Jorge Hernández, frontman of the legendary group Los Tigres del Norte, has proposed replacing the term 'corrido' with 'stories' to evade restrictions imposed by authorities across various regions of Mexico. The proposal comes in response to growing censorship facing the regional Mexican genre in several states, according to xataka.com.mx.
With a career spanning over 55 years, the group has witnessed the 'corrido' concept become stigmatized by authorities. Hernández aims to protect the dissemination of their music by preventing it from being directly associated with violence.
"We are going to have to change the word 'corrido' to 'story' so we don't get into trouble," the musician explained, outlining his strategy to navigate the bans currently in effect across different states.
The map of musical censorship
Currently, ten states in the Mexican Republic impose prohibitions or limitations on this type of music. The list includes Baja California, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Jalisco, Michoacán, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, and the State of Mexico.
In states like Chihuahua, authorities even impose fines on musical groups that choose to ignore these restrictions. This situation forced Los Tigres del Norte to exclude regions under active veto from their most recent tour.
The fight against the censorship of corridos is not a new phenomenon. According to xataka.com.mx, these attempts began in the 1980s, with Sinaloa being the first state to attempt a ban on 'narcocorridos.'
In 2006, during the Drug War, the Mexican government labeled these songs as an apology for crime. Authorities argued that the tracks glorified criminal activities and served as a way to send coded messages to drug trafficking organizations.
This history of restrictions has directly impacted the band in the past. In 2014, the musicians had to avoid performing some of their most iconic songs in Chihuahua. Regarding this, Hernández told El País that the breadth of their repertoire allowed them to continue their performances without major setbacks.
For Hernández, the role of his group is not to promote crime, but to act as chroniclers of social reality. The singer defines his group as "narrators of people's lives."
The band leader maintains that their lyrics aim to fulfill a journalistic function by bringing the population's struggles to the ears of listeners. However, he warns that the genre is undergoing a crisis that could threaten its very existence.
The group questions the logic behind current prohibitions. According to the report, musicians criticize the fact that music is penalized while other media, such as TV series and films, depict the same violence much more crudely without facing the same stigma.
