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Do Narcocorridos Glorify And Incite The Violent And Gruesome Behaviors?

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Do narcocorridos glorify and incite the violent and gruesome behaviors they depict? Narcocorridos are a type of popular Mexican music that derives from traditional ballads called corridos. Corridos were popular in the first half of the 20th century because of their relation to the Mexican Revolution. They told stories about famous revolutionaries. Narcocorridos emerged later and became popular in the 1970s. The difference between these two music genres is that narcocorridos do not tell stories about revolutionaries, but address the topic of drugs and the drug culture in Mexico. They tend to focus on drug smugglers and often portray them as heroes. Narcocorridos glorify violent and gruesome behaviors all while inciting violence, influencing the youth, and creating fear amongst the people.
Today, narcocorridos are popular on both sides of the United States – Mexican border, especially among young people. They tend to tell what it is like to be a drug dealer. They tell from shootouts between traffickers to torturing police or rival cartel members. They have become the pop music for much of Mexico. This type of music first appeared in the 1970s, when the band Los Tigres del Norte released their song Contrabando Y Traicion. The song tells the story of a Mexican man and a woman who fill their tires with marijuana and head to Los Angeles. When they arrive, the man gives the woman, her part of the take and tells her he’s going to his mistress. Then seven shots are fired and the man dies. When police arrive they only find a pistol and nothing more was known about the woman or the money. This type of music gained more popularity in the 1990s when a corridista by the name of Chalino Sanchez began performing narcocorridos in Los Angeles. In 1992, during a show, a gunman fired at him and while he was on stage, he pulled out his revolver and fired back. On May 16, 1992, after a show, he was pulled over by a group of men who showed state police identification cards. He was then blindfolded, tied up and was shot twice in the head. No suspects were arrested but it is almost certain it was due to his choice of lyrics. Despite the threat, these artists face there continues to be a significant number of musicians who still

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