Latest news with #Mexicana
Los Angeles Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Los Tigres del Norte get a New York City street named in their honor
For nearly six decades, Los Tigres del Norte's name has been all over the charts, on countless marquees, seven Grammys and, now, one street in New York City. On Thursday, the historic música Mexicana band showed up to the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, surrounded by fans at the grand presentation of the newly minted Los Tigres del Norte Way. 'Starting today, a street in Brooklyn carries the name of Los Tigres del Norte,' the group wrote in an Instagram post Thursday evening. 'Thank you for walking with us, today and always.' The Sinaloense legends' street sign is located on 5th Avenue and 47th Street in Brooklyn, surrounded by a litany of Latino restaurants. 'We've been coming to New York for so many years,' vocalist and accordion player Jorge Hernandez said in a TV interview Wednesday with New York's Fox 5. 'We've been able to connect with the community, so that's why we've been selected today to have the street and we are very happy to be honored tomorrow.' The road naming occurred on the same day as the release of the 'La Puerta Negra' artists' latest five-track EP 'La Lotería.' The title track is a sociopolitical corrido that uses the imagery of the popular bingo-like Mexican game to comment on topics like immigration and the past criminality of the current U.S. president. The band will play its first-ever show at New York's historic Madison Square Garden on May 24 to wrap up their current East Coast stint before performing June 13 at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, Calif., and June 15 in Del Mar, Calif. However, Thursday's festivities weren't the first time that the 'Jaula de Oro' band was honored with a street-naming ceremony. A strip of W. 26th Street in Chicago is honorarily named after the 12-time Latin Grammy winners. The street runs through the Windy City's Little Village neighborhood, which is known as the 'Mexico of the Midwest' due to upwards of 80% of its residents being of Mexican descent. Los Tigres del Norte were feted locally in 2014 in the most L.A. way possible — with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In June, the group will receive lifetime recognition for its members' continued immigration advocacy from Monterey County officials ahead of their tour date in Salinas, Calif.
Los Angeles Times
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Las Mil Amores are proving the haters wrong with their continued online success
Decked out in their finest Dodger blue outfits, Las Mil Amores prepped to shoot the music video for their song 'I Just Like to Party' — a recently released bouncy, electronic homage to house music that hits on the signature themes of their work: repping L.A. and defying their haters. The sister duo of East Los Angeles natives Elsa and Maggie Guzman walked into the upper level of a Long Beach pizza shop one mid-April afternoon hauling luggage prominently featuring Stitch (the lovable and not quite Dodger blue Disney character), and with both of their parents in tow. The track's lyrics — 'Oh yes, I'm a hottie, Mexican Barbie / I ain't no thottie / I'm a brat hood rat with tats' — rang throughout the nearly empty parlor as the two set the ground rules for their taping session with their cinematographer: two takes of the full song in each of their three outfits and call it a day. Once rejected and disillusioned by the music industry, the fraternal twin sisters found their way to online virality thanks to a series of social media videos, many of them songs, that highlight their genuine love for the Dodgers. Their musical journey dates back to 2006, when Elsa leaned into her sonic ambitions as a way to help her process and move through some of her childhood trauma stemming from physical abuse from outside her immediate family. Soon after, Elsa persuaded her sister to join her in the venture. 'We first started singing banda, norteños [and other variation of música Mexicana],' Maggie said. 'We had sang in nightclubs like El Rodeo and El Parral. We were still in high school, we were probably like 17 years old when we started singing.' During those early years, their parents were functionally working as their managers, chaperoning them at the various 21-plus performance spaces. 'From a young age they've always loved to sing,' said Maria Guzman, the sisters' mother. 'They're just like their dad in that way.' After spending half a decade trying to carve out their place in the L.A. música Mexicana scene, the sisters went through an experience in 2012 that turned them off from the music world. According to the Guzmans, they approached a locally revered radio programmer with the idea of doing a full banda cover of Beyoncé's 'Si yo fuera un chico.' 'He stole our idea. He gave it to another singer,' Maggie said. 'My sister and I went into a depression. We just couldn't trust no one anymore.' Elsa and Maggie decided to step away from music, choosing to focus on their studies instead. After graduating from Cal State L.A., the duo got their master's degrees in sociology from Cal State Northridge. They now run a quinceañera business, teaching people dances for the festivities and helping decorate the venues. They also work in real estate on the side. It was the COVID-19 pandemic that rekindled Elsa and Maggie's desire to start making music again. 'One day we were like, 'Hey, why don't we kinda act like we did in high school, fool around, represent East L.A. and do all these videos,'' Maggie said. 'And they just started popping off and going viral.' Elsa recalled the video that she believes started the duo's rap career. 'We had a music video wearing blue jackets and we did a little rap about the Dodgers,' Elsa said. 'I remember that some page called 'Foos Gone Wild' picked it up and put it on their site.' While watching her daughters record several takes of their latest single, Maria noted that it's a 'really beautiful thing' to see her children work together. She then quickly zoomed to her daughters' side as they prepped for a wardrobe change into matching pink satin numbers with golden heels. Their signature love for the Dodgers is also a family affair. 'The reason the Dodgers are such a big deal in our lives is because of our dad,' Elsa said of the patriarch, who religiously watches the team. 'I remember my mom would make papitas con chile and we'd be watching the Dodgers. It was a moment of happiness, a moment of escape.' In their videos, Las Mil Amores are often donning Dodgers merch and are always finding ways to integrate their beloved baseball team into their raps. 'So boys in blue do your magic,' the duo sings about the Dodgers in a recent post. 'For the opps, it's about to get tragic.' Las Mil Amores' appeal stems in part from the familiarity that their online personas radiate. The sisters don fully done-up faces that harks back to an unmistakable mid-2000s L.A. Chicana look; many Angelenos no doubt have a cousin or sibling whose wardrobe rotates between comfy track suits, scantily clad dresses and all-Dodgers-everything fits. The sisters' videos emanate an aura that would make David Lynch blush with its misty-lensed surrealist touches and a dead-staring commitment to staying in character. They toe the line between being too silly to take seriously and too serious to take jokingly. Their synchronous rapping is reminiscent of a slightly less menacing version of twin girls from 'The Shining.' If their work appears DIY, it's because it truly is. The sisters write and edit all of their own work. 'I don't think I would be able to do something different that wouldn't be with her,' Elsa said of collaborating with her sister. 'All of our lives we've worked together. ... Ever since I was little I was able to have my best friend there and I wouldn't have it no other way.' The sisters are funny and self-effacing in their delivery. 'Name five Dodger players,' Las Mil Amores ebulliently yell in unison at the top of a video from April before going on to name four non-Dodgers and one almost Dodger. 'Jimmy Humilde! Mookie Beats! Julio César Chávez Jr! Oscar De La Hoya! And LeBron James. ... So the next time you foos say we don't know Dodgers players, checale.' Not everyone is a fan. The comments section of their videos is replete with people making fun of their looks— it's the greatest hits of online misogynistic remarks. Other common refrains on their content include Dodger fans disowning them. On their most popular TikTok, people wrote, 'Nope don't embarrass us like that' and 'This is embarrassing and I'm from LA and this brings embarrassment to Cali.' But the sisters aren't afraid to joke around and dish it back to the haters in the comments. 'Do u girls work on a circus? what time is ur shows?' wrote one person, to which the Guzmans replied, 'After you.' But for all the hate directed their way, Las Mil Amores certainly have their defenders, who point out that the sisters are simply doing what they love and having a good time in the process. 'The comments have always been about 75% negative, but I do see a switch probably because [people] have gotten to know us through interviews or just probably because we've been persistent,' Maggie said. 'We learned not to care about what people say because in the past we took it too much to heart and we actually stopped doing what we [loved] for like four years due to other people,' Maggie added of the sisters' new mentality to dealing with online negativity. 'You cannot always please other people. You just have to do what you want to do and pursue your dreams.' While Las Mil Amores have yet to do any official videos or collaborations with the team, it means a lot to them that they have become recognized in the Dodger community and, most importantly, by the team itself. 'I know that some of the players have [heard us] — they've asked them — and they laugh,' Elsa said. 'They know who we are, and we're like, 'Oh, my God, they know who we are!'' And to all the haters online who continue to bog down the Guzmans' comments, they have a clear message. 'Don't hate me cuz I'm cute, if you wanna hate me I will put you on mute,' the duo rapped repeatedly on the intro for the video they were shooting. 'Take your negativity out of my sight or I will block you and win this fight.'
Los Angeles Times
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Junior H's Coachella set proved he can be a ‘sad boy' and a trap corrido pioneer
An hour before his first performance at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival's main stage, a horde of managers, bandmembers and label execs crowded the entrance of Junior H's artist trailer. Among the many faces was Jimmy Humilde, the chief executive of Rancho Humilde Records, who signed the singer after his track 'No Eh Cambiado,' a requinto-backed hustle anthem, went viral on YouTube. Junior H, whose real name is Antonio Herrera Pérez, was a high schooler in Utah at the time. Now, almost seven years later, the 23-year-old artist, who was raised in Guanajuato, Mexico, is one of the biggest names in the increasingly popular world of música Mexicana. 'It feels really good for us to be here right now, representing Mexico and representing all this music we're doing,' said Junior H, switching between Spanish and English. 'Being the kind of artist that I am, I'm trying to get the most ears I can. That's why I'm here to get people's attention.' Junior H and labelmate Natanel Cano are credited for pioneering corridos tumbados, a hybrid sound that blends traditional corrido instrumentation with elements of hip-hop and trap beats — Cano's 2019 album, 'Corridos Tumbados,' heavily featured Junior H. In the realm of música Mexicana, there are the trap corrido makerswho sing about partying and drugs, and then there are 'the sad boys,' hopeless romantics who croon about being in love or about being brokenhearted. Junior H conveniently straddles the line between both. 'I don't really have a problem looking at who I am. I think the people gave me [the 'sad boy' title] a few years ago. They started categorizing me with sad and sentimental music. So I accepted and we kept it going,' said Junior H. 'Especially with men, I think it's important to show people that feelings are not bad and we can express them as we want.' After his U.S. tour, Sad Boyz Mania, which took place last summer and included two sold-out nights at L.A.'s BMO Stadium, Junior H received a second-line billing on this year's Coachella's Day 3 lineup. His name appeared between electronic DJ Zedd and K-pop idol Jennie, and was one of three música Mexicana performers playing the entire fest — he's joined by fellow sad boy Ivan Cornejo and reggaetón Mexa up-and-comer El Malilla. Festival organizers first began booking música Mexicana actst in 2018 — legacy cumbia group Los Angeles Azules was the first to play the three-day event. As global interest in the genre has grown, Goldenvoice, the company behind Coachella, has booked acts like Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Grupo Firme, Banda MS and Cano. Last year, Peso Pluma, Carin León and Santa Fe Klan were on the lineup. It was during Peso Pluma's set that Junior H made his desert debut, making a guest appearance to sing 'El Azul,' a narcocorrido believed to be about a Sinaloan drug lord. Now with his own 50-minute set, Junior H says he was excited to be in a position where he could return the gesture to Pluma and bring his own 'sad boy' flair to center stage. 'You know, it's not an opportunity for him, because he was the first one who opened all this way for us,' said Junior H. 'It's a really beautiful thing between artists, and especially between friends like us when we work really hard for this genre, and then get the privilege to perform on stages like this one.' As the Sunday evening set's start time lingered over his head, Junior H traded his casual, pink jersey for an all-white outfit that would contrast his band's all-black attire. In the dimmed trailer, journalists, friends and VIP fans all shared a few moments of his sought-after attention. The softspoken singer remained quiet and seems to be in a relaxed state of mind. Outside, the tololoche player tuned his instruments as the guitarists gathered in a corner to run through a few chords and the horn players blew a few trial notes — all while intermittently taking shots of Clase Azul Tequila. When it was time for them to all head over to the stage, they moved in a dense pack where Junior H was barely visible. On stage, Junior H took the role of a conductor overseing the 25 musicians backing him. The sheer amount of people created a showstopping spectacle, with each group of instrumentalists on different raised levels. The ensemble even included someone whose sole purpose was to deliver tequila shots to the musicians and hold Junior H's red solo cup, generating a party atmosphere both onstage and in the audience. As the música Mexicana sensation crooned the heartbroken lyrics of 'Y Lloro' and a symphony of 'Rockstar's' horns rang out, he commanded the stage's catwalk and hit every note from the pits of his diaphragm. Throughout the show, he continually shouted out Mexico and encouraged the crowd to yell out the lyrics. Toward the end of his set, he brought out Peso Pluma to sing 'Luna,' and followed it up by inviting Tito Double P on stage to join him for '5-7.' Many expected a different setlist from the corridos tumbados originator, as he neglected many of his most popular corridos such as the newly released 'El Chore' and one of his early hits, 'El Hijo Mayor.' There was online speculation surrounding the exclusion of these tracks, especially after Los Alegres del Barranco's U.S. visas were revoked for showing an image of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes during a recent concert. But Junior H shared that he wanted to put more of a spotlight on his 'Sad Boy' sound. '[Sad Boyz 4 Life II] is one of the most, most important albums in my career. We've been forcing ourselves to prove and show the people what we can do and that we can change our music. It doesn't have to be typical. We can also do nice and beautiful music, not just music for the streets or the narcos and all that s—,' he says, apologizing for cursing. 'We want people to see that we don't only do that type of music. We also do beautiful music and poetry. That's our goal: to show them that we do more than that.' Before heading off the stage, a massive image of the Mexican flag appeared on the main stage's biggest screen. The explosive guitar riffs of 'Disfruto Lo Malo,' a collaboration with Cano, prompted a ground-shaking roar from the crowd. Junior H made one final lap around the mega stage, making eye contact with every screaming individual and paying homage to his musical roots.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexican corrido band Los Alegres del Barranco had U.S. visas canceled over cartel imagery
The U.S. State Department dropped the work and tourist visas of the members of the Mexican corrido band Los Alegres del Barranco after the group displayed photos of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes at its concert in Guadalajara, Mexico. During their March 29 show at the University of Guadalajara, the band put an illustrated depiction of Cervantes — a key player in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) — on a mega-screen while playing their song "El Dueño del Palenque." Videos of the incident were captured on social media. The State Department's actions terminated the band's plans to tour in the U.S., which would have begun April 4 in Tulsa, Okla., and included a May 25 stop in L.A. County at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena. Read more: Del Records CEO found guilty after doing business with cartel-linked concert promoter On Tuesday, Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of State, confirmed the report on X. 'I'm a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn't mean that expression should be free of consequences,' Landau said in his post. 'A Mexican band, Los Alegres del Barranco, portrayed images glorifying drug kingpin 'El Mencho' — head of the grotesquely violent CJNG cartel — at a recent concert in Mexico," he wrote. "I'm pleased to announce that the State Department has revoked the band members' work and tourism visas. In the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners' access to our country. The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.' A month prior to Landau's announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the State Department designated eight cartels and transnational organizations — including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Criticism of Los Alegres del Barranco came from both sides of the border, as there has been increased public outcry in Mexico about the praise found for crime bosses in regional Mexican music. One of the vocal critics of the band's actions was Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum. Read more: Trial of reputed Mexican cartel leader's son offers cautionary tale for 'narco juniors' 'That shouldn't happen. It's not right,' Sheinbaum said of the incident during a March 31 press conference. "You can't apologize for violence nor for criminal groups." The president also called for there to be an investigation of what occurred at the concert. But this isn't the first time CJNG has been associated with regional Mexican artists. Last month, a federal jury convicted the chief executive of Del Records, a Bell Gardens-based label that produces música Mexicana, of conspiring to violate the Kingpin Statute that prohibits U.S. residents and companies from doing business with known drug traffickers and their associates. In April 2018, Ángel Del Villar and his entertainment agency worked with Jesús Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based music promoter who had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department, according to evidence presented in court. Treasury Department officials said at the time that Pérez had laundered drug money for the CJNG and an affiliated trafficking group, Los Cuinis. Read more: Gerardo Ortiz testifies in court to performing cartel-linked shows while signed to Del Records Pérez was accused of commingling the traffickers' profits with legitimate revenue from ticket and refreshment sales. He also promoted singers of narcocorridos, ballads that critics say 'glorify' traffickers and their crimes, Treasury officials stated. Pérez had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to do business with sanctioned people connected to drug trafficking. He promoted concerts for Del Entertainment in Mexico until March 2019. He was murdered in Mexico in December 2024. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Del Villar and Del Entertainment willfully did business with Pérez 'by continuing to have a Del Entertainment musical artist perform at concerts in which Pérez and Del Entertainment had a financial interest.' In a statement issued by email, Del Villar's legal team said they strongly disagree with the March 27 verdict and plan to appeal. Del Villar is set to be sentenced Aug. 15 and faces up to 30 years in prison on each count. Del Entertainment will face a sentence of five years of probation and a fine of $10 million for each count. Times' staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report. Get our Latinx Files newsletter for stories that capture the complexity of our communities. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Mexican corrido band sees U.S. visas canceled after displaying cartel photos
The U.S. State Department dropped the work and tourist visas of the members of the Mexican corrido band Los Alegres del Barranco after the group displayed photos of drug lord Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes at its concert in Guadalajara, Mexico. During their March 29 show at the University of Guadalajara, the band put an illustrated depiction of Cervantes — a key player in the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) — on a mega-screen while playing their song 'El Dueño del Palenque.' Videos of the incident were captured on social media. The State Department's actions terminated the band's plans to tour in the U.S., which would have begun April 4 in Tulsa, Okla., and included a May 25 stop in L.A. County at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena. On Tuesday, Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of State, confirmed the report on X. 'I'm a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn't mean that expression should be free of consequences,' Landau said in his post. 'A Mexican band, Los Alegres del Barranco, portrayed images glorifying drug kingpin 'El Mencho' — head of the grotesquely violent CJNG cartel — at a recent concert in Mexico,' he wrote. 'I'm pleased to announce that the State Department has revoked the band members' work and tourism visas. In the Trump Administration, we take seriously our responsibility over foreigners' access to our country. The last thing we need is a welcome mat for people who extol criminals and terrorists.' A month prior to Landau's announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the State Department designated eight cartels and transnational organizations — including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Criticism of Los Alegres del Barranco came from both sides of the border, as there has been increased public outcry in Mexico about the praise found for crime bosses in regional Mexican music. One of the vocal critics of the band's actions was Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum. 'That shouldn't happen. It's not right,' Sheinbaum said of the incident during a March 31 press conference. 'You can't apologize for violence nor for criminal groups.' The president also called for there to be an investigation of what occurred at the concert. But this isn't the first time CJNG has been associated with regional Mexican artists. Last month, a federal jury convicted the chief executive of Del Records, a Bell Gardens-based label that produces música Mexicana, of conspiring to violate the Kingpin Statute that prohibits U.S. residents and companies from doing business with known drug traffickers and their associates. In April 2018, Ángel Del Villar and his entertainment agency worked with Jesús Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based music promoter who had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department, according to evidence presented in court. Treasury Department officials said at the time that Pérez had laundered drug money for the CJNG and an affiliated trafficking group, Los Cuinis. Pérez was accused of commingling the traffickers' profits with legitimate revenue from ticket and refreshment sales. He also promoted singers of narcocorridos, ballads that critics say 'glorify' traffickers and their crimes, Treasury officials stated. Pérez had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to do business with sanctioned people connected to drug trafficking. He promoted concerts for Del Entertainment in Mexico until March 2019. He was murdered in Mexico in December 2024. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Del Villar and Del Entertainment willfully did business with Pérez 'by continuing to have a Del Entertainment musical artist perform at concerts in which Pérez and Del Entertainment had a financial interest.' In a statement issued by email, Del Villar's legal team said they strongly disagree with the March 27 verdict and plan to appeal. Del Villar is set to be sentenced Aug. 15 and faces up to 30 years in prison on each count. Del Entertainment will face a sentence of five years of probation and a fine of $10 million for each count. Times' staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.
