Speaker 1: The last time we checked in with our head figre
Speaker 1: eldest boy, Joque Hernandez. He and his brothers had traveled
Speaker 1: from the tiny rural community of Rossamorada, to the border
Speaker 1: town of Mexicalli and eventually to San Jose del Tito.
Speaker 2: We are not in Sinaloa anymore now.
Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy two, with the help of his benefactor
Speaker 1: art walker Akah Grants, he found himself in the strangest town.
Speaker 2: Yet, Holly Wood.
Speaker 1: Now, speaking as a recently minted Angelino myself, some of
Speaker 1: la might have reminded hohev home from the mountains and
Speaker 1: the hills to the mission style architecture. But can you
Speaker 1: imagine coming from this tiny farm town and then seeing.
Speaker 2: The Capitol Records building the Chinese Theater. Do you think
Speaker 2: they went to Disney?
Speaker 1: Uh? Not at Disney prices. Let's not forget they were
Speaker 1: here on business and that shit is expensive. I barely
Speaker 1: afford to take Sandy there for a day, all right, right.
Speaker 2: Also, they're collecting tips for puppy's surgery, and they didn't
Speaker 2: have a go fund me.
Speaker 1: Back then, and despite having four albums under their belt,
Speaker 1: Los Theater's career had yet to take off, making this
Speaker 1: trip to La a little bit of the last ditch
Speaker 1: effort for the group.
Speaker 2: And in this town is who you know? And art
Speaker 2: Walker was here to see one person.
Speaker 1: Imagine him driving Quotia down Hollywood Boulevard, the Capitol Records
Speaker 1: Building getting closer and closer and closer, and then they
Speaker 1: drive right past.
Speaker 2: It because art Walker did not have a guy Capitol Records.
Speaker 1: Now he and Joree are in La to see Anhel Gonzalez,
Speaker 1: a promising gori, the lyricist hailing from Basucil in the
Speaker 1: state of Chihuahua.
Speaker 2: Like Rossa Morada, it's a tiny farming town, but unlike
Speaker 2: Rosa Morada, it's closer to the border. And bitch me
Speaker 2: knowing because of my past life regression on the last episode.
Speaker 1: Make sure you listen to that if you're just joining
Speaker 1: us this week.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Now, with his proximity to the border, Gonzales wrote corridos
Speaker 1: that were a little different from the more traditional versions
Speaker 1: that really talked about romance and revolutionaries, and art Walker
Speaker 1: wanted Joe to hear one song in particular, Condra Bandoracion
Speaker 1: m HM.
Speaker 2: A tale of love, cross border, smuggling and betrayal. It's
Speaker 2: given Bunny and Clyde. If Clyde was a fuck on,
Speaker 2: Camilia and Emilio are Buddha and smuggling la between Mexico
Speaker 2: and the US border. Remember when weed was illegal.
Speaker 1: You mean the dark days. So the song follows Emilion
Speaker 1: Camelia from Sani Siro Tijuana into San Clemente. Okay, which
Speaker 1: if you're listening to this and you are on this side,
Speaker 1: it is San Clementi, Like that's how they say it
Speaker 1: in Orange County. Okay, I'm not going to say it
Speaker 1: like that because you also latina yeas maol. Now let's
Speaker 1: go back to the story. So they fly into San Clementy,
Speaker 1: and in San Clementy they fly under the nose of
Speaker 1: immigration officers and into La.
Speaker 2: Into holly Wood, and there, in a shady alleyway, they
Speaker 2: unload their contrabando from the tires of their car, literally
Speaker 2: pounds and pounds of weed, and they get themselves what
Speaker 2: paid honey.
Speaker 1: But then comes La Brecion. Emilio tells Comedia it's been
Speaker 1: real and says he's going back to his other lady
Speaker 1: friend in San Francisco.
Speaker 2: But hell has no fury like a bitch done dirty honey.
Speaker 2: So Camelia pulls out her nine and like Rihanna at
Speaker 2: Emilio honey.
Speaker 1: By the way, should we be translating these songs into
Speaker 1: English for another kind of podcast? Was this shit is fire?
Speaker 1: Okay it is? It's dangerous now. It wasn't just three
Speaker 1: pop pop pops. It was seven gunshots, to be exact.
Speaker 1: And when the please get to the crime scene, they
Speaker 1: find the pistol, but that's the last trace they find
Speaker 1: of Camellia Latjana bitch.
Speaker 2: We from Texas. So you know what, they ain't ever
Speaker 2: gonna find her because we hide in her well. Okay, okay,
Speaker 2: at least in the song, because in real life, Camelia
Speaker 2: la Tehana is about to blow up everybody's feet.
Speaker 1: Los Gres had a hit on their hands, and it
Speaker 1: seems like they knew it because they tried recording it
Speaker 1: several different ways, in several different arrangements. They even tried
Speaker 1: making it a duet, which happened to be a trend
Speaker 1: in gorridos at the time.
Speaker 2: But the final version has Horquez singing solo in the
Speaker 2: classic corridosteas, and.
Speaker 1: The song became a smash hit that far exceeds the
Speaker 1: Thegus Wildest Dreams. The record dominated Spanish language radio records
Speaker 1: flew off the shelves, Camellia became a folk icon. I
Speaker 1: mean she was like Bonnie, she.
Speaker 2: Literally was, and those thegis became a household name for
Speaker 2: Mexicanos on either side of the border.
Speaker 1: After Camellia La Tejana came to life in film adaptations
Speaker 1: and sequel songs, it became clear that Contrabando i Tracion
Speaker 1: kicked off a revival of the corrido. But this revival
Speaker 1: would make the original writer of the song, Ahil Gonzalez
Speaker 1: a little uneasy.
Speaker 2: That's because this isn't yourr abuelles corrido.
Speaker 1: Rather than romantic tales of revolutionary Mexican heroes and their
Speaker 1: historical exploits, the new corridos aka narco corridos were tales
Speaker 1: of drug smuggling, wealth and bloodshed.
Speaker 2: A little scorsese, a little gangster rap.
Speaker 1: And alongside the explosion of narco corridos, los digres del
Speaker 1: Norte would rise to international fame and fortune and become
Speaker 1: the subject of intense scrutiny in their homeland. That's today,
Speaker 1: on becoming an icon. I'm your host, Liliana Osca and.
Speaker 2: 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 Latin V stars have shaped pop culture.
Speaker 2: And given the world some extra tuble.
Speaker 1: Sit back and get comfortable.
Speaker 2: Because we are going in the only way we know
Speaker 2: how with Buenos Viras, I'm.
Speaker 1: Buenas Riesas and a lot of opinions as we relive
Speaker 1: their greatest achievements on our journey to find out what
Speaker 1: makes them still iconic. On the heels of Contrabando Tracion
Speaker 1: los Figres Fever Gripped Mexico.
Speaker 2: Our four farm boys went from playing bars in San
Speaker 2: Jose to playing on Simpre and Domingo, a Mexican TV
Speaker 2: show that showcased the biggest stars of.
Speaker 1: The Momenta Mexican and Sullivan, who you literally have no
Speaker 1: cultural history when it comes to white things, white people,
Speaker 1: white music. No, I know You're Latino through and through.
Speaker 1: The point is everybody watched the show, including my dear Wilita,
Speaker 1: God Rest her soul. Their family back in Drossa Mourada
Speaker 1: even turned it on with their mother carrying their new
Speaker 1: baby brother, Luis in her arms.
Speaker 2: Contrabandrecon was an instant classic. Los Figoe has even recorded
Speaker 2: a sequel years later, Jan Contarna Camilia. Because if fans
Speaker 2: love anything, it's a.
Speaker 1: Universe, and Las Figura has had one with figures like Camellia,
Speaker 1: La Tejana and Labanda del Carojo. But while the sensationalism
Speaker 1: of these characters made waves, the band's staying power came
Speaker 1: from their deep connection to the people.
Speaker 2: Links the band's success, to quote the songs that people live,
Speaker 2: the events that happen every day. So it wasn't all
Speaker 2: gunfights in gangster gland. They sing about every day hint
Speaker 2: the strogles too.
Speaker 1: And especially every day Mexicanos here in the States, because
Speaker 1: remember those das were undocumented for much of their career,
Speaker 1: and before their breakout, they were out in the fields.
Speaker 2: They sang from their own experience, and they sang about
Speaker 2: what they saw others going through.
Speaker 1: Just look at La, their song from nineteen eighty four.
Speaker 1: It's from the pov of an undocumented immigrant reflecting on
Speaker 1: a decade of life in the United States.
Speaker 2: He remembers bringing his kids over the border and how
Speaker 2: sad he is that they can't remember what Mexico was
Speaker 2: like meanwhile, he can never forget.
Speaker 1: He can make money in this land, but he can't
Speaker 1: risk going back to his home without the right papers.
Speaker 1: He's in a golden cage.
Speaker 2: Oh nahow la. This was a reality for all whole
Speaker 2: ass generation of Mexicanos entering the US, and it just
Speaker 2: so happened to be the biggest generation of Mexican immigrants
Speaker 2: Grengorlandia had ever seen.
Speaker 1: Because once upon a time, the US actively sought out
Speaker 1: Mexican immigrants through the Brasseto Program, an initiative aimed at
Speaker 1: addressing labor shortages from World War Two.
Speaker 2: The program lasted until the mid nineteen sixties and brought
Speaker 2: four point five million Mexican workers into the States. Can
Speaker 2: you imagine if they did this now? Genuinely I cannot.
Speaker 2: And this was the biggest influx of documented and undocumented
Speaker 2: immigrants in history. And they were all staking out new
Speaker 2: lives in the US while sending money home. And the
Speaker 2: crazy thing is Los Thedias were right there with them,
Speaker 2: working to pay for their dad's surgery. But I can
Speaker 2: see why some people might feel kind of icky about
Speaker 2: the narco corridos, Like these Gemingos already think we're bringing drugs,
Speaker 2: But why are you singing songs about it?
Speaker 1: Not just singing songs about it, but singing songs that
Speaker 1: glorify it. That is, if you side with the critics.
Speaker 2: Is that what they said about loss?
Speaker 1: Well, over the years, Mexican radio stations have actually banned
Speaker 1: Los Degres songs under the pretense that they promote and
Speaker 1: glorify Narco culture.
Speaker 2: The songs being Contrabandorecion, El Gato Felix, lavand Del Vivos.
Speaker 1: Right, and it's also worth pointing out two of those
Speaker 1: songs aren't about los narcos. El Gato Felix is about
Speaker 1: the death of a journalist who turned up the heat
Speaker 1: on the government, while Vivan los Mojados is a song
Speaker 1: that honors undocumented migrants. I also have to point out
Speaker 1: that is a reclamation of an old slur, which I
Speaker 1: still to this day hate saying.
Speaker 2: So basically, you're saying that Narco staff was an excuse
Speaker 2: to censor other ships.
Speaker 1: Well, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Right, Let's take
Speaker 1: a look at one of their biggest songs about Narco,
Speaker 1: El Hefe the Hefes.
Speaker 2: I love that song.
Speaker 1: I know you. I was like, you are the heffe
Speaker 1: the heafes. So the song's narra is Felix Gayardo, the
Speaker 1: founder of Guadalajara's first cartel. The lyrics if you will, Joseph.
Speaker 2: I'm the boss of bosses, Senoris. I am respected at
Speaker 2: all levels. You'll never see my name or my photo
Speaker 2: in the papers because journalists love me, and if they don't,
Speaker 2: they lose my friendship.
Speaker 1: Okay, So friendship here meaning goodwill. So he's basically saying,
Speaker 1: if you print my name.
Speaker 2: Then blah blah blah. Okay.
Speaker 1: He goes on to say that his line of work
Speaker 1: is cost him and that those who have tried to
Speaker 1: touch his crown have died doing so.
Speaker 2: Like I didn't want to do it, but I had
Speaker 2: to mm hmmm.
Speaker 1: And out running the government is a game for him,
Speaker 1: and he grants favors to important people. He's simultaneously the
Speaker 1: tree that provides them shade and the hot sun that
Speaker 1: would otherwise bear down on them.
Speaker 2: I mean that does sound like a cartel boss. It
Speaker 2: sounds less glam and more accurate. Wait, if people like
Speaker 2: e heve went after journalists for exposing them, why was
Speaker 2: it okay for Los cigras to sing about them?
Speaker 1: Well, Gaiatoga went to prison a long before that song
Speaker 1: came out. But when Losigas sang about narticles at large,
Speaker 1: they changed all of the names and details about their subjects.
Speaker 2: So it was more like if you know, you know,
Speaker 2: but like everyone knows about the Cartels.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, the power and influence of Cartel's was
Speaker 1: not a secret by the time radio stations started to
Speaker 1: censor Los Figras, and that's something the group stands firm about.
Speaker 1: Ernan Ernandez the basis said, the public knows that we
Speaker 1: sing about reality. If there were a revolution, we would
Speaker 1: sing corrillos about the revolution. It can't cover the sun
Speaker 1: with your finger. By the way, I'm stealing that quote.
Speaker 1: Hold on, wait, this is giving some Daddy Yankee flashbacks.
Speaker 1: They want to shut down.
Speaker 2: A narco corrillos, just like the government in Puerto Rico
Speaker 2: wanted a censor and phone.
Speaker 1: And sometimes they succeed. Radio stations across Mexico entered into
Speaker 1: quote unquote voluntary agreements, promising not to play the music,
Speaker 1: sometimes at the behest of the government, sometimes on their own.
Speaker 2: But lostigs still got huge with or without the airplay.
Speaker 2: Jorca said in an interview that quote every time they
Speaker 2: banned a song, it's sold more people like what's prohibited,
Speaker 2: which is why a case of OG four loco would
Speaker 2: get you stacks on the dark web.
Speaker 1: How do you know shit like this, Joseph, what you think?
Speaker 2: I don't know about the dark web.
Speaker 1: No, I'm saying, are you buying the locos? Or are
Speaker 1: you so like that?
Speaker 2: For to keep the specifics of my Negotio's as the mic,
Speaker 2: Thank you and please anyway.
Speaker 1: The censorship of narco corridos continues to this day. Just
Speaker 1: last year, the state of the Wana banned Narco Corridos
Speaker 1: from the airwaves in response to the popularity of Corrido
Speaker 1: to other the artists like Bessel Bluma. Back in the
Speaker 1: year two thousand, the president of the Society of Writers
Speaker 1: of Mexico argued, the state governments have made a mistake.
Speaker 1: They want to sanction the consequence and not the cause.
Speaker 1: They believe that by banning the sale of CDs in stores,
Speaker 1: or by not allowing goridos to be heard on the
Speaker 1: radio and television, they will stop the phenomenon of drug trafficking.
Speaker 1: The phenomenon is deeper. The gorrido doesn't cause it, It
Speaker 1: simply reflects it.
Speaker 2: Boom facts.
Speaker 1: This is always the conversation happening, which is chicken or egg. Right,
Speaker 1: It's the simplest way to look at it is that
Speaker 1: I am not here for glorifying Natical culture. I mean,
Speaker 1: I can honestly say that I have never watched an
Speaker 1: entire episode of the show Natkos on Netflix, and people
Speaker 1: think it's wild that I've never seen it. I'm like,
Speaker 1: why because I'm Mexican. Oh, I just don't need to
Speaker 1: watch it because I think what happens is when you
Speaker 1: put these images into the world, people use it as
Speaker 1: a stereotype, right, Like we have enough to fight against
Speaker 1: as Mexicans, I don't need to also be fighting eighteen
Speaker 1: seasons of narticles on Netflix. Like there's more to an
Speaker 1: entire country than just this show. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just it's not for me.
Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing with at least their music, I
Speaker 2: just kind of feel like they aren't telling you that
Speaker 2: they want the bitches and hosts. They're giving kind of
Speaker 2: a point of view. They're just kind of saying what's around,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like in a situation, they're
Speaker 2: never saying it's them. They're never saying they are trying
Speaker 2: to achieve this, so I feel like they're not really
Speaker 2: like supporting it, like they're just stuck in that situation.
Speaker 1: Yes, I hear you, and I'm not saying listen, let
Speaker 1: me be very clear. I am not saying that the
Speaker 1: music from Las Vegos is creating the same issues that
Speaker 1: shows like Narcos or Griselda Orrina rel Sur is creating.
Speaker 1: I am not saying that at all. I think that
Speaker 1: the music is more of a reflection of what is
Speaker 1: happening in our culture right, and I think that's not
Speaker 1: for them to fix. They're artists. They're reflecting what they
Speaker 1: say back to us.
Speaker 2: And what makes that cool is that, like, for example,
Speaker 2: they said they saw something, right, they saw this woman.
Speaker 2: We're going to say her name is Griselda or whatever
Speaker 2: her name is, and then all of a sudden people
Speaker 2: took that and they elaborated it, and then they made
Speaker 2: a movie of something Griselda. Yeah, that's how impactful. And
Speaker 2: they're not talking about themselves or their girlfriend named Griselda.
Speaker 2: They're saying, we saw this bitch named something, and this
Speaker 2: is what she was up to, and now people are
Speaker 2: making movies of it. Like they're just telling you what's
Speaker 2: going on?
Speaker 1: Right, and Lastygas can't pick and choose who likes their music.
Speaker 1: They can't be like, oh, sorry, not goals, don't listen
Speaker 1: to our albums. You know that they can't do that,
Speaker 1: Like people find your music that like it, and you
Speaker 1: can't control the audience. It's also it's a story as
Speaker 1: old as time, Like we've been talking about easter eggs. Right,
Speaker 1: you talk about Taylor Swift's music, we all think that
Speaker 1: she's talking about John Mayer, she's talking about Travis Kelcey,
Speaker 1: or she's talking about Matt Healy, Like you don't actually
Speaker 1: know who the fuck she's talking about because she's Taylor
Speaker 1: Swift and the only person that knows what she's talking
Speaker 1: about is Taylor Swift. So you've got to let artists
Speaker 1: be to some degree and take creative liberty with their
Speaker 1: lyrics and their music. And that's what they were doing.
Speaker 1: If you, as their adoring fans, want to interpret what
Speaker 1: they're saying, then you can. But if the artist is
Speaker 1: saying that's not what it's about, it's not what we support,
Speaker 1: you kind of have to take them at their word,
Speaker 1: or if you don't want to, just don't listen to
Speaker 1: the music. This is all very complicated and it's often
Speaker 1: used to draw pretty big conclusions and accusations. For example,
Speaker 1: that THEGIS music was a tool.
Speaker 3: For recruiting listeners into cartelss are ulswan record that they've
Speaker 3: never been paid to write a song for a cartel
Speaker 3: boss or play any private shows for night clost which
Speaker 3: listeners should know that is a state.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's a whole ass thing. I mean, there
Speaker 1: are music videos produced by the cartels, but there's also
Speaker 1: really famous popular music acts that are paid like hundreds
Speaker 1: of thousands of dollars to perform at Natcal parties. I'm
Speaker 1: talking about parties for the cartels, but I'm also talking
Speaker 1: about their kids keep singing yet as like their kids baptism.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is the thing, I think one of
Speaker 1: the most famous rumors, and I'm just going to call
Speaker 1: it an allegation. It was alleged that Jenny Rivera used
Speaker 1: to perform for narticles before, of course, her tragic death
Speaker 1: in that plane crash. So this is the thing that
Speaker 1: happens all over Mexico. And it's not huge acts. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's smaller acts that maybe we don't know that are
Speaker 1: more regional. But the cartels are definitely funding a lot
Speaker 1: of musical performances. It's like when Beyonce went to Dubai
Speaker 1: to perform for that hotel, like that level of shit.
Speaker 2: But for all the.
Speaker 1: Association between those Thetis and narco corridos, eldest at Mano
Speaker 1: Jorge insists that they don't sing narco corridos.
Speaker 2: He told PBS quote, we do not worship rug toughers.
Speaker 2: We do not sing narco corridos. We only sing corridos.
Speaker 1: Like we heard earlier for Los Figers. Corridos are simply
Speaker 1: the truth. When little brother Ed Nunn mentioned singing about
Speaker 1: a revolution, he was throwing it back to the Mexican
Speaker 1: Revolution because in those days, corridos were a form of journalism.
Speaker 2: Or x fka Twitter, which ain't perfect. You might get
Speaker 2: some tea that even a tabloid wouldn't touch, but that
Speaker 2: doesn't always mean it's for real.
Speaker 1: Right, There are plenty of narco corridos that have painted
Speaker 1: Los Narracos in a glamorous light, and they still do.
Speaker 1: But as Lospigers themselves have pointed out, banning their music
Speaker 1: has only made people more eager to find it and
Speaker 1: listen to it. So all in all you can feel
Speaker 1: for Anhil Gonzalez, the writer of Gondraban Utracion, He must
Speaker 1: have felt as though he let a genie out of
Speaker 1: a bottle.
Speaker 2: Is someone hinting to our next.
Speaker 1: Icon Tranguilo traquilo? Gu We've still got an epina half
Speaker 1: with our boys, and they're about to hit some major
Speaker 1: bumps in the road, Joseph, have you ever had a
Speaker 1: loved one fall under the spell of somebody they trust?
Speaker 2: Girl? My friend Rashida still has a title subscription out
Speaker 2: of loyalty to Quimby.
Speaker 1: Ugh, that's dire. Can you get her off that?
Speaker 2: Try?
Speaker 1: Well, what we're about to talk about is a little
Speaker 1: different than making questionable streaming choices. So we've seen how
Speaker 1: Art Walker you mean, you Grant. We've seen how Los
Speaker 1: Manager really did seem to have their interest at heart.
Speaker 1: Hoda even said he saw him like a surrogate father
Speaker 1: in the US.
Speaker 2: He told him that they could be bigger and better,
Speaker 2: and he really did help them get there.
Speaker 1: In the seventies, Las Vega's popularity exploded faster than even
Speaker 1: he could imagine. That's why Art was in the market
Speaker 1: for a little help.
Speaker 2: Smart move. If you know how to look for the
Speaker 2: right person.
Speaker 1: Right and unfortunate, Arturo Caminante would walk right into the
Speaker 1: arms of the wrong guy.
Speaker 2: With all the sterious strangers in this story, one of
Speaker 2: them was bound to be a bad one.
Speaker 1: And this is probably the most mysterious stranger of them
Speaker 1: all because we don't even know his name. I know, publicly,
Speaker 1: Los Thegoes have only ever referred to the man as
Speaker 1: El Italiano, the Italian. I mean no disrespect to Italians,
Speaker 1: it's just the only specific detail Lostigias I've ever mentioned
Speaker 1: about this guy.
Speaker 2: It's just like their corridos. They don't name names, but
Speaker 2: they make everything sound cool and western.
Speaker 1: According to Ernan Ernandez, the Italian joined Los Figos' business
Speaker 1: to say it with me now without a contract, fam,
Speaker 1: when are we gonna learn? I mean, Latinos get lawyers.
Speaker 1: Do not be signing fabels without reading. Okay, mom, I'm
Speaker 1: talking to you mom. Hello. Now. This arrangement was strictly
Speaker 1: quote unquote honor system, and the boys could kind of
Speaker 1: tell something wasn't right.
Speaker 2: I bet they wondered why they didn't have more money
Speaker 2: to bring to the telegraph office.
Speaker 1: And they've never gotten into specifics about what rubbed them
Speaker 1: the wrong way about the Italian, but most agree it
Speaker 1: was money honey. And so after their time with Art
Speaker 1: and the Italian, which included ten albums and several movie appearances,
Speaker 1: the group parted ways with both of them in the
Speaker 1: late seventies.
Speaker 2: And that's a rap for Hugh Grant. Another said goodbye
Speaker 2: for a group that already had to leave their whole
Speaker 2: family behind in Sinaloa, And.
Speaker 1: It turned out to be a pretty messy goodbye because
Speaker 1: the Italian sued Los Digres and claimed ownership of the
Speaker 1: band's name.
Speaker 2: And catalog, movies, got everything else Old West Vibes, chart
Speaker 2: topping smash hits, and now a court room drama.
Speaker 1: Three years of courtroom drama that's longer than Free Brittany
Speaker 1: and Los Figras countersuit, And in the end, the judge
Speaker 1: ruled in Los Figras's favor, giving Los Figras full ownership
Speaker 1: of their own catalog and total creative control, making eldest
Speaker 1: brother Jorge.
Speaker 2: Eljefe the hef pe Sennors come back in my shade.
Speaker 1: Basking in your shade, by the way, is the highlight
Speaker 1: of my week. Maybe that should be my corrida name
Speaker 1: la sombra. Ooh what are we doing this? Okay, let's
Speaker 1: do corrido names. Okay. So if you're Las Sombra, what
Speaker 1: am I?
Speaker 2: You're La Bigonia because you thrive in my shade.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Las Sombra Legona bo hold the phone?
Speaker 1: Does one of us kill the other?
Speaker 2: Like Cora? That is a mystery.
Speaker 1: Listeners, Never get into drug smuggling with someone who's only
Speaker 1: in it for the drama. And always read your contracts. Hmm,
Speaker 1: and make sure everyone you work with has a contract. Anyway,
Speaker 1: I'm back to Los Vegas. Portree was now more than
Speaker 1: just the band leader. He was the manager for the
Speaker 1: whole band, but his leadership was about to get tested.
Speaker 1: Los Figoes were on top of the world and had
Speaker 1: no one holding them back.
Speaker 2: They toured across Mexico, the US, and all across Central
Speaker 2: and South America.
Speaker 1: And beginning with the nineteen eighty seven Grammys, I Lospegiras
Speaker 1: became regular nominees.
Speaker 2: Their first Grammy nominated album was Eleotro Mexico, and the
Speaker 2: opening track is kind of perfect for that.
Speaker 1: It goes no mechan I came here by necessity. It's
Speaker 1: a node to all the Mexicans, from doctors and engineers
Speaker 1: to village elders who came here as Braseros, sending practically
Speaker 1: everything they earned back home.
Speaker 2: Elotro Mexico is the Mexico that Braseros built through blood,
Speaker 2: sweat and tears. The Mexico Los cidre isknew from picking
Speaker 2: tomatoes in Sinaloa and daylighting as gardeners in San Jose
Speaker 2: while playing music, and.
Speaker 1: The following year, nineteen eighty eight, they would win their
Speaker 1: first Grammy for Best Mexican American Performance with Gracias America
Speaker 1: sin Fronterra's Thank You America without Borders. But the eighties
Speaker 1: were not without challenges for Los Fires. Before recording their
Speaker 1: Grammy winning album Lupe Olivio, their sax player would quit
Speaker 1: the band due to health problems.
Speaker 2: Luckily, the band had yet another musical brother to count on, Eduardago,
Speaker 2: born in nineteen sixty four. I feel like there's enough
Speaker 2: brothers in this family to form a cape group.
Speaker 1: They'd be the t Gres like t hyphen Gres.
Speaker 2: I hate you. Okay, see this is why we leave
Speaker 2: K pop to Korea.
Speaker 1: Okay, Damn Las sombratrude to his name.
Speaker 2: Hey.
Speaker 1: Anyway, the new and youngest Data would soon have more
Speaker 1: responsibility than he bargained for. Jore himself fell ill and
Speaker 1: couldn't sing for a year and asked eduardol to take
Speaker 1: the mic.
Speaker 2: So backstage, just as they were about to go on,
Speaker 2: the band asks Luardo to save the day and take
Speaker 2: the mic.
Speaker 1: Well, okay, we don't know that that's how it happened.
Speaker 2: Okay, but it's fun to imagine. Can I bitch imagine.
Speaker 1: Whether or not Eduardo had a Hollywood moment. He did
Speaker 1: bring something new to the band, a yearning voice that
Speaker 1: was perfect for romantic ballads. Case in point, the nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty seven classic La Perta Negra off of Americas in Fronterras.
Speaker 2: I know the song because my grandpa paid the accordion.
Speaker 2: No way, I have one at my house.
Speaker 1: Yeah, do you play the accordion?
Speaker 2: I did when I was little, but I own one
Speaker 2: because he left it to me.
Speaker 1: Oh that's sweet.
Speaker 2: And I would always request this song when I was little.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you that one of my favorite pastimes
Speaker 1: when I'm in like a deep TikTok scroll or an Instagram, Like,
Speaker 1: I literally look at like Mexicans dancing to this fucking song.
Speaker 1: It is the cutest thing ever because it's always like
Speaker 1: old people, and there's always like a real short Mexican
Speaker 1: guy and then like.
Speaker 2: I just love it so much.
Speaker 1: It's just it's really cute, like Mexicans fucking get down
Speaker 1: to Leveward that Negata and it's always like again it's
Speaker 1: like a short Mexican guy and then like a big
Speaker 1: tall Mexican woman.
Speaker 2: You know what, bitch, Mexicans love forbid in love. They
Speaker 2: just they just love something like you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: They just love it to be so like star Crossed.
Speaker 2: We love the drama, like we live.
Speaker 1: It's really cute because people have all ages danced to
Speaker 1: it and it's just I just love it like they
Speaker 1: like we love love. We love to dance, and it's
Speaker 1: so bouncy and like when you see these guys on
Speaker 1: the street, you like, don't think that they can fucking
Speaker 1: throw down, and then you see them and they hear
Speaker 1: that accordion and they're like fucking usher on roller skates. Okay.
Speaker 2: And you know the crazy thing is that I always
Speaker 2: wanted my grandpa to sing, but he only always played
Speaker 2: the accordion. And I feel like with this song in particular,
Speaker 2: like the voice was so different than anything before. Los
Speaker 2: Digtees like this one was like I don't want to
Speaker 2: say whiny, but it was just kind of like longer, right,
Speaker 2: do you know what I mean? It was a little
Speaker 2: more nasally.
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean totally. I mean you're talking about it.
Speaker 1: It's a completely different singer, right, Like this is the
Speaker 1: water those sound this is his voice, and I think
Speaker 1: since it's kind of his first like he was trying
Speaker 1: to make his mark and kind of put his stamp
Speaker 1: on what the sound of Los Figres would be with
Speaker 1: him at the helm.
Speaker 2: You know what, on the next episode, I'm going to
Speaker 2: bring my accordion.
Speaker 1: I would love nothing more for you to create. You
Speaker 1: need to grace these airways with your accordinator skills. On
Speaker 1: the next Becoming an Icon, a solo by Joseph Garrio.
Speaker 2: It's true.
Speaker 1: So Losvegaas added heartbreak to their repertoire, but a few
Speaker 1: years later, the brothers would experience a different sort of heartbreak.
Speaker 2: I think I know what's coming.
Speaker 1: In the early nineties, just before Los Thegas were set
Speaker 1: to go on stage, they received the news that their father,
Speaker 1: Don Eduardo Ernandez, had passed away.
Speaker 2: Los Degas had done a lot to help their dad's injury,
Speaker 2: but in the end, cancer took his life.
Speaker 1: Heartbroken, the group debated whether they should go on or
Speaker 1: head home to their family. Immediately, over an hour of
Speaker 1: mournful deliberation, they heard the roar of the crowd, unaware
Speaker 1: of the tragedy and demanding they go on.
Speaker 2: Then the news reached the crowd and they went quiet.
Speaker 2: The band heard this show of respect and decided to play.
Speaker 1: They saying with lumps in their throats and tears in
Speaker 1: their eyes. The next day, they headed to San Jose,
Speaker 1: where the family had relocated, to say goodbye to Don Eduardo.
Speaker 2: He was their whole reason for coming to the US.
Speaker 2: Their whole journey started with him, and then he was gone.
Speaker 1: If there's any comfort, it's that they were able to
Speaker 1: take care of him. Their journey wasn't in vain, and
Speaker 1: they even got to bring him to the States. And
Speaker 1: at least the brothers had each other right for a time.
Speaker 1: But a couple of years later, in nineteen ninety five,
Speaker 1: Raoul decided to part ways with the band and go solo.
Speaker 1: The lone He was like the JT of losches, and
Speaker 1: by the way, that is what they called him today.
Speaker 1: Raoul had wanted to record a mariachi banda album featuring
Speaker 1: Sinelo and musicians.
Speaker 2: But the rest of the band wasn't interested.
Speaker 1: We're Nathaniels. They told him that's the kind of music
Speaker 1: they had always played and that they wanted to continue playing.
Speaker 2: So Rool was out. There couldn't be another brother, could there?
Speaker 1: There? Sure is, Joseph. This is like the Partridge Family
Speaker 1: Mexican style. Yeah, okay, and by the way, we've already
Speaker 1: met him.
Speaker 2: Wait what rewind the tape? I totally missed this. I
Speaker 2: think I had an herbal refreshment like something. Anyways, Sorry, Joseph.
Speaker 1: That's all the time we have today, so you and
Speaker 1: all of you will have to wait to listen till
Speaker 1: next week. On the next Becoming an Icon, Youstigre's youngest
Speaker 1: member joins the band, giving us the lineup we know
Speaker 1: and love today. Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo
Speaker 1: and Iheart's Michael Guda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an
Speaker 1: Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you
Speaker 1: get your I Guiness A book