A narcocorrido is a kind of Mexican music which evolved out of the norteño folk corrido tradition, using 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, but the focus on drug smugglers -- the "narco" in the name narcocorrido is short for narcotics -- is a relatively recent phenomenon of the past 50 years. Literal translation of the word is "drug" + "runner" or "drugrunner". Narcocorrido lyrics refer to particular events, and even include real dates and places ^[1]. The lyrics tend to speak approvingly of the criminal activities. Mexican music redirects here. ... This article should be merged with Norteño (music). ... The corrido is a popular narrative song and poetry form, a ballad, of the mestizo Mexican cultural area (which includes the Southwestern states of the United States, taken from Mexican sovereignty in the mid 19th Century). ... For other uses, see Accordion (disambiguation). ... Street musicians in Prague playing a polka Polka is a fast, lively Central European dance, and also a genre of dance music. ... Retail selling Street selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events...

Among the earliest exponents of narcocorrido music were Los Alegres de Teran, who recorded many songs during the 1950s and 1960s about "contrabandistas" or smugglers of contraband. Although most of the smuggling mentioned by Los Alegres did involve illegal narcotic drugs, this pioneering muscial duo also sang about a shipment of contraband cinnamon, "La Canela", which was smuggled across across the border in an attempt to evade customs taxes. Their best-known narcocorrido remains "El Contrabando del Paso." Literal translation of the work Binomial name J.Presl Cassia (Chinese cinnamon) is also commonly called (and sometimes sold as) cinnamon. ...

In the 1970s the band Los Tigres del Norte became well-known exponents of the narcocorrido. Their earliest hits popularized the style, starting off with their first song, "Contrabando y Traicion" ("Contraband and Betrayal"), and with such continuations like "Los Tres Gallos" (The Three Roosters; alternative title: Three Best Friends), "La Camioneta Gris" ("The Gray Pick-Up"), and "La Mafia Muere" ("The Mob Dies"). Los Tigres Del Norte Los Tigres del Norte is one of the most popular norteño bands, from Rosa Morada, Sinaloa, Mexico. ...

In the 1980s, Rosalino "Chalino" Sanchez took up the composition of narcocorridos. Known throughout Mexico as "El Pelavacas" (Cow Skin Peeler), El Indio (The Indian, from his corrido "El Indio Sanchez"), and "Mi Compa" (My Friend), Sanchez was a Mexican immigrant living in Los Angeles. He created a business writing corridos about people he met in the cantinas and swap meets of immigrant Los Angeles -- many of whom were from the drug-drenched regions of northwest Mexico. Setting these stories to music, he put them on cassettes and soon was selling thousands of copies in and around Los Angeles. Chalino Sanchez was murdered in 1992 after a concert in Culiacán, Sinaloa. He was only 31 years old. In death, he became a legend and one of the most influential musicians to emerge from Los Angeles in the last quarter century. His death sparked a boom in narcocorridos and the rise of dozens of imitators, sometimes known as Chalinillos (Little Chalinos). ^[2] Rosalino Félix Sánchez, born on the 30th of August of 1960 in Las Flechas, Sinaloa, was a Mexican singer who sang corridos. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

From the 1990s through the early 2000s, the number of bands that played narcocorridos increased dramatically. Among the most popular groups that performed such songs were Los Huracanes del Norte, Los Inquietos Del Norte, Los Morros Del Norte, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Los Amos De Nuevo Leon, Los Cuates De Sinaloa, El Potro de Sinaloa, Los Originales de San Juan, Grupo Exterminador, Tigrillo Palma, Beto Quintanilla, Los Gatos de Sinaloa, Los Canelos de Durango, and Los Razos de Sacramento y Reynaldo. For some of these groups, the narcocorrido was only one of many song styles utilized; others specialized in narcocorridos almost exclusively.

Various companies, governmental agencies, and individuals have sought to ban narcocorridos. These attempts include a voluntary radio station black-out in Baja California. Representative Casio Carlos Narváez explained that radio executives did not want to make "people who break the laws of our country into heroes and examples". Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox also proposed banning narcocorridos. ^[3] A radio station is an audio (sound) broadcasting service, traditionally broadcast through the air as radio waves (a form of electromagnetic radiation) from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. ... Location within Mexico Municipalities of Baja California Country Capital Municipalities 5 Largest City Tijuana Government  - Governor José Guadalupe Osuna Millán (PAN)  - Federal Deputies PAN: 8  - Federal Senators Alejandro González (PAN) Rafael Díaz (PAN) Fernando Castro (PRI) Area Ranked 12th  - Total 69,921 km² (26,996. ... The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. ... Vicente Fox Quesada (born July 2, 1942) was the President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. ...

References

External links

• True Tales From Another Mexico: the Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx by journalist Sam Quinones, includes the story of narcocorrido legend Chalino Sanchez.
• Narcocorrido, a book about the history of this style, including interviews with most of the foremost composers.
• Timeline of narcocorrido censorship attempts
• Corridos[Narco Corrido fan Site]
• BBC article on Narcocorrido
• Compiled media reference file on Los Tucanes de Tijuana

Some academic articles and books:

Astorga, Luis: Mitología del traficante en México. México: UNAM / Plaza y Valdés, 1995.

Flores y Escalante, Jesús. “El narcocorrido: Tradición sin tiempo ni frontera.” Somos. (Número dedicado a Los Tigres del Norte). 13.228 (febrero 2003): 72-79.

Herrera-Sobek, María. “The Theme of Smuggling in the Mexican Corrido.” Revista Chicano Riqueña. 1979:7 No. 4: 4961.

Quinones, Sam. True Tales from Another Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New México Press, 2001.

Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. “Del corrido de narcotráfico al narcocorrido: Orígenes y desarrollo del canto a los traficantes.” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. Special issue on border culture. XXIII (2004):21-41.

Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos y José Villalobos. “Corridos and la pura verdad: Myths and Realities of the Mexican Ballad,”. The South Central Review. Special issue “Memory and Nation in Contemporary Mexico”. 21.3 (Fall 2004):129-149.

Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. “Búsquenme en el Internet: Características del narcocorrido finisecular.” Ciberletras # 11. Special issue “End of 20th Century Mexican Literature”. (July, 2004)

Ramírez-Pimienta, Juan Carlos. "El corrido de narcotráfico en los años ochenta y noventa: un juicio moral suspendido". The Bilingual Review/ La Revista Bilingüe. XXIII.2 (May-August 1998): 145-156.

Simonett, Helena. “Narcocorridos: An Emerging Micromusic of Nuevo L.A.” Ethnomusicology. 45.2 (Spring/Summer 2001): 315-337.

Wald, Elijah. Narcocorrido: Un viaje al mundo de la música de las drogas, armas, y guerrilleros. Nueva York: Rayo, 2001

Wellinga, Klaas. “Cantando a los traficantes.”Foro Hispánico: Revista Hispánica de los Países Bajos, 22 (2002): 137-54.