Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 07/31/2009
The term "thug life" has often been used in connection with gangsta rap, but songs about criminality can also be found in everything from salsa (
Willie Colón and
Rubén Blades'
"Pedro Navaja") to Colombian vallenato (
Rafael Escalona's
"Almirante Padilla") to outlaw country (
Johnny Cash's
"Folsom Prison Blues," Johnny Paycheck's
"I'm the Only Hell My Mama Ever Raised," Merle Haggard's
"The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde") to a very underground type of Southern Italian folk known as
il canto di malavita -- which means "song of the bad life" in Italian and focuses on the organized crime of the 'Ndrangheta (Calabrian mafia), the Camorra (Neapolitan mafia), and la Cosa Nostra (Sicilian mafia). And anyone who is seriously into regional Mexican music is well aware of all the controversy that has surrounded narcocorridos, which are corridos (Mexican folk narratives) about drug smuggling. Narcocorridos have been around for decades -- many norteño fans discovered narcocorridos when
los Tigres del Norte gave us classics like
"Contrabando y Traición" ("Contraband and Betrayal") and
"La Banda del Carro Rojo" ("The Red Car Gang") back in the 1970s -- and their popularity has grown despite all the controversy surrounding them. Many radio stations in Mexico will no doubt refuse to play
Larry Hernandez'
16 Narco Corridos, which is their prerogative. But blaming
Hernandez for drug-related violence in Mexico is sort of like blaming
Martin Scorsese or
Francis Ford Coppola for organized crime in Southern Italy; art that candidly addresses the realities of thug life isn't necessarily glamorizing or promoting thug life. And the word "candid" certainly describes
16 Narco Corridos, which is full of Spanish-language references to
pistoleros (gunmen),
asesinos (murderers),
secuestros (kidnappings),
armas (weapons) and, of course,
drogas (drugs). Lyrically,
Hernandez holds nothing back;
"El Taliban," for example, is about Mexican drug traffickers who decapitate members of rival drug cartels. But as gritty as
Hernandez' lyrics are, his vocal style isn't angry, threatening, or confrontational but rather, exhibits a folksy sort of charm.
16 Narco Corridos isn't going to win over people who have been critical or disdainful of narcocorridos, but it is well worth a listen if one is already a fan of the controversial, hard-hitting narratives. [This edition contains the bonus tracks
"El Taliban and
"Pilotos Canabis".
~Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
;)
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