If you happen to survive, getting shot at can do wonders for your career as a musician. Look at 50 Cent. And consider Alberto Cervantes Nieto of Explosion Norteña, a Tijuana narcocorrido group. Cervantes sat down with San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Anna Clearey after surviving an Aug. 10 shooting that put him into a coma for 12 days. He says he doesn't know why he got shot, so the rumors are flying. Zeta (RIP Blancornelas) breaks down three sort of helpful hypotheses: 1) It was an enemy of the Arellano Felix, 2) the band is tied to organized crime, 3) some kind of interpersonal dispute. From the U-T:
The singers say they are just portraying life on the streets and that what they sing about is no different from what people read in the newspapers. But the code names and other cryptic phrases used by the groups prompt speculation that the songs spring from a deeper knowledge of the underworld.
A U.S. drug investigator, who declined to be identified because of his work on sensitive Arellano cases, said Explosion Norteña has performed at the Arellanos' parties but that there's no indication the musicians themselves are involved in drug trafficking.
Surviving a music-related shooting is key, of course. Poor Valentin Elizalde, who didn't complete that end of the bargain. Here's his YouTube homage. Javier Morales, another norteño singer, got gunned down recently in Michoacan. Puta madre...
* U-T piece with cool audio slideshow and stunning headline: "Songs about Mexican drug cartels proving dangerous for performers." Listen to the guy who makes parallels to hip hop. And, Gustavo Arellano's piece on the subject in 2001.