In the next coming posts we will be exploring the significance of the narco ballads and how they have impacted the drug cartels and the drug trafficking in Mexico.
A narcocorrido or drug ballad is a Mexican music and song tradition which evolved out of the norteño folk corrido tradition. It uses a danceable, accordion-based polka as a rhythmic base. Corridos have long described the poor and destitute, bandits and other criminals, as well as illegal immigrants to the United States. The first corridos that focus on drug smugglers—the narco means drug—have been dated to the 1930’s.
Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events and include real dates and places. The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of the criminal activities.
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 Gomez, 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.
In the third season of The Shield, 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 corridors albums to close cases from stories that are true.
The second season episode, Negro Y Azul of Breaking Bad opens with a narcocorrido about events within the show's story played by Los Cuates de Sinaloa.
Just a little bit of history to warm you up for the narco corridos of the Mexican drug cartels.
We have covered how the drug cartels use the street gangs to distribute their drugs, well here is a video of a corrido with a twist, going from cholo to narco. Beto Piteado