narcocorrido

The tradition & historical record

A narcocorrido (Spanish pronunciation: [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–United States border. It uses a danceable, polka, waltz or mazurka rhythmic base. The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of illegal activities, mainly drug trafficking. 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. Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events and include real dates and places. ¹

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). 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. 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". ¹

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, near the border with Mexico, which still reaches the northern Mexico audience, while another important point of narcocorrido distribution method has been the internet 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. ¹

A recent trend of hyper-violent narcocorridos has been labeled Movimiento alterado, a Spanish term translated as Agitated movement or the Altered movement, 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). However, in the Movimiento alterado trend, the songs cynically and deliberately express the pride that modern narcotraffickers have in murdering, torturing, 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.) The lyrics of a famous Movimiento alterado song, dedicated to the notorious cartel enforcer Manuel Torres Félix, starts as follows: ¹

With an AK-47 and a bazooka behind my headcross my path and I'll chop your head offI'm crazy and I like to kill my enemies,we're the best at kidnappingWe are always in a posse with bullet-proof vests, ready to execute. The songs under this trend have been also labeled as: ¹

corridos arremangados (rolled-up sleeves ballads) corridos alterados (alertness ballads) corridos progresivos (progressive ballads) corridos enfermos (sick or insane ballads) ¹

In Mexico, parts of South America and some regions of the US 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. ¹

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. 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. 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. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Narcocorrido”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

narcocorrido is type of narrative ballad originating in Mexico, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²