However, on Tuesday, Caballero said in a radio interview that artists such as Peso Pluma may have attracted the attention of the cartels with their lyrics. “Let’s be clear: they are singing and apologizing for crime and that is why they must know the risks and consequences,” Caballero told Radio Fórmula host Azucena Uresti in a telephone interview.
She added that whether authorities would cancel the concert would depend on whether the narcomantas were the work of organized crime or ordinary citizens. Caballero, a member of the ruling Morena party, moved to the military headquarters of the 28th Infantry Battalion after one of her bodyguards suffered an armed attack, saying she is being targeted by organized crime for confiscating weapons.
Other Mexican musicians have also drawn attention to the genre’s risks. Natanael Cano, considered a pioneer of corridos tumbados, recently stopped mid-song during a concert in Sonora and remarked that he was “going to get killed.” The song’s lyrics, “Cuerno Azulado,” refer to drug deals and possible government involvement, including a line believed to be a reference to Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug lord known as El Chapo.
Narcomantas have long been used by cartels and organized crime to leave public messages for authorities, rivals or the community at large. The banners, which became popular at the height of the drug war in the 2010s, can be used to promote or assuage fear, although it is often unclear who is responsible for creating them and how credible their messages are.
Peso Pluma was previously expected to appear in March at a concert at Tijuana’s Chevron Stadium, alongside artists Eden Muñoz, Roberto Tapia and El Fantasma. But in late February, Tapia Entertainment, which organized the show, said tickets would be refunded “due to insecurity and threats towards other events.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized some of the country’s current popular music in June, invoking Peso Pluma’s hit “AMG,” about a Mercedes-Benz. “As if material things are the most important things – designer clothes, houses, jewelry, power or arrogance,” he said. “There are other options, there are other alternatives, it is possible to be happy in a different way.”
