Mexico's Drug Songs a Hit
 Chris Hawley - The Age
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January 03, 2010
Mexico City - When the song The Farm hit Mexico's airwaves late last year, it quickly became a sensation in a country increasingly frustrated by a three-year-old war against drug cartels.
The song tells the story of a fierce dog, perhaps representing drug traffickers, that causes no trouble until a fox - perhaps former Mexican president Vicente Fox - provokes it, unleashing a wave of bloodshed.
The song by Los Tigres del Norte, along with "drug ballads", has stirred a debate over the role of popular music as Mexico tries to break the cartels. About 13,000 people have died in drug-related violence since the crackdown began in 2006.
Drug ballads, known as narcocorridos in Spanish, have long been a part of Mexico's norteno music, which is driven by accordions and a polka-like beat. As the body count climbs, though, some experts worry that such hits are undermining the Government's efforts.
"It's possible that this kind of music desensitises Mexicans to what's going on," says Ruben Tinajero Medina, a musicologist at the University of Chihuahua.
In Mexican dance halls and record shops, smuggler music is hot: Sixteen Drug Ballads, by singer Larry Hernandez, is one of the best-selling albums of the year.
El Compa Chuy is nominated for a Grammy for an album featuring smuggler ballads, El Nino de Oro.
"It's a way of describing what our people are going through, the suffering of the Mexican people," says Jorge Hernandez, lead singer of Los Tigres del Norte.
On December 11, police detained three bands, including Grammy-winning singer Ramon Ayala, during a shoot-out at a Christmas party attended by alleged members of the Beltran Leyva gang.
Ayala was released on Wednesday but remains under investigation for possible organised crime offences, the office of Mexico's attorney-general says.
Arturo Beltran Leyva, the leader of the drug gang, was killed on December 17 in a shoot-out with authorities. His brother, Carlos Beltran Leyva, was captured by police at the weekend. |
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