Norteno Corridos is a popular genre of music in Mexico. This folk-like poetic music has a history of telling stories and ballads. As drug cartels have come to power in Mexico, an offshoot genre has been created and is known as Narcocorridos; the music still tells stories and ballads, but the music is about the cartels themselves. Narcocorridos's lyrics glorify the drug cartels and their illegal activities, which often take deadly turns.
Rogelio Brambila Lizárraga, 22-year old member of a Narcocorridos group known as Los Plebes de Arranke (Above) was found dead in the driver side of a car in March, the victim of gunfire from at least two firearms. Javier Rosas, another narcocorridos singer is in critical condition after being shot six times during another incident in which he found himself under fire from an AK-47.
The cartels and corridos seem to work together with one another, albeit in a very deadly manner. The songs help as a sort of publicity for drug kingpins, telling of which cartels are the most dangerous and what horrific exploits they're known for; the narcocorridos singers use a traditional Mexican art to gain a fan-base, but their gruesome lyrics maintain that popularity. It's a well known rule of entertainment that many have an attraction to the morbid, to violence, to shocking lyrics. As the death toll in narcocorridos/cartel related violence rises, perhaps these entertainers will think twice about the true price of fame.