On Thursday, H&M launched its first-ever collaboration with a designer from Mexico: Lorena Saravia, known locally for her modern interpretation of Mexican fashion, incorporates her cultural heritage into luxurious, well-crafted wardrobe staples for strong women. The Stockholm-based global …
Continue reading
A banner draped from a Tijuana bridge earlier this week carried a chilling warning in bold black letters: “Junior H, refrain from showing up on 08/11. If not, you’re going to get yourself killed.” The threat, currently under investigation by the Baja California authorities, is seemingly the latest attempt by one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels to assert its control over both artists, and the city the banner is placed in.
In recent years, Grupo Firme, Fuerza Regida, and Peso Pluma have received similar warnings from different cartels, prompting them to cancel shows to protect themselves and their fans. A rep for Junior H, however, told Rolling Stone last week that the corridos artist still plans to perform as scheduled.
As música mexicana has surged in popularity, so have “narcomantas” — banners deployed by Mexican cartels to threaten artists and rival groups. In extreme cases usually unrelated to music, these narcomantas have been accompanied by severed heads or dead bodies; other times, they carry simple but serious messages that demand to be taken at face value.
“Narcomantas need to be taken completely seriously,” Mexico City-based criminal defense attorney Ilan Katz Mayo tells Rolling Stone. “The medium is the message. The simple fact that a narcomanta exists sends a message: the situation is dangerous and the threat is real.”
Katz Mayo says that narcomantas are a “way for organized criminal organizations to scare people” and also threaten other cartels or those who work with them. “Sometimes, criminal organizations may have issues with a singer over a lyric or because the artist supports someone who antagonizes that group,” Katz Mayo explains.
In Junior H’s case, the threat — allegedly from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación — explicitly referenced his narcocorridos: “Not singing narcocorridos now won’t save you. We do not forgive,” it read. The message seemed to point to his past music that alludes to leaders of rival criminal organizations.
Though most of Junior’s music centers on romance and heartbreak, at least two of his songs seem to allude to the Sinaloa Cartel, the group once led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, CJNG’s chief rival. In 2022, Junior released “El Hijo Mayor,” seemingly about El Chapo’s late eldest son, in which he sings: “I don’t even need to mention his name / I was the eldest son of that much-talked-about man.” And on his 2023 hit with Peso Pluma, he drops another reference, seemingly invoking “701,” El Chapo’s numerology, adding: “Low profile, the guy, and he’s missed / Though he’s gone, he’s never forgotten.”
“In Junior H’s case, it seems like a personal issue with the artist,” says Katz Mayo. “It’s clear that if someone is offended by something said, the message sent is meant to intimidate the artist.”
But the threats can be grave: While the cartel has not taken responsibility for the killing, Ernesto Barajas, frontman of Enigma Noteño, was gunned down just last month, two years after receiving threats from the CJNG. And in years past, other Mexican artists have died at the hands of the cartel: Corrido legends Chalino Sánchez, murdered in 1992, Valentín Elizalde, killed in 2006, and K-Paz de la Sierra’s Sergio Gomez were targeted by cartels over their musical ties to rival criminal organizations.
With the narcomantas, the intimidation may be a way to assert dominance in a given territory and signal to both artists and rival groups who can assert the most control. According to Katz Mayo, it can also stem from an economic disadvantage: As artists rise in status and begin working with major promoters unwilling to engage with organized crime, local cartels find it difficult to exert their influence.
“Essentially, there are two main motives: one is visceral, and the other is economic,” Katz Mayo says. “A local promoter or regional organizer might pay extortion fees, but large companies like Live Nation cannot do that. They’re unable to operate that way.”
Katz Mayo says that in some areas, concerts are sometimes held in places or areas that are owned or controlled by members of criminal organizations, and have a financial interest in shows played there: whether it’s a venue, the alcohol sold, the security, or simply the area where the concert is being held.
“As artists grow, there are fewer opportunities for criminal organizations to profit because international managers are now involved,” he explains. “The more important the artist and the better their promoters, the more resistance you’ll see from these groups.”
A rep for Junior H declined to comment for this story.
Corridos star Junior H is the latest Mexican artist to receive alleged death threats from a drug cartel ahead of his upcoming tour dates in the region. According to Billboard, the Mexican state of Baja California prosecutor’s office is investigating an ominous banner found at his home.
According to authorities, the banner was found at the Mexican-American artist’s home in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Tijuana, warning him not to perform at the city’s Explanada del Estadio Caliente on November 9th. That concert is currently set as the kick-off show of the Mexican leg of Junior H’s “$AD BOYZ LIVE & BROKEN TOUR.”
The Baja California prosecutor’s office has said authorities “will provide full security” if Junior H decides to still play the show. His team has declined to give an official statement.
Related Video
This isn’t the first time a popular corridos singer has received death threats from Tijuana drug cartels. In 2023, Peso Pluma was forced to cancel six shows in Mexico. Earlier this year, Grupo Firme canceled a performance in Sinaloa after a similar banner appeared in their hometown.
Junior H is currently on the US leg of his tour, which is set for upcoming stops in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Get tickets to remaining dates here.
HYBE Latin America announced on Monday (Sept. 8) the launch of S1ENTO Records, its new record label focused on emerging regional Mexican artists.
The company’s first signees include Pase A La Fama‘s top three groups: Grupo Destino, Musza and Low Clika. The reality show, developed by HYBE Latin America and Telemundo, set out to find the next música mexicana band and officially crowned Musza as the winning band in June.
The three groups were selected for their “exceptional talent” and will enter a “rigorous” training and development process, “an approach unique to HYBE as a global company, aimed at enhancing their artistry, professionalizing their projects, and preparing them for international audiences,” according to a press release.
“With S1ENTO Records, we want to open a path for emerging artists to grow with professionalism, discipline, and creative freedom,” Isaac Lee, chairman & CEO of HYBE Americas, said in a statement. “Following the vision of Bang Si-Hyuk, who has always believed in empowering talent from its roots and projecting it globally, our mission is to transform local talent into sustainable projects with an impact that transcends borders.”
Throughout the show, the three bands crafted their respective sounds, combining traditional regional Mexican music, like norteño, banda and cumbia, with corridos tumbados for a modern twist. While the band members inially rotated to perform in different groups, ultimately, the three that made it to the finale stuck as an ensemble for the last few weeks of the competition, with guidance from judges Ana Bárbara, Adriel Favela and Horacio Palencia.
“While the show began as an entertainment format, it also became a platform for emerging artists and an incubator for some of the most outstanding talent in Mexico and the United States,” added Myrna Pérez, GM of S1ENTO Records and creator/executive producer of Pase a la Fama. “This label, which will eventually expand to other artists, is today the home of that community: musicians who aspire to go beyond the music and build a holistic 360° narrative. Everything we create, from songs to stories and visuals, is designed to generate an experience that moves you.”
These are the stories making headlines in fashion on Friday. Serena Williams stars in a new campaign for Ro, a direct-to-consumer healthcare company that digitally prescribes various medications to qualifying patients — particularly GLP-1s. In the new series of images and videos, the tennis legend …
Continue reading