A type of Mexican music which evolved out of the norteño folk corrido tradition, using a danceable, accordion-based polka as a rhythmic base. They often describe the exploits of drug smugglers.
Why is the narcocorrido so popular in Mexico, Central America and
the Hispanic areas of the United States? Much of the popularity of the
narcocorrido is directly linked to the drug world, but there are other
factors that make the narcocorrido popular. There are many reasons for
why the narcocorrido is so popular, which include: the importance of
the subjects, the controversy over topics, the similarity to gangsta
rap, the singers symbolize local kids making it, the relevance of the
songs, and the ability of people to identify with the songs.
One of the main reasons that the narcocorrido is so popular is
because of the importance of the subjects in the songs. People are
interested in hearing about the drug world and all of the action-packed
tales that the drug world provides. The introduction of the
narcocorrido in the 1970s has a lot to do with the fact that the early
1970s were a peak period for Mexican drug trafficking. With all of
the drug trafficking that was taking place, the public wanted to hear
tales of daring border smugglers. The narcocorrido was a way to
recount these drug smuggling adventures, with all of the names and
dates accurate, for the public to hear. Many of the heroes in the
narcocorridos are local characters that would have remained unknown
outside the crime world if they had never been publicized by the
songs. According to Francisco Quintero, what makes a corrido
attractive to people is not the whole corrido, but one or two words and
also the language the characters use. Words and phrases that have
never been used in a song before also get the attention of people.
What makes a corrido popular is what is in it, not necessarily what it
is about.
The second reason that the narcocorrido is popular is because there
is so much controversy over the topics. When some radio stations will
play a song and others don’t, people wonder why. So that causes more
coverage of the song, which then makes the song become more and more
popular as more people talk about it. Like the song ‘El Circo’ done by
Los Tigres del Norte, the controversy over the song caused it to
become a great hit. There have been many attempts to censor the
playing of narcocorrido on the radio, but none of them have lasted very
long. Some radio stations want to ban narcocorridos because they do not
want to make the people who break the laws into heroes. People feel
that singing about drug trafficking or the crime world brings about
more problems for society. The group Los Tucanes de Tijuana
celebrates not only drug smuggling but also the drugs themselves, which
is slightly worrisome to parents since they are now directly promoting
drugs. By trying to censor narcocorrido play on the radio, it makes
narcocorridos even more popular. If something is banned, such as
narcocorridos, it makes it even more appealing to many people.
Another reason for its popularity is that the narcocorrido has a
close American counterpart, gangsta rap. Both the narcocorrido and
gangsta rap celebrate the greed, glamour, violence, and
risk-taking of the drug trade. Just as rap has become very popular
here in the United States, the narcocorrido has become very popular in
Mexico as well as Central America and parts of the United States. In
1988 “rap was forcing the Anglo pop world to confront
the raw sounds and stark realities of the urban streets, and the
corrido was stripping off its own pop trappings to become the rap of
modern Mexico” 1. In Los Angeles, when it comes to
corridos, it is a “world of young street toughs singing about their
drug-dealing, gun-slinging pals” 1. LA is now the new corrido frontier since it has become the home to many young corridistas.
For the younger generations, the narcocorrido is popular because the
singers represent local kids who were able to make it and found
success. Most fans of narcocorrido are young boys and girls who look
up to the musicians in the groups as role models because they were able
to become successful without turning to the drug trade. In Los
Angeles, some of the most popular singers are kids who grew up
listening to rap music, but have gone back to their parents’ roots in
Mexico. Many of the most famous singers/composers started off as
nobodies and worked their way up to the top. A good example of this is
Teodoro Bello who grew up on the streets of Mexico City, but had a
dream to be a performer one day. So he started writing songs and kept
trying to get his songs recorded until finally someone agreed to listen
to him. Teodoro is a prime example of someone who had a dream and made it come true; that is why the younger generations
are inspired and look up to many of the singers and composers.
A source of popularity for some corridistas is that they can get
their songs out on the air quickly enough that they are still
relevant. The corrido has always served as a “musical newspaper”, and
the introduction of the narcocorrido has not changed that. Pedro
Rivera is one of the few present-day corridistas who can have a song
written, burned onto a CD, and on the radio quick enough to make it
relevant. He is able to construct a good corrido and get them on the
radio right away so that they play alongside the news reports that
relate to the song. People like being able to hear a song that tells
the news as well as listen to the same news in a report. The Bill
Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair was portrayed in a corrido by
Jesse Armenta that became popular because Mexicans were so astonished
that the “most powerful country in the world could be brought to a halt
over a petty peccadillo" 1. Any big news story that is
made into a corrido and put on the air quickly is going to be popular
because people can listen to the news in a way that is different than a
typical news report.
The last source of popularity for the narcocorrido is that people
are able to identify with some of the songs. Many narcocorridos
chronicle the real world, which makes it hard for people not to
identify with the songs, especially if they are involved with the drug
trade. Mario Quintero always looks for the most interesting story
that he thinks is similar to someone else’s story. He hopes that if
the song is similar to someone else’s story they will be interested and
be able to identify with it. Chalino Sánchez was a popular
corridista among older corrido fans because he was the real thing, a
fiercely accurate corridista chronicling the world around him. Corridos
have always described bandits and other criminals, as well as illegal
immigrants to the United States, and the poor and destitute. If people
can relate to the events in a song, they are more likely to listen to
it and support the corridista that composed it as well as the group
that sings it.
The popularity of the narcocorrido has been based on many factors,
the main one being what the songs are about. For many groups, their
own popularity seems to be based on the composition of the songs. The
popularity of the narcocorrido is evidenced by the sales. The corrido
is one of the most popular music styles in the Latino market, both in
the United States and points south. Most United States Latin sales are
of Mexican music, and a large proportion of sales are drug trafficking
ballads. According to Jenni Rivera, “the people that buy music, if
they’re gonna listen to Spanish music they’re gonna listen to the real
thing” 1. They are not going to listen to Spanish rap;
they are going to listen to any type of corrido. So until people stop
listening to the “real thing”, (narco)corridos are not going to lose
their popularity.
“Narcocorrido.” 27 May 2005. Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcocorrido>.
Tarte, Bob. “The Corridos Corridor.” 2002. The Beat. <http://www.technobeat.com/COLUMNS/Corridos.html>.
1Wald, Elijah. Narcocorrido: A Journey Into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerillas. Rayo 2001.
Wald, Elijah. “Narcocorrido.” <http://www.elijahwald.com/corrido.html>.