Natanael Cano Fires Back at Corridos Tumbados Critiques by Mexico’s President

Natanael Cano always defends the corridos tumbados scene. Following Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) recent critique of the modern genre, the Mexican artist unveiled a prior correspondence between the two.

“I had an offer from the President, he wanted me to sing for him, he asked me how much I charged; I told him that I would do it for free for him, and that’s where the conversation ended,” Cano said in a recent interview. “Now that he talked about los tumbados, precisely in this album—Nata Montana, which will be released soon—there is a rather sensitive song. I hope he will also talk about it. We will see…”

The response comes after Mexico’s president criticized corridos tumbados during his daily press conference last Monday (June 26). López Obrador reportedly said: “They [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 with those lyrics aimed at young people.”

He also seemingly referenced “AMG,” a song by Cano, Peso Pluma, and Gabito Ballesteros. “What good is it, one song goes, that I have my Mercedes Benz, a Mercedes Benz truck? I remember that one commercial that, with all due respect, was very idiotic. [Talking] about, ‘What about the Cheyenne, apá?’, as if material things were the most important thing, brand name clothes, residences, jewelry, power or arrogance.” In the same meeting, he said he was going to share 10 songs that young people could listen to that aren’t narcocorridos.

Though Cano sometimes sings about narcos, he recognizes it’s not a good thing. “I don’t like to support that. I know it’s wrong, but it’s what I have to live with; I don’t mind talking about it. What I don’t like is to influence people. I prefer to influence them about something else, less about organized crime,” he told El Universal. “I see it in my nephews who send me pictures with fake guns, others with skimasks, and I say, ‘Güey, that’s not right.’ I live it, that’s why I don’t like it.”

Cano’s upcoming album Nata Montana is set to drop on June 30. His album’s tracklist includes new collaborations with Peso Pluma, Junior H, and Gabito Ballesteros. Other featured artists are Chino Pacas, Tito Torbellino Jr, Hernan Trejo, Amilkar, and Dan Sanchez.