What Are Corridos Tumbados? How Did They Become So Popular Outside of Mexico & California? Plus, Makako, Sinaloa Influencer Shot

Corridos are a traditional Mexican ballad. Historically, it was a song form that celebrated love tales and hyper local scenery. However, as narco-trafficking burgeoned from minor exports of Marijuana to major throughways of every American consumer’s favorite drug, the genre’s format began to relay folklore from the bandits, organizations and middle managers and the CEO equivalents of these trafficking enterprises.

Today, most of the song that pay homage to drug traffickers are big hits, not unlike the recalling of seedy neighborhood tales in hiphop, but with the caveat that these traffickers are real and have in many cases commissioned through go betweens the telling of their story.

This evolution utimately gave rise to a sub-genre known as narco-corridos. Recently, the structure of the genre has seen further modifications as a new version, termed Corridos Tumbados, is being introduced by artists like Natanael Cano. The California connection emerges from the high number of Chicanos who have ported over Rock guitar techniques to the genre. There is also the fact that there is cultural continuity between Mexicans in the Northwest of Mexico and their kinship systems in California, particularly, the solidarity that emerges from certain criminal networks.

This new type infuses a “trap” vibe into the traditional corridos aesthetic and rhythm. Despite not fully comprehending the Spanish language, non-Spanish listeners admit to enjoying the music on platforms like Spotify due to the genre’s melodies and rhythm, amplified by the use of guitars.

In recent news, authorities in Nayarit, a region in Mexico, have reportedly moved to ban narcocorridos or Corridos Tumbados from being performed in public due to their controversial lyrics. This ban is seen as detrimental to freedom of artistic expression by some in the region.

However, the genre has controversies trailing it that justify the desire for state level authorities to want to tamper down on the prevacity. Just yesterday, February 10, 2025, a social media influencer, Makako, was wounded in a Tijuana concert , as he played alongside Cessar Romman. Juan Pablo “Makako” Díaz is from Sinaloa, but arrived for the Tijuana event and was shot in the shoulder. Another individual – alleged to be a bodyguard for Makako- was shot in the head and killed on the scene.

#Tijuana

Así se vivió la #agresión en contra de los cantantes de #narcocorridos #CessarRoman y el #Makako en el bar Santo Pecado, ubicado en plaza China. https://t.co/6jF9tNRI8p pic.twitter.com/dPZtKKr47y

— 𝑬𝑳 𝑩𝑶𝑹𝑫𝑶 𝑻𝑰𝑱𝑼𝑨𝑵𝑬𝑵𝑺𝑬 (@Bord0Tijuanense) February 11, 2025

Somewhat reasonably, critics argue that these kinds of music may normalize dangerous behavior. However, in our view, there is some disconnect between citing the speech and not the actual poverty that drives recruitment forward,

Despite such contentions, the genre remains popular across the world, even enjoying representation on global stages like the Paris Fashion Week. In a related development, Mexican singing group Fuerza Regida was featured at a Paris fashion show, arguably the first new-generation Corridos to be featured at an event of such international scale. Gabito Ballesteros also commented on bringing Corridos to the Super Bowl and celebrating Mexican pride.

For her part, Claudia Sheinbaum, the popular President of Mexico, while acknowledging the issue, took a stand against the prohibition of Corridos Tumbados, favoring education and creating alternatives that do not glorify violence.