Banda in Mexico has an impact in the type of music I hear now.
That leads to the type of art I have chosen, which was a live
concert/dance hall I attended in December 7, 2013 at El Rodeo Nightclub to go
see Grupo TR3S60 live. It was their very first time being in the U.S. and setting foot on stage here in the United States. It was around 12:30 a.m. when
they went on stage and sang their top hits they started with their most famous song “El Neto Roca” a song about a guy who is involved in drug trafficking and was shot six times one night in Culiacan, Sinaloa and did not die and stated that he is still at the boss’s order no matter the attempted murder. Secondly, they went on to “Dos Jovenes Muchachos” a song about the two sons of Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera also known as “El Chapo” the most wanted drug dealer by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Mexican government. The names of their two sons are Alfredo
and Ivan stating in the song that they as well are in the drug dealing business. Thirdly, they went on to “El Guanito” a song about the nephew of “El Chapo”talking about how he as well is in the drug dealing business and glorifying his narcotic adventures because he is only twenty years old and he studied to become a drug leader and has a lot of people under his command and they went on singing several other songs.
John Berger’s statement about art changing significance is true. All the
songs I heard live by Grupo 360 pumped up the nightclub I was pumped up and like everybody else I was singing along to all their songs. As you know and as I previously mentioned in the beginning of the essay most of these songs have a negative outcome and glorify these drug dealers and make them see like a heroic person. At the time in the nightclub nobody was thinking about the negative outcome of the songs. Instead we were all singing out of the top of our lungs and praising what they do. The way everybody was feeling had a lot to do with the environment we were in, first of all we are in a nightclub that is the main factor that contributes to the way we see the outcome or the message of each song. We do not see it as a bad action or anything bad that the drug dealers are doing. We see it as a cool and bravery thing to do because it takes a lot of guts to go into drug trafficking. It is probably the easiest and fastest way to make money, get cars, girls and live the high class life. Not to mention that you can have various grupos compose a song about your bravery narcotic adventures and therefore have many people look up to you as a hero. That is what teenagers now in days say, “I want to be a narcotrafficante like El Chapo, El Neto Roca, El Guanito…” so on and so forth. Teenagers do not think of being a doctor, a police men or a lawyer and most of it has to do with the environment you are in and that determines the way you think at the time it is happening and the way you view things. At the nightclub you are drinking you have a girl here and there having a good time with friends dressing up like the drug dealers that are in Mexico. Nothing crosses your mind but glorifying the drug dealers and their actions because everybody is having a good time and nobody inside that club views nothing wrong with it.
On the other hand if you have most of the teenagers in jail or in Sinaloa in the heart of Culiacan where the cemetery is at that is where they have most of the drug dealers that were part of a cartel and died and most of them died at a very young age. Listening to corridos in that type of environment drastically changes your perspective of the drug dealers and their lives. Now
you are not thinking about the high life they are living with an abundance of luxuries. Now you are thinking of how short life can be when you go into drug trafficking and start thinking about the drug war that is currently occurring in Mexico. You do not think about all the money you are going to get out of but about how risky your life can be and it definitely has a lot to do with the environment you are in.
All the cool things that you would think about the drug dealers would not
be so cool when you hear this type of music in their cemetery. For instance most of these drug dealers do not get killed instantly they get tortured to death. They get information out of them and upload it on YouTube or on their blog. Then they tortured them which consist of various tortures like decapitating heads, chopping their fingers off, burning them alive and leaving notes on theirbodies for the public to see.
Most of this music that I consider art is prohibited in some parts of Mexico it is consider illegal. They know that corridos causes conflict among cartels on the other hand it is not illegal at all to hear corridos in the U.S. Not even close to being illegal here in the state of California where this type of music is most heard. Which is where most of the drug trafficking happens too, most of the drugs gets here in California coincidence I think not. This is a perfect example of how Hispanics or Mexicans view art in Mexico they view it as a deadly type of art that should be prohibited because of the conflict it has caused and that keeps escalating among cartels. This type of art has brought Mexico apart and hearing corridos does not make it any better which is why it has been prohibited to be played in many nightclubs in Mexico. In the U.S. many Hispanics or Mexicans do not see it as deadly type of art instead they worship the drug dealers and glorify all their actions. It is a lifestyle that many teenagers now in days want because the media portrays them as a successful person that has gained the respect of many people. They worship all those drug lords and hope that they too would get worship if they do have the same type of lifestyle as they do. The main target they have in mind is the abundance of money they would have and driving a truck just like the drug lord they worship.
To conclude, John Berger’s statement is true depending on the environment that you are in, changes the perspective of the art you are either viewing or hearing. Corridos is viewed very different by the community in Mexico they see it as a deadly type of art. The community in the U.S. has a way different perspective from that type of art, they see it as a lifestyle they would really like to live so they as well can be glorified by other people just like they glorify the drug lords. You have two neighboring countries most of their communities in those countries listen to the same type of music but both of them have a very distinct perspective of art they are listening to.
Elias Leon attends Cal State University, Northridge majoring in business management. Has a passion for corridos and loves to play the accordion.