I know, what do you care, right? Well, there are 23 million Mexicans living in the U.S. today. The Mexican-U.S. Border represents a place of cultural isolation, where both regions evolved as a unified territory. These areas are also recognized as trouble zones, where the most drug trafficking takes place. Most narcocorrido groups are either from the border area or natives of Northern Mexico, where loss of socio-cultural control is inevitable. It is this struggle that pushed for the development of an identity, evolving with the intensity of these tensions.
In respect to their popularity in the U.S., these are more eminent in L.A., where there is a near-majority Hispanic population. Although I am not a big fan myself, it is important to understand that we are referring to an American culture-- a melting pot of ethnicities and diversity. Narcocorridos are the musical strength of a culture that bears nostalgia and struggle. And an underestimated social phenomenon.
Feel free to watch.
5 comments:
hmmm . . . the video clip seems more rooted in traditional mexican folk music. there does seem to be a lot of posturing on the band's part to display there toughness and bravado. this seems to be a consistent theme with a lot of music from the "3rd World. " And that one guy's mullet is SO BEAUTIFUL i want one of my own. I promise to water and feed it . . .
There is a lot of consistency with the stereotypical music of the 3rd World (jey word here being: 'stereotypical')...I just didnt think I'd ever hear you say "3rd World"!
That's just great...
I simply have to disregard your brazen attack on my character to focus on the real, pressing issue at hand: After quite a bit of research at the library and Wikipedia I found that the mullet in question is not native to Mexico and was, perhaps, illegally trafficked through some illegal poaching ring. In fact, it's an endangered species found only in New Zealand. Though they are nocturnal omnivores (subsisting on berries and the occasional rodent) they have, on occasion, attacked humans when unnecessarily provoked. The WWF estimates that there are only about 1600 left in the wild. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to finish eating my baby panda sandwich . . .
I personally like this kind of music. I agree that it is a part of the American culture because so many Mexican immigrants come to the U.S. to seek a better life for their family, as is stated in the song you posted. The Mexican “minority” in the U.S. has become a majority in population and I don’t think you can cover American culture without talking about Mexican Americans.
Fascinating post, eloquently expressed. Yes, music's connection to social struggle (something implicit throughout this entire blog!) is critically important, and too easily forgotten when our very means of "getting" or "discovering" the music is a commodity system that serves to alienate the music from its social context even as it diffuses the music more widely.
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