Speaker 1: The last time we checked in with Los Figres, they
Speaker 1: were one tigre shy of a street streak. A streak
Speaker 1: is a group of tigers.
Speaker 2: We learned so much on this show. Anyway, Laaro had
Speaker 2: gone solo after twenty eight years making music with his
Speaker 2: Hermanos Iprimos.
Speaker 1: He left the band when they were on top of
Speaker 1: the world. The singles off their most recent album, nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety five's Leshemplo, had competed for chart domination week after
Speaker 1: week with the likes of Luis, Miguel and Selina.
Speaker 2: You got to hand it to the lone Thede. He
Speaker 2: chose a gutsy time to walk away.
Speaker 1: Raoul had wanted to expand into Banda and Mariacci music
Speaker 1: to show another musical side of Sinaloa, but the band
Speaker 1: wanted to stick with Norteno.
Speaker 2: I knew Raoul was a Leo Moon, so.
Speaker 1: The band was in a bit of a bind. Luckily,
Speaker 1: there was one Ernanda's brother waiting in the wings, and
Speaker 1: when the band got started in Mexicali, he wasn't even
Speaker 1: born yet.
Speaker 2: Oh oh, it's the little baby from when the family's
Speaker 2: watching Simpren Domingo.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's right, Luis Ernandez, named after his father Don.
Speaker 1: Luis was born in nineteen seventy four, the very same
Speaker 1: year Los Diigres del Norte broke out with Contrabando Ytracion.
Speaker 2: Imagine growing up seeing her brothers on TV, movies and
Speaker 2: records and posters.
Speaker 1: Those are actually some of Luis's earliest memories. Later in
Speaker 1: the seventies, Los Diigo's had a cameo in a movie
Speaker 1: based on one of their songs, La Bana del Carojo,
Speaker 1: and Louise remembers his mother crying in the seat next
Speaker 1: to him because she was afraid their characters would get
Speaker 1: killed on screen.
Speaker 2: It sounds like you knew better as a child, like mom,
Speaker 2: it's not real anyway. After years of seeing his family
Speaker 2: in the limelight, Luise gets a call from Jorge and.
Speaker 1: He immediately thinks he's in trouble for something.
Speaker 2: Because Horgue has been the man in the house for
Speaker 2: a while now.
Speaker 1: But it turns out today is Luis's lucky day. Jorge
Speaker 1: wants to keep the band in the family, and he's
Speaker 1: inviting Louise to join them.
Speaker 2: Didn't we tell you that Thedi's story was just like
Speaker 2: a fairy tale?
Speaker 1: Luis's live debut with Los Diigias is at a show
Speaker 1: here in New York, and when he's introduced to the
Speaker 1: crowd and invited to step on stage and join the
Speaker 1: band for the very first time, he takes one step
Speaker 1: and falls flat on his phone.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Luisito. Now I'm crying, just like his
Speaker 2: mom watching the movie.
Speaker 1: Okay, but he does get up with a little scrape
Speaker 1: on his chin and a big smile on his face.
Speaker 2: And that was the world's first taste of Los FIGIs
Speaker 2: as we know them and love them today. Porque Ernan edue,
Speaker 2: Alo Cousin, Oscar and.
Speaker 1: Luis and Lusito wasn't a mere replacement for Raoul as
Speaker 1: a third vocalist. The littlest or Nanda's brother kept the
Speaker 1: band young, giving them a youthful edge even as their
Speaker 1: founding members were entering their forties. By the way, that
Speaker 1: is not old.
Speaker 2: That is not old, It is not And that right
Speaker 2: there is what you call staying power, y'all, staying relevant
Speaker 2: with the younger friends, and staying true to yourselves.
Speaker 1: And lostitas what spend the next decades doing just that,
Speaker 1: putting out some of their most artistically renowned work and
Speaker 1: doing right by the downtrodden.
Speaker 2: Down trodden you mean, Luisito.
Speaker 1: Now that we're recording this in person, I'm going to
Speaker 1: smack youl.
Speaker 2: Do we get that? On the mic? I'm calling HR.
Speaker 1: I'm your host Liliana Orosquez.
Speaker 2: And I'm Joseph Carrio And this is Becoming an Icon.
Speaker 1: A weekly podcast where we give you the rundown on
Speaker 1: how today's most famous LATINX stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2: And given the world some extra level.
Speaker 1: Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2: Because we are going in the only way we know how,
Speaker 2: with buenas vias, unassas chime and a lot of opinions
Speaker 2: as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to
Speaker 2: find out what makes them so iconic.
Speaker 1: Like we said in the intro, Los Dignas were enjoying
Speaker 1: chart recognition well into the nineties, alongside acts like El Ricodo,
Speaker 1: Bronco and of course Selena.
Speaker 2: We're always seeing how great the nineties were for culture,
Speaker 2: and it turns out that was true for Mexico too.
Speaker 1: In a departure from the traditional Mexican pop that used
Speaker 1: to rule the charts, regional music was taking off, and
Speaker 1: not just Norteno but the Hanno Mariacci, Francero and more.
Speaker 2: And in nineteen ninety eight, Los Digitis released their magnum
Speaker 2: opus of Corridos Nortenos, the album Hefe The.
Speaker 1: Hefes That's Me Wait I thought it was me. No,
Speaker 1: we did talk about this title track a little bit
Speaker 1: in our last episode. It's the one with Felix Gayadro,
Speaker 1: the cartel boss, bragging about his power in influence.
Speaker 2: He's the sun and the shade. Everyone wants his protection
Speaker 2: and fears his punishment.
Speaker 1: By the time this album came out, Felix Cayaradro was
Speaker 1: just one of a whole cast of drug kingpins whose
Speaker 1: empires had spread throughout Latin America.
Speaker 2: We're talking of Pablo Escobar, El Chapo, Griza, Bablanco.
Speaker 1: Los Digre sang about the common man's struggles, and by
Speaker 1: then Narco Trafico had impacted the lives of millions of
Speaker 1: Mexicans and Mexican Americans, not.
Speaker 2: To mention Los Siga's home state of Sinaloa. Helloo, the
Speaker 2: Sinaloa Cartel.
Speaker 1: You can bet that they thought about Rosa Morada every
Speaker 1: day they heard a piece of news about Nadco Trafico.
Speaker 2: So even though the Mexican government and the radio were
Speaker 2: trying to shut them up. Lostigis went and wrote an
Speaker 2: entire album of corridos about losn.
Speaker 1: Aracles, a double album. Joseph, Damn.
Speaker 2: If I didn't know any better, I say they were trolling.
Speaker 1: More like going for the jugular. The album starts off
Speaker 1: with the title track that we talked about half of
Speaker 1: the heif is Me not You, which sends a clear
Speaker 1: message about how powerful the cartels had become. Then on
Speaker 1: the same disc you have songs like Hello Lord de Padre,
Speaker 1: which is sung from the pov of a father watching
Speaker 1: his children succumb to addiction. And if you're wondering if
Speaker 1: it glamorizes Los Nacos, like the critics argued, just give
Speaker 1: the closing lyrics a read quote.
Speaker 2: I know some folks who are traffickers. Now they know
Speaker 2: I lost a son and you all are the reason.
Speaker 2: Sorry to offend you, but it's the pain of a father.
Speaker 1: Damn, Lostigits aren't fucking around here. Like the very first
Speaker 1: thing you hear on the album is someone's voice saying
Speaker 1: I like corridos because they sing the pure truth. And
Speaker 1: then Lostgras go and do that for nineteen tracks.
Speaker 2: Straight and the truth resonated with the people. This is
Speaker 2: their best selling album, y'all, their first number one on
Speaker 2: the Billboard Latin Album Chart, and their first platinum record.
Speaker 1: So despite all the efforts to ban the Natco Corrido,
Speaker 1: Los Theras wracked up ri double A certifications and accolades
Speaker 1: from Lonuestro Awards to the first Latin Grammy for Best
Speaker 1: Northeneo Album for Edencia Defamidia in two thousand.
Speaker 2: But don't get it twisted. They weren't just writing a
Speaker 2: trend of regional music. This was years in the making.
Speaker 1: Thegiras had and still has the kind of following you
Speaker 1: can't buy or manufacture. They have cred. Fun fact we
Speaker 1: love a fun fact. When Los Digas first hit big
Speaker 1: with Condrabandracion, their first ever tour was built around the
Speaker 1: harvest season. So when migrant farm workers were picking potatoes
Speaker 1: in Idaho, Los Thegos were in town two, grape season
Speaker 1: in California, apple season in Washington, asparagus in Michigan, oranges
Speaker 1: in Florida. Wherever the fruit was ripe, the Los Thegras
Speaker 1: we're playing.
Speaker 2: That's actually genius. I wonder how many bands do that? Now?
Speaker 1: You got to follow the greats, right. But remember Los
Speaker 1: Thegras didn't just know their audience.
Speaker 2: They lived that life, and they weren't just singing songs
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 1: They were doing the work. Remember how Los Thegras had
Speaker 1: to moonlight as musicians and work during the day m hm.
Speaker 2: And they weren't doing something cute like making lattes, no shade.
Speaker 2: They were out there picking tomatoes, gardening, scrubbing toilets.
Speaker 1: Right. It's important to remember that, not just to show
Speaker 1: how far they'd come, but to show how they came
Speaker 1: from exactly the same circumstances as their fans.
Speaker 2: So when they wrote to Corrido in nineteen eighty nine
Speaker 2: versus out of Chavez, the farm workers union leader, they
Speaker 2: weren't singing about him as a folk hero.
Speaker 1: They were singing about un compagnero, one of their own.
Speaker 2: And then years later, in two thousand and six, when
Speaker 2: Losdes marched in the streets for immigrant rights, it wasn't
Speaker 2: just solidarity. They had skin in the game.
Speaker 1: Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, La, New York, all across the country,
Speaker 1: Latino immigrants staged a walkout dubbed a Day without Immigrants
Speaker 1: Latinos Simpapelees, just like Los Thegras showed the world how
Speaker 1: much this country relies on them.
Speaker 2: So when you think of Ernan Raoul and Oscar picking
Speaker 2: tomatoes and gardening his children, when you think of Jrge
Speaker 2: breaking his back as a janitor and taking English classes.
Speaker 1: Care workers, kitchen workers, drivers, I mean remember essential workers.
Speaker 2: Immigrants, immigrants, immigrants from the bottom of society. Two stars
Speaker 2: like lostidras.
Speaker 1: And even though Los Thegras have become fathers of US citizens,
Speaker 1: they haven't forgotten where they came from. In a New
Speaker 1: York Times profile at None the Basis says, my sons
Speaker 1: have lots of friends, kids they went to school or
Speaker 1: soccer games with that I always thought were born here,
Speaker 1: but are threatened with deportation because they came here as
Speaker 1: little kids. There's so much like my own boys that
Speaker 1: you would never imagine they're here illegally. Some of them
Speaker 1: don't even speak Spanish. So how are you going to
Speaker 1: deport them?
Speaker 2: Little kids who are probably even younger than THEEFNA this
Speaker 2: boys when they got here. Damn, I feel like I
Speaker 2: need to go out and do something now, like Lositas
Speaker 2: are putting us all to shame.
Speaker 1: Wait, come on, boo, it's not a competition. It's not
Speaker 1: about shame. It's about being proud to be Latino. Oh
Speaker 1: and speaking of pride, that was last month, boo, I
Speaker 1: know that. But in twenty fourteen, Los Tita's released their
Speaker 1: first corrido featuring a queer romance.
Speaker 2: I got oka degress, brothers. What's the story?
Speaker 1: So the song is actually about a woman in the
Speaker 1: old neighborhood whom all the men would fight over, but
Speaker 1: none of whom could win her interest.
Speaker 2: He not always the way. So who's she checking for?
Speaker 1: I mean, who else? She gives flowers to her best friend?
Speaker 2: Oh oh, and her best friend is a girl.
Speaker 1: You know it? Oh honey, Los thes y'all they know
Speaker 1: authenticity when they see it.
Speaker 2: Wait, isn't this the song that domask me from Rolling
Speaker 2: Stone told us about. They helped me come out to
Speaker 2: my dad.
Speaker 3: Actually, that's so funny, but loss and they played a
Speaker 3: big role in making what Yes.
Speaker 1: We need to know this story to tell us the story.
Speaker 3: Basically, Los Thedos have this song about like a lesbian daughter.
Speaker 2: It's like a fake story.
Speaker 3: And so I played that song from my dad after
Speaker 3: I had come out of the closet and it hadn't
Speaker 3: gone as well as I wish it had. And I
Speaker 3: heard him bopping along and I could tell that he
Speaker 3: was listening to the lyrics, and I think his like
Speaker 3: nodding was like my way of like finally accepting that
Speaker 3: he accepted me.
Speaker 2: Wow, Wow, that's really yeah.
Speaker 3: And then like three years later, I interviewed ose Theos
Speaker 3: in North with my dad and he told the story
Speaker 3: can stop it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely unplugging this. I'm unplugging right now, goosebumps right now.
Speaker 1: Well, Joseph, We've traveled a long road with Vegas and
Speaker 1: we've got one more stop to make. Los Diigres del
Speaker 1: Norte went from playing for tips at Cantinas to touring
Speaker 1: across the US for farm workers and then rose to
Speaker 1: international stardom.
Speaker 2: They've performed all across the Americas, in Spain, in Japan,
Speaker 2: and Korea. They've played immigration rallies and political events from Washington,
Speaker 2: d C, Tol Socalo in Mexico City, and.
Speaker 1: They even played MTV and plugs with artists like Juanis
Speaker 1: and Caya Trese and Rage against the Machines. Zak Bela
Speaker 1: Rocha joined them for a rendition of the fan favorite
Speaker 1: somos mas Americanos.
Speaker 2: The song practically made the phrase I didn't cross the border,
Speaker 2: the border across to me into a rallying cry.
Speaker 1: For Mexicans who trace their ancestry back to this land
Speaker 1: before the US of A. The song is an anthem.
Speaker 2: And a middle finger to racistas.
Speaker 1: That resonates across generations. The legacy of Los Degres is
Speaker 1: one that ignites hope in Latinos of all ages and
Speaker 1: inspires artists from besl Pluma to Jujeta, Venegas and Mana.
Speaker 2: But there was one audience. Lostigitias had always wanted to
Speaker 2: play for, an audience they were supposed to play for,
Speaker 2: but never got a chance to.
Speaker 1: That all changed in twenty eighteen, the fiftieth anniversary of
Speaker 1: Johnny Cash's legendary concert at Folsom State Prison. Oh sh
Speaker 1: Here we Go.
Speaker 2: And fifty years after, Lostigies, back when they were Los
Speaker 2: L'tennos at Chihuahua, found themselves seen papellis in front of
Speaker 2: Solidad Prison in San Jose. Now Los Theiters were finally
Speaker 2: going to play a legendary show for inmates.
Speaker 1: The performance was captured in a documentary directed by Tom Donahue,
Speaker 1: for Netflix, and at the time the documentary was released,
Speaker 1: forty three percent of Fulsome's inmates were Latino.
Speaker 2: At an unset of the show, quote our idea was
Speaker 2: to expect what Cash said about why he played here,
Speaker 2: to bring light to a dark place. These human beings
Speaker 2: lost their original path and may not find it again,
Speaker 2: but we believe there's a possibility of hope and redemption.
Speaker 2: Our contribution is on this visiting day to give them that,
Speaker 2: and in return we take away reflections on the beauty
Speaker 2: of freedom and the harshness of being an inmate.
Speaker 1: Eduarddou continued, Latinos go through rough times equally. It doesn't
Speaker 1: matter if you're legal or not. They put you in
Speaker 1: the same situation when they see you on the street.
Speaker 1: We're accused of being the worst. When we came to
Speaker 1: live in the United States, we were illegal and we
Speaker 1: experienced it. We understood that for an hour, we were
Speaker 1: there to feed their hope.
Speaker 2: So Lastite's donned matching black suits a la Johnny Cash,
Speaker 2: and they played a set that included haw La de Orto,
Speaker 2: the Golden Cage. They're owed to the plight of the Mexicano,
Speaker 2: unable to return home over more than fifty five albums
Speaker 2: with over seven hundred songs, over thirty million copies sold,
Speaker 2: sixteen film appearances and fifteen Grammy not nations, and numerous collaborations.
Speaker 2: It's safe to say Losigo's legacy is built to.
Speaker 1: Last, and they've made sure that the legacy of the
Speaker 1: Corrido lasts as well. Through the Los Digres del Norte Foundation,
Speaker 1: they've established a program at UCLA for the study, research, acquisition, preservation,
Speaker 1: dissemination and presentation of authentic, traditional and folk musical traditions
Speaker 1: in Espagnolo, helping to ensure recognition for the past, present,
Speaker 1: and future of the proud musical storytelling tradition they have
Speaker 1: held the banner for throughout their entire lives. They be
Speaker 1: doing the best for our culture.
Speaker 2: You should go check that s out and see if
Speaker 2: our past selves are there.
Speaker 1: Just look for an old, dusty photograph of Las Sombra.
Speaker 1: You love going there. On the next Becoming an Icon,
Speaker 1: we're stripping down and getting dirty. Joseph cannot contain his excitement.
Speaker 1: Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo and Iheart's Michael
Speaker 1: Guda podcast Network. Listen to Becoming an Icon on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast