Sinaloa drug cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was barely out of prison when musicians throughout Mexico began uploading hot musical takes about his (again) escape.
Corridos are a narrative form of Mexican popular music that dates back to the Mexican Revolution, and has now evolved (or deteriorated) into a genre that frequently pays homage to narco gang figures. What better protagonist for such work than a dude who escaped from maximum-security prison more times than we can keep track of?
NPR’s Alt Latino rounded up some of the dozen or so El Chapo narcocorridos making the Spanish-language internet rounds. Here, they analyze the whole thing, so you don’t have to pretend like you can figure it out yourself.
A boy stands next to a police car with a picture of fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s at a checkpoint on the highway connecting Mexico City and Acapulco, in Guerrero State, Mexico.
Pedro Pardo, AFP/Getty via NPR
