Peso Pluma, a Mexican musician, has skyrocketed to the top of the music charts within the last year; however, his recent controversy is a fragile matter. His music is exponentially growing in popularity across Latin countries as well as the U.S. due to his songs being used on TikTok. Pluma even became the first Mexican performer at the VMAs since the award show’s creation. His recent popularity spurred him to launch an international tour, but unfortunately, his musical content to blame for his shows’ cancellations. His lyrics have been criticized by not only those he sings about but also by people who say he is encouraging violent behavior.

Pluma is popular for his ‘corridos’ style of music which encapsulates regional storytellingsung by Mexican people. Spanish-speaking listeners are well aware of the content of his music, but many of the listeners lack knowledge of the cultural context that follows this style. Often these songs are dubbed ‘narcocorridos’ because the content of these songs is not just about the Mexican experience, but the telling of drug and cartel member lifestyles. The songs are typically sung through a cartel member’s point of view and are often framing their life and experiences as heroic and honorable. However, Peso Pluma is not of this lifestyle currently and some people are taking offense to him using this style for profit. Many in the cartel world see him as appropriating this music and disrespecting not only the lifestyle but the cartel leaders as well. Peso Pluma has even defended the criticism of glorifying cartel activity by saying he is not of the lifestyle, he is just an artist who writes songs.

The first song that brought about attention from the cartel was ironically the one that put him on the map. "El Belicón" is the song in question, as itnarrates cartel members' experiences and specifically references the cartel leader ‘El Chapo’. Thus was the tipping point in garnering a reaction from the leader’s cartel. The cartel saw the music video that accompanies the song which showed Peso Pluma flashing weapons in a barren landscape, and took it as a sign of disrespect.. When Pluma announced his tour stop in Tijuana, the cartel sent a poignant message. They hung a banner that said “It will be your last performance because of your disrespectful loose tongue,” which prompted an investigation by the authorities. Due to the threat of violence at a public concert, the event was canceled and joined alongside the multiple U.S. concerts being canceled without explanation.

This incident raised questions about artists’ messaging in songs, especially pertaining to violence, cartel activity, and drug usage. Although it is seemingly garnering a lot of attention, the question has to be asked: Why is Peso Pluma being criticized so heavily by the media and public about his song’s content? This style of music is not the only one that narrates violence, drugs, and organized crime, as many popular genres detail these topics heavily. The argument can be made that because he has attracted cartel attention it is more dangerous. On the other hands, there is often gang-related violence surrounding rap music as well, but the genre continues to be the most popular genre in the U.S. Perhaps the reason his music is looked at so harshly is that in the States there is a lot of rhetoric about the violence across the border, but should Peso Pluma be held accountable for his inflammatory lyrics?

Written by Lauren Lopez, Design: Guhan Sargunan , Social Media: Liane Nguyen

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