BoingBoing pal JP says:
“Los Angeles television news lead tonight with the wake of Adan Sanchez. Tens of thousands of fans swarmed his SUV hearse, throwing flowers and their bodies, images captured by news and police helicopters flying above. The LAPD struggling to maintain control. Adan Sanchez, 19, had recorded nine albums of romantic ballads and tributes to his father, a narco-corrido music legend. By some accounts he nurtured an image as a suave, well-dressed, romantic teen idol.
“I had never heard of narcocorrido music until now. I write that with some embarrassment as I try to keep up and it is apparently quite alive and well in my megalopolis. But now I am intrigued by the narcocorrido subculture. A quick Google search turned up this LA Weekly feature from last week that I missed the first go-around: Los Chalinillos, The next generation. And another link further down the Google finds this:
A Narcocorrido is a type of song or music that often tells a story usually about drugs, alcohol and violence.
Thanks, JP. Another reader points me to this book, which I haven’t read. The author’s website also includes a bit of background on censorship of narcocorridos, though the timeline sadly seems to be cut off thanks to some wonky html.
Update: An anonymous BoingBoing reader writes in to remind us that while narcocorridos are a recent product of Mexican pop culture, corridos per se are a form of folk art and oral history dating back more than a hundred years. “More importantly, get your hands on that CD. The brass bass lines are so driving and completely original to my ignorant Seattle ear. Track 6 is sung from the perspective of a girl whos Dad got her into the business when she was 15 and now’s she’s big in Mafia. She calls herself the Jackle-woman. Enjoy.” Link
And BoingBoing reader Christopher Filkins points us to this superb NPR segment by Mandalit del Barco about border FM radio censorship of narcocorridos — the piece includes some audio snips of narcocorrido tunes.Link