nostro, Lauren|website=Genius.com|url=https://genius.com/a/how-the-lyrics-to-the-narcos-theme-connect-to-pablo-escobar-s-life|access-date=September 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020032527/https://genius.com/a/how-the-lyrics-to-the-narcos-theme-connect-to-pablo-escobar-s-life|archive-date=October 20, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}} and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music.
  • The Shield season 3 episode, "Safe", contains a narcocorrido about an unrequited love and the murder of a woman. Later evidence proves that the "victim" is alive and living with her boyfriend, so the narcocorrido turned out to be fake. After finding several bodies of people killed by meth lab exposure, the detectives use corridos based on true stories to close cases.
  • NCIS: Los Angeles season 4 episode, "Resurrection", featured a young narcocorrido singer who was sponsored by a cartel boss and witnessed his illegal activities.

=Video games=

  • In the 2017 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, the fictional Santa Blanca Drug Cartel (a dangerous drug cartel from Mexico), which has taken control of Bolivia, has a radio station called Radio Santa Blanca, which plays reggaeton and narco-corrido. In the game's lore, the most famous narco-corrido singer is Marcelo Rios. Rios has many fans worldwide and in the Santa Blanca Cartel. He works for Santa Blanca's Influence branch as "El Chido" (The Cool), and plays his songs on Radio Santa Blanca.

References

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Further reading

= Academic articles and books =

{{Lacking ISBN|date=April 2012}}

  • {{cite book|author=Astorga, Luis|title=Mitología del traficante en México|location=Mexico|publisher= UNAM / Plaza y Valdés|date= 1995}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Astorga |first1=Luis |title=Corridos de traficantes y censura |journal=Región y Sociedad |volume=17 |issue=32 |year=2005 |pages=145–65 |url=https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/102/10203205.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130221040447/http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=10203205 |url-status=live |archive-date=2013-02-21}}
  • {{cite journal |jstor=3541131 |pages=245–261 |last1=Astorga |first1=L. |title=Los corridos de traficantes de drogas en México y Colombia |volume=59 |issue=4 |journal=Revista Mexicana de Sociolog |year=1997 |doi=10.2307/3541131}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Cabañas |first1=Miguel A |title=El narcocorrido global y las identidades transnacionales |language=es |journal=Revista de Estudios Hispánicos |volume=42 |issue=3 |year=2008 |pages=519–42 |issn=0034-818X}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Cabañas |first1=Miguel A. |chapter=Lo popular transnacional: el narcocorrido como género musical en los Estados Unidos, México y Colombia |title=Intersecciones: Abordajes de lo popular en América Latina |editor1-first=Zulema |editor1-last=Moret |pages=89–101 |oclc=468040146 |year=2008}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Edberg |first1=Mark Cameron |title=El Narcotraficante: Narcocorridos & The Construction of a Cultural Persona on the U.S.-Mexican Border |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-292-70206-6}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Flores y Escalante |first1=Jesús |title=El narcocorrido: Tradición sin tiempo ni frontera |language=es |journal=Somos |volume=13 |issue=228 |year=2003 |pages=72–9}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Herrera-Sobek |first1=María |title=The Theme of Smuggling in the Mexican Corrido |journal=Revista Chicano Riqueña |volume=7 |issue=4 |page=4961 |year=1979}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Nicolopulos |first1=James |chapter=The Problematic Question of the Earliest Narcocorridista: Manuel C. Valdez or Juan Gaytán? |title=Ballad Mediations: Folksongs Recovered, Represented and Reimagined |editor1-first=Roger |editor1-last=de V. Renwick |editor2-first=Sigrid |editor2-last=Rieuwerts |location=Traer |publisher=WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Traer |year=2006 |pages=51–7 |isbn=978-3-88476-819-8}}
  • {{cite book |last1=Quinones |first1=Sam |title=True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino, and the Bronx |url=https://archive.org/details/truetalesfromano00samq |url-access=registration |location=Albuquerque |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8263-2296-8}}

"'Esos malditos meneos': La homosexualidad en la corridística mexicana." A Contracorriente: Journal of Social History and Literature in Latin America. Vol. 17, No. 1 (Fall 2019): 246–277.

"Narcocultura temprana: El consumo de drogas en la corridística de la primera mitad del siglo XX." Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. Vol. XXXVII. (2019): 201–216.

  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "El narcocorrido en la frontera y la frontera en el narcocorrido." Revista Iberoamericana. 265 (2018)
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "Narcocorridos and Internet: Demonopolizing Mexico's Narco History in Cyberspace." Hilda Chacón, ed. Online Activism in Latin America. London: Routledge, 2017.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos.Camelia la texana y otras mujeres de la narcocultura. Mexico: Editorial Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa, 2016.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos.Cantar a los narcos. voces y versos del narcocorrido. Mexico: Editorial Planeta, 2011.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "El tema de la traición en tres corridos de narcotráfico y narcotraficantes: 'Carga Blanca','Contrabando y traición' y 'Chuy y Mauricio.' Hispanic Journal. XXXII.2 (Fall 2015): 161-177.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos."El Pablote: una nueva mirada al primer corrido dedicado a un traficante de drogas." Mitologías Hoy. Revista de Estudios Literarios Latinoamericanos. Vol. 14. 2016: 41–56.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "De torturaciones, balas y explosiones: Narcocultura, Movimiento Alterado e hiperrealismo en el sexenio de Felipe Calderón." A Contracorriente: Journal of Social History and Literature in Latin America. (Refereed scholarly e-journal). Vol. 10, No. 3 (Spring 2013): 302–334. http://acontracorriente.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/acontracorriente/article/view/570/1192#.UmXjVflJOSo
  • {{cite journal |last1=Ramírez-Pimienta |first1=Juan Carlos |title=El narcocorrido religioso: usos y abusos de un género |journal=Studies in Latin American Popular Culture |volume=29 |year=2011 |doi=10.1353/sla.2011.0016 |page=184|s2cid=142615405}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Ramírez-Pimienta |first1=Juan Carlos |title=Los corridos de Juan Meneses: dos antecedentes tempranos del narcocorrido en la frontera México-Estados Unidos |journal=Aztlán |volume=35 |issue=2 |year=2010 |pages=89–113 |doi=10.1525/azt.2010.35.2.89 |url=http://aztlanjournal.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0005-2604&volume=35&issue=2&spage=89 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130128162402/http://aztlanjournal.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0005-2604&volume=35&issue=2&spage=89 |archive-date=2013-01-28|url-access=subscription }}
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "Sicarias, buchonas y jefas: perfiles de la mujer en el narcocorrido." The Colorado Review of Hispanic Studies. Volume 8 - 9 (2010–2011): 311–336.
  • Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos."Doscientos años de corrido y algunos menos de narcocultura." Conciencia mexicana: Bicentenario de la independencia y centenario de la Revolución. Rodrigo Pereyra Espinoza, ed. Edinburg: Céfiro Press, 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.
  • {{cite journal |last1=Ramírez-Pimienta |first1=Juan Carlos |title=En torno al primer narcocorrido: arqueología del cancionero de las drogas |language=es |journal=A Contracorriente |year=2010 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=82–99 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=3583336}}
  • 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.
  • Sauceda, Jonathan. "Smuggling, Betrayal, and the Handle of a Gun: Death, Laughter, and the Narcocorrido." Popular Music and Society. 37(4): 425–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/03007766.2013.816542 Free version: https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3GB25VX
  • {{cite journal |jstor=852677 |pages=315–337 |last1=Simonett |first1=H. |title=Narcocorridos: An Emerging Micromusic of Nuevo L. A |volume=45 |issue=2 |journal=Ethnomusicology |year=2001 |doi=10.2307/852677}}
  • {{cite book|url=http://www.elijahwald.com/corrido.html |title=Narcocorrido: Un viaje al mundo de la música de las drogas, armas, y guerrilleros (Narcocorrido: A Journey into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas)|author=Wald, Elijah|location=New York|date=2001|publisher=Rayo}} A journalistic book about this style, including interviews with most of the foremost composers.
  • Wellinga, Klaas. "Cantando a los traficantes."Foro Hispánico: Revista Hispánica de los Países Bajos, 22 (2002): 137–54.
  • {{cite journal |jstor=40039894 |pages=129–149 |last1=Villalobos |first1=J. P. |last2=Ramirez-Pimienta |first2=J. C. |title=Corridos and la Pura Verdad: Myths and Realities of the Mexican Ballad |volume=21 |issue=3 |journal=South Central Review |year=2004 |doi=10.1353/scr.2004.0050|s2cid=144087292}}

=News items=

  • {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.drugpo.2005.06.003 |title=Drug trafficking stories: Everyday forms of Narco-folklore on the U.S.–Mexico border |year=2005 |last1=Campbell |first1=Howard |journal=International Journal of Drug Policy |volume=16 |issue=5 |page=326}}
  • {{cite journal |first1=César Burgos |last1=Dávila |year=2011 |title=Música y narcotráfico en México. Una aproximación a los narcocorridos desde la noción de mediador |trans-title=Music and drug trafficking in Mexico. An approach to narcocorridos from the notion of mediator |language=es |journal=Athenea Digital |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=97–110 |url=http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=715520 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414164418/http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=715520 |archive-date=2013-04-14}}
  • {{cite journal |doi=10.1080/17440570601014461 |title='Narcoballads': The Psychology and Recruitment Process of the 'Narco' |year=2006 |last1=García |first1=Martín Meráz |journal=Global Crime |volume=7 |issue=2 |page=200|s2cid=144320467}}
  • {{cite journal |first1=Gregg W. |last1=Etter |year=2009 |title=Hip-Hop, Narcocorrido, and Neo-Nazi Hate Rock: A Comparison of Alienated Criminal Groups |journal=Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies |volume=9 |pages=98–112 |url=http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=craig_hemmens#page=104}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}
  • {{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_guillermoprieto|work= New Yorker |date=November 10, 2008|title=DAYS OF THE DEAD (The new narcocultura)|author= Guillermoprieto, Alma}}

External links

  • https://sdsu.academia.edu/JuanRamirezPimienta
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20170422142610/http://narcocorridos.info/ Narcocorridos.info]
  • [http://www.narcocorridos.net/ Narcocorridos.net]
  • Juan Ramírez-Pimienta. [http://narcocorrido.wordpress.com/ Narcocorrido.wordpress.com]
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.samquinones.com/true_tales.asp|title=True Tales From Another Mexico: the Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx|author=Quinones, Sam|website=samquinones.com|access-date=2007-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929000955/http://www.samquinones.com/true_tales.asp|archive-date=2007-09-29}} Includes the story of narcocorrido legend Chalino Sánchez.
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.elijahwald.com/corcensors.html|website=ElijahWald.com|author=Wald, Elijah|title= Timeline of narcocorrido censorship attempts}}
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.arcane-archive.org/mysticism/psychoactives/los-tucanes-de-tijuana-1.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060308083647/http://www.arcane-archive.org/mysticism/psychoactives/los-tucanes-de-tijuana-1.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2006|website=arcane-archive.org|title=Compiled media reference file on Los Tucanes de Tijuana}}
  • Cantar a los narcos / Sing to the Drug Dealers (Spanish Edition). This book traces the history of narcocorridos since the 19th century.
  • https://www.amazon.com/Cantar-narcos-Sing-Dealers-Spanish/dp/6070707206

{{Music in Spanish}}

Category:Mexican styles of music

Category:Norteño (music)

Category:Regional Mexican songs

Category:Songs about drugs

Category:Works about Mexican drug cartels

Category:20th-century music genres

Category:21st-century music genres