On April 28, 2023, Mexican singer Peso Pluma made history when he performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Pluma became the first Regional Mexican music artist to perform on the show. The Regional Mexican music artist sang his smash hit “Ella Baila Sola.”
The song by Pluma and Eslabon Armado was the 7th most-streamed song on Spotify in 2023. Peso Pluma’s album Genesis was the 9th most-streamed album on Spotify that year, and Pluma himself was the 5th most-streamed artist on Spotify. A clear sign that Peso Pluma and Regional Music had become global.
Two years after his history-making performance, Pluma continues to be one of the most-streamed artists in the world. Pluma now headlines some of the biggest music festivals in the world. His success has opened the door for other Regional Mexican music artists, with some performing at the same music festival as Pluma.
However, in recent months, corridos—the subgenre of Regional Mexican music Pluma sings—have come under fire again.
Corridos have been a part of the Mexican music scene since the Mexican Revolution, according to Billboard. The subgenre has evolved since then to include narcocorridos, corridos tumbados, and corridos bélicos, to name a few.
Luis Conriquez April 11 concert
At his April 11 concert at the Feria del Caballo in Texcoco, Mexico, Luis Conriquez—a pioneer of corridos bélicos —did not sing corridos, as he had said he would not do.
Earlier that day, Conriquez had posted an Instagram story announcing to his followers that he would not be singing corridos at this concert, saying, “We’re entering a new phase, without corridos and all that. It feels bad not being able to sing what people want to hear, but we’re joining the cause of zero corridos and moving forward.”
Despite Conriquez warning his fans on Instagram that he would not be singing corridos at the Texcoco Fair, audience members began asking him to sing some of them an hour and forty minutes into his concert, the singer told Billboard. The frustrated audience booed him when he reiterated that he would not sing corridos. Ultimately, Conriquez ended the concert and left the stage, showered with insults and empty and drink-filled cups from some in the audience. Some audience members even got on the stage and destroyed the instruments left behind by the band playing with Conriquez.
The reality is that Conriquez was not allowed to sing corridos by those in charge of the venue. According to Conriquez, they told him singing corridos was prohibited and warned him they would cut off the sound if he sang a corrido.
Two days before Conriquez performed at the Texcoco Fair, the Secretary of Security of the state of Mexico, Cristóbal Castañeda, sent out official letters to the municipalities of Texcoco, Tejupilco, and Metepec, warning them that “any cases of condoning crime at future musical performances could result in penalties of up to six months in prison”, per Chapter V, Article 211 Bis of the Penal Code of the State of Mexico.
There has been a dark cloud hovering over corridos since the creation of narcocorridos, whose subjects are often figures of that world. Mexican music group Los Tigres del Norte are seen as pioneers of narcocorridos, with hits such as “Contrabando y Traición” in 1974 and “Jefes de Jefes” in 1997.
The rise in popularity of narcocorridos was followed by calls to ban them. The state of Sinaloa was one of the first to call for narcocorridos to be banned in the 1980s. The current calls to ban narcocorridos have been sparked by an incident that happened during the March 29 concert of Mexican music group Los Alegres del Barranco in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
Los Alegres del Barranco Incident
During Los Alegres del Barranco’s March 29 concert, images of the leader of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho”, were displayed on screen as the group began to sing “El del Palenque.”
The group received immediate backlash and condemnation from many, including Claudia Sheinbaum, the President of Mexico. At her March 31 press conference, Sheinbaum made her feelings about the incident known, saying, “That shouldn’t happen. It’s not right.” She also called for the incident to be investigated.
That same day, the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the incident, and on May 6, via X, announced that it had charged Los Alegres del Barranco, their manager, and their concert promoter for allegedly condoning crime.
A day after the President Sheinbaum spoke on the incident and the Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into it, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau announced on X that U.S. government had revoked the work and tourism visas of the members of the group, writing, “In the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners’ access to our country. The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.”
A month before Los Alegres del Barranco’s March 29 concert, the U.S. Department of State announced on February 20 that it had designated the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación as a “foreign terrorist organization” along with 7 other transnational criminal organizations.
In response to the backlash, Los Alegres del Barranco issued an apology on April 2, writing, “it was never our intention to generate controversy, much less cause offense.”
The Aftermath
This incident has not only been a headache for Los Alegres del Barranco but for every Regional Mexican music artist who sings corridos, as they now have to navigate performing in a country where singing corridos in public is prohibited by nearly one-third of its states, 10 out of 32. The Mexican states of Baja California, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, and Estado de México “have implemented bans and limitations on the broadcasting of corridos in public spaces,” according to Billboard.
Some artists like Conriquez have complied with the bans. While others have either attempted to sing corridos or tried to find a workaround by having the crowd sing them.
Junior H attempted to sing a narcocorrido during his May 7 concert at the Feria Nacional de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, but the sound was quickly cut off. The audience responded by acoustically singing the narcocorrido, as seen on videos circulating on social media. Meanwhile, Los Alegres del Barranco had the audiences of their May 3 and 4 concerts in the municipalities of Cihuatlán and Tequila, Jalisco, sing the lyrics of “El del Palenque” while they played their instruments.
Despite some states in Mexico banning corridos, President Sheinbaum does not favor imposing a federal ban on them, telling Billboard, “education and awareness are better approaches, allowing society itself to gradually move away from these kinds of musical content, rather than outright bans.”
Instead, the Mexican government has created the binational contest, México Canta (or Mexican Sings), to encourage young artists to create more romantic songs. As of May 9, the contest has received over 5,000 submissions, with 4,578 coming from Mexico and 1,243 from the United States.
As for Los Alegres del Barranco’s legal troubles, on May 12, a judge in Jalisco ruled that the group, along with their manager and concert promoter, will face criminal proceedings for the March 29 incident.