narcocorrido means A genre of Mexican music based on the polka, depicting drug smugglers, cartels, and other criminal activities. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
Why this word is great
NARCOCORRIDO — [Noun] A contemporary Mexican ballad genre, built on the polka-derived rhythms of the traditional corrido, that chronicles the exploits, tragedies, and brutal realities of drug cartels. From Spanish narcocorrido, from narco- (short for narcotráfico, "drug trafficking") + corrido ("a traditional narrative ballad or folksong"). Unlike the classic corrido, which mythologizes revolutionary heroes and communal struggles, or American gangsta rap, which emerges from a distinct tradition of urban protest and bravado, the narcocorrido is a stark, amoral ledger set to music—a sonic form of gonzo journalism from within the belly of the beast. It is the tuba’s mournful oompah underpinning a tale of a midnight border crossing, the gaudy spectacle of a narcosanto’s gold-plated shrine immortalized in verse, and the chilling, matter-of-fact recitation of bullet-riddled atrocities over an accordion’s cheerful wheeze. Here is a folk tradition forced to digest the indigestible, turning raw reportage into folklore for an era defined by its savagery.
noun
- A genre of Mexican music based on the polka, depicting drug smugglers, cartels, and other criminal activities.
- Any song in this genre.“They were nonjudgmental first-person stories, including the notorious narcocorrido “Pacas de a Kilo,” (“One-Kilo Packets”) told from the point of view of a proud marijuana grower.”