Music

From Grupo Frontera to Calle 13, Here Are the Songs Mexico’s President Recommend That Aren’t Corridos Tumbados

Lead Photo: Art by Stephany Torres for Remezcla.
Art by Stephany Torres for Remezcla.
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As promised, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) shared his favorite tracks as a way to recommend new music to the youth that isn’t corridos tumbados. His musical suggestions included picks by Grupo Frontera, Bad Bunny, Calle 13, and more.

It all started on June 26 when AMLO criticized corridos tumbados. “[The youth] can sing whatever they want, but we are not going to keep quiet when they say that ecstasy is good and that they have a 50 caliber gun, and that their idols are the most famous narcos, and that kind of corridos,” he said at the time. As an effort to introduce alternate music than corridos tumbados to young people, he closed the press conference by recommending Grupo Firme’s “Ya Supérame,” and said he would be introducing a song a day.

Since then, he shared the following tunes to his public: Grupo Frontera’s “No Se Va” on June 27, Vivir Quintana’s “Te Mereces Un Amor” on June 28, and Grupo Frontera and Yahritza y Su Esencia’s “Frágil” on June 29.

The following day, he shared “Latinoamérica” by Calle 13 and Lila Downs. “That’s a very good one because it also has to do with our America,” he reportedly said about his selection. His playlist continued with Los Tigres del Norte and Calle 13’s “América” on July 3, Silvana Estrada’s “Tenías que ser tú” on July 4, and Raymix’s “Oye Mujer” on July 5. 

The week continued with Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera’s “un x100to” on July 6. However, the song was cut from the original conference’s recording since it violated the author’s rights. Later, AMLO thanked the artists for letting him use the track though the video from that press conference didn’t include the song anymore. It was then followed by La Santa Cecilia’s “La Monedita” on July 7.

At the end of the day, his initial ten selections ended up being 12 (including Grupo Firme’s “Ya Supérame”). His last two selections were Intocable’s “El Poder de tus Manos” on July 10 and Rubén Blades’ “Amor y Control” on July 11. “Let’s finish with a song that I like very much because it has to do with who we Mexicans and Latin Americans are. I’m talking about the idiosyncrasy; about how we are,” he said about his final pick.