Do narcocorridos glorify drug violence?
Narcocorridos or “Drug Ballads” is a subgenre of the Mexican norteño-corrido music genre. They tend to focus on drug smugglers and usually speak positively of illegal activities but mostly focus on drug trafficking. Narcocorridos are heard and produced in both the United States and Mexico and have become very popular in both states especially among young people. The problem with narcocorridos is that they tend to glorify drugs and the criminal life style through their lyrical content as well as their music videos. One famous song “Contrabando y Traicion” by Los Tigres del Norte tells the story of a relationship between a drug dealer and a waitress that ends with the murder of the drug dealer at the hands of the waitress as a way of revenge. Narcocorridos have been banned from the airwaves in the United States and Mexico but they continue to do well as artists continue to create this type of music.…show more content… They argue that those artists who choose to perform narcocorridos aren’t doing so to glamorize drug violence but instead they are simply telling the reality of what is happening. Various artist have spoken about the issue and have stated that their lyrical content reflects what goes on in their environment. They go on and mention that if people want their lyrical content to change, their environment needs to be changed first. For instance, the lead singer Jorge Hernandez of the band Los Tigres del Norte has stated that “We always sing what the people want to hear, and what the people are living” (Linthicum). This restates that artists don’t perform narcocorridos to promote drug violence but simply tell a story of what goes
