Adios, Enrique?
Traditional Mexican music outsells Latin pop--with accordions
Spanish heartthrob Enrique Iglesias--the world's bestselling Latin recording artist--shot to the top of Billboard's Latin chart last month on the strength of his new single, "Mentiroso," or "Liar." Fitting, because it landed at No. 1 via a rather devious route. In addition to recording "Mentiroso" in the usual glossy pop format, Iglesias released two distinctly Mexican versions: one with a mariachi-inspired trumpet section and another with an accordion and a revved-up tempo reminiscent of northern Mexico's rural dance music, norteño. An outsider probably couldn't tell the difference, but most of the nearly 9 million Mexican immigrants living in the United States can. And since many stateside Mexican radio stations wouldn't have played the pop take, "Mentiroso" wouldn't have stormed up the charts without its Mexican renditions.
Iglesias's south-of-the-border stylings are in direct response to a boom in traditional Mexican music in the United States. Last year, norteño, banda (brass band music), Tejano (Mexican folk with American country and pop influences), and a half-dozen other subgenres raked in around 50 percent more revenue than Latin pop. Partly because regional Mexican albums are often sold at outdoor markets and mom and pop stores, their commercial success wasn't widely known until record companies started reporting their sales last year.
Many in the regional Mexican field say their blue-collar songcraft, despite its popularity, is snubbed by Miami's Latin pop establishment. At this year's Latin Grammy Awards, the traditional Mexican delegation was dwarfed by Latin pop personalities (and gringos like Justin Timberlake). Record labels hew to Latin pop in hopes of crossing over to Anglo audiences, as did Ricky Martin and Shakira. "If you're trying to show that Latin music is a hip, modern style," says Elijah Wald, author of Narcocorrido: A Journey Into the Music of Drugs, Guns, and Guerrillas, "do you want to use guys in cowboy hats holding accordions?"
Gone country. To regional Mexican fans, the Stetson and sqeezebox signify rural purity. Many immigrants seek the kind of Mexican music that Wald calls "self-consciously archaic," played by white-suited troupes like Los Tigres del Norte, formed in the 1960s. Most bands rely on instrumental lineups that date to the music's 19th-century country roots, like the pairing of the accordion and bajo sexto, a 12-string bass guitar. "I've proposed different versions of norteño songs to get a higher place on the charts," says Miguel Trujillo of EMI Latin. "But the groups say their audience will feel neglected."
Mainstream crossover fodder it's not, but the genre's commercial success has spurred a flurry of books, such as the Billboard Guide to Tejano and Regional Mexican Music, that open up the music to non-Mexican audiences. Earlier this year, the Smithsonian unveiled a traveling exhibit on Mexican corridos (narrative story-songs). But fans say it's difficult to grasp the music without attending the dance halls that stage bands like Los Temerarios and Conjunto Primavera. "This is not sit-down music," says Guadalupe San Miguel, a University of Houston history professor. "There's no way to approach it unless you learn the steps."
Or just wait for it to be co-opted by urban youth. Last year saw major chart success for two young, Los Angeles-based regional Mexican singers--Jessie Morales and Lupillo Rivera--with support from Mexican-American youth who don't necessarily speak Spanish. "There's an acute consciousness that L.A. has become a Mexican city," says Wald. "Which means, for the first time, that it's cool to like Mexican music." The pair specialize in narcocorrido, a kind of Mexican counterpart to gangsta rap that glamorizes drug trafficking. Morales is reportedly hoping to record a rap album in English--which could prove to be a crossover of a totally different kind.
This story appears in the October 14, 2002 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
advertisement
