Mexico’s drugs wars as well as bloody drug cartels are echoed in a controversial folk music genre commonly known as narco corridos or simply as drug ballads. They tell the stories allied to shootouts, drug lords, betrayals including daring criminal operations. Narco corridos are not a new style in Mexican music, in fact, they have been around for years, and they are popular among the old and the young. This genre has evolved to be modern fugitive music that fuses the emotional responses of antique ballads with the tense gravel of mobster rap. From global idols to rural artists documenting their neighborhood current events in the regions subjugated by guerilla war, narco corridos provides the songwriters in their homes with unique but artistic superiority, investigating the heartland of the infamous Mexican drug trafficking as well as publicizing municipal midpoints such as Los Angeles, in addition to Mexico City.
In essence, the corrido genre is legendary for its hard-bitten lyrics of drug traffickers plus gunfights, and moreover functions as a genus of musical tabloid, singing of regime dishonesty, the lives of émigrés in the United States, in addition to the scuffles of the Zapatista insurgency in Chiapas. Although principally anonymous to English speakers, narco corridos top the leading Latin charts and govern radio playlists equally in the United States as well as points south. Examining diverse recent studies, the authors present in-depth examinations at the songwriters who have changed groups like the trendy Tigres del Norte into permanent celebrities, as well as the upcoming artists who are hauling the narco corrido into the 21st. In proving for the poetry as well as social demonstration at the back the ornate lyrics of in...
... middle of paper ...
...l Narcotraficante: Narcocorridos & The Construction of a Cultural Persona on the U.S.-Mexican Border. Austin: University of Texas Press.
ISBN 978-0- 292-70206-6
Etter, Gregg W., 2009. Hip-Hop, Narcocorrido, and Neo-Nazi Hate Rock: A Comparison of Alienated Criminal Groups. Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies 9: 98–
112
García, Martín Meráz, 2006. 'Narcoballads': The Psychology and Recruitment Process of the
'Narco'. Global Crime 7 (2): 200. doi:10.1080/17440570601014461
Quinones, Sam, 2001. True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings,
Chalino, and the Bronx. Albuquerque: University of New México Press. ISBN 978-0-
8263-2296-8
Villalobos, J. P.; Ramirez-Pimienta, J. C., 2004. Corridos and la Pura Verdad: Myths and of the Mexican Ballad. South Central Review 21 (3): 129–149. doi:10.1353/scr.2004.0050. JSTOR 40039894
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California . 1990.
Corchado, Alfredo, Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness , 2013, Penguin Press
The author of Mexican Lives, Judith Adler Hellman, grapples with the United States’ economic relationship with their neighbors to the south, Mexico. It also considers, through many interviews, the affairs of one nation. It is a work held to high esteem by many critics, who view this work as an essential part in truly understanding and capturing Mexico’s history. In Mexican Lives, Hellman presents us with a cast from all walks of life. This enables a reader to get more than one perspective, which tends to be bias. It also gives a more inclusive view of the nation of Mexico as a whole. Dealing with rebel activity, free trade, assassinations and their transition into the modern age, it justly captures a Mexico in its true light.
Ragland, Cathy. Música Norteña: Mexican Migrants Creating a Nation between Nations. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2009. Print.
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
In his essay "Selena’s Good Buy: Texas Mexicans, History, and Selena Meet Transnational Capitalism,” Coronado (2001) argues that Selena embodies displaced desires that need to be situated in their historical content. By looking at how Texans and marketers reacted to Selena’s death, Coronado was able to show us how Selena’s death can be looked at form a psychoanalytic lens. The working class’ obsession with Selena can be seen as a fetish of sorts. A fetish is caused by trauma and can be applied socially to a irritable social construct. In other words, Selena could be a social fetish; the Latinx working class abruptly lost someone who was representing them in mainstream media, leading to the trauma. In this theory, Selena is no longer seen as a person who contributed hugely to the rise of colored people in mainstream media, but as
I grew up in a Mexican family listening to corridos, which are a type of song, since at every party, every celebration, and every occasion, that’s what the family would play. As I became more aware and conscious, I began to realize what these songs were actually saying. These corridos were telling a life story, ranging from life issues such as poverty, hard times, immigration, social and political problems, and/or life in general. A prominent and recurring theme that I saw developing throughout was immigration. Many of these songs, were expressing strong feelings that many Mexican immigrants, including my parents and other family members, were feeling regarding they’re citizenship status, how they were being discriminated against, and ultimately how they were feeling.
Martinez, Oscar. Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1994), 232.
Mexico has a long history of cartels the deaths, drugs and weapon trafficking is in all time high increasing year by year. “Mexico's gangs have flourished since the late 19th century, mostly in the north due to their proximity to towns along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it was the American appetite for cocaine in the 1970s that gave Mexican drug cartels immense power to manufacture and transport drugs across the border. Early Mexican gangs were primarily situated in border towns where prostitution, drug use, bootlegging and extortion flourished” (Wagner). They keep themselves armed and ready with gun supplies shipped from the U.S, taking control of the drug trades. The violence is spilling so out of control that they overthrew the Mexican government.
Conover, Ted. 2000 “Coyotes: A Journey through the Secret World of America's Illegal Aliens” Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group.
Latinoamericanitas, 1976. Print. Vélez, Germám. Phone Interview. February 10th, 2011. Waterman, Richard Alan. Folk music of Puerto Rico . Washington: Library of Congress,
Calle 13 has been recognized several times for their influential music and have been awarded at least 19 Latin Grammys since their start in 2004. The United States media began to follow Calle 13 and realized that their lyrics are not just lyrics but they are backed up by their actions. In other words, the media saw how passionate and authentic Calle 13 was about their people and music. In an article on the Los Angeles Times titled “The politics of Calle 13, to the beat of reggaeton”, the media acknowledges the political power and movement Calle 13 has on Latin American people. Also, the article
Dixon, Travis L., TaKeshia Brooks. “Rap Music and Rap Audiences: Controversial Themes, Psychological Effects and Political Resistance.” Perspectives. 7 April 2009. .
As one moves past the initial onslaught of rhythmic beats that calypso has to offer, it is difficult to miss the way in which it reverberates with negative and demoralizing images of women to their male counterparts. Whether it is within the lyrics of Sparrow’s “Drunk and Disorderly” or Square One’s “My Ding-a Ling”, an ample number of verses are often dedicated to making lewd comments about the female body and the suggestive body language described through thinly veiled rhymes and puns, can be offensive depending on the listener. The half naked models being displayed on the various album covers of calypso, soca and rap mix tapes further reinforces these negative connotations. This bandwagon has been jumped upon by many, including the rap genre in the last two decades, wanting to capitalize on a marketing strategy that generally purports to flag consumer attention, playing on their sense of eroticism. The sections titled “Music, Sex, Sexism” and “Woman Rising” within Peter Manuel’s text: Caribbean Currents, dive into the many issues surrounding gender within music as well as female portrayal specifically in calypso. Observations can be made simply by reading through the textual comparisons. Many aspects of this subject area allude to the fact that the issue of gender portrayal in music can be construed differently depending on who the critical listener happens to be. With the increased awareness and heightened sensitivity to the way in which females are portrayed in popular media, it is important to reflect on the impact these lyrics have on male-female relationships within the communities who most often enjoy this music genre.