Narco Corridos News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

♪ ♪ ♪ telling a story with music, but is it a story worth telling? the reality of murder and mayhem in mexico with a catchy beat. it can be pretty tough to take like dance or rap on steroids. thelma gutierrez tracks down the musicians. their response? hey, it's a living. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> it's friday night and this club is packing them in. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> this isn't mexico. we're in a suburb of los angeles, and all these fans are here to listen to traditional mexican music called corridos, ballads that date back to the 1800s and sound a little like a

Expert john kuhn says that this isn't new. >> these exist in culture areas. there are italian mafia songs and hip-hop has been all about the criminal lifestyle in some ways and songs that document and make very powerful observations about the criminal underworld. >> reporter: does that ever worry you from a security perspective about who's in the crowd and who's in the audience watching you. who might like your music and who might not like your music? does that worry you? >> we try to be as careful and cautious as possible. >> reporter: what does that mean? >> we try to be neutral. >> reporter...

Poka. >> they're fanatics about the corrido because it's the muse take makes them want to get up and dance. >> reporter: but the music that they're listening to, if you listen closely to the lyrics and translate them, it has a very dark and disturbing message. it's the illicit world of drug running. the narco world reported on the media and posted on youtube. have inspired the lyrics of the narco corrido. ♪ ♪ >> we went to inglewood, california, to meet some musicians. alfredo tapia and the group los traviesos 24/7. they play the music this some find so offensive it's banned from the radio...

>> they say the narco corrido is a little like gangster rap, controversial, raw commentary about what's going on. do you feel just a little bit responsible? >> i do. i do. i do. but if i don't do this kind of music i'm out of business. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> right now narco corridos are big business and the hottest phenomenon on the internet is larry hernandez. his videos youtube and myspace get hundreds of thousands of views. his concerts sell out and he's top of the latin billboard charts with no major label, no radio play or media exposure. ♪ ♪ >> critics argue that singers are profiting fr...