Question about "cool" Mexican music

Cafe Society
1

Okay, now I’ll admit up front that I’m coming at this mostly from a position of ignorance, so please don’t any Mexican Dopers (or friends of Mexican Dopers) yell at me too hard–just help me to dispel my ignorance. Thanks! I’ve been curious about this for awhile now.

Here’s my question–when I see young white guys driving around in their cars, if they’re blasting music it’s usually heavy metal, rap/hip-hop, or some other “cool” and “rebellious” music (subjective terms, I know–bear with me). Young black guys, when blasting music, are usually playing rap/hip-hop.

However, when I see young Mexican guys driving around blasting music (and I live in San Jose, so it’s a reasonably common occurrence) they’re almost always playing music that sounds to my unschooled ears to be rather…I dunno…fogey? Old-fashioned? I’ve seen young guys who, at least from they way they’re dressed and the vehicles they drive, seem to be relatively “cool,” playing what I can only describe as “Mexican polka” loudly and proudly out their open windows. It sounds like the sort of music that, if it were in a more American style, would be listened to by folks my parents’ or even grandparents’ age, not hip young people. Lots of horns, lots of “oom-pa,” not a lot of beat.

Is there a such thing as Mexican rock? I’ve heard of Mexican/Hispanic hip-hop stars, but I’ve never heard any of the genre coming from an actual Mexican’s car. The closest to an American style I’ve ever heard is something that sounds like country/western in Spanish.

So, basically my question is, in Mexican culture, is the “polka” sounding music actually cool? Since wanting to appear cool is pretty universal among young guys, I’m just curious about it. Is the rock genre even popular with Mexican/Mexican-American kids? Is it a tradition thing?

Or maybe my sample size is just too small and I’m listening to the wrong vehicles. :slight_smile:

2

It sounds like you’re describing mariachi. I’ve been listening to the local Spanish pop station, and it seems like most of the music is a fusion of mariachi and modern pop–so rap, dance, etc. I know that the station is specifically targeted to younger people, so that must be what’s popular.

3

Actually, I’ve heard it called “polka music” by the folks who listen to it, and within the lyrics of the music itself (some snatches of which are in English instead of Spanish).

The fast very repetitious stuff with the horns is only part of the scene; they do slow ballads that are more umm puh umm puh umm puh and that’s what they call “polka”

Here’s the station that used to be on the radio all the time in the Española garage where I worked after High School: KDCE, “¿Que Dice? Radio”. Hmm, rather godawful empty & boring website, no playlists :frowning:

I can’t tell you why polka music is closer to hot and trendy in hispanic (especially Chicano) cultures than to old and fogey as we gringo folk would perceive it. (I say “closer to” — it was what the 19 year old mechanics were listening to when I was a 19 year old wannabe mechanic in 1979, and those guys would be in their 40s now; but the mainstream American heyday for polka was probably coterminous with the heyday of Lawrence Welk, the contemporaries of whom would be 30 or more years older than that)

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Relevant cite

5

Mariachi is old school Mexican; only grandpas and retro hipsters listen to it. Tejano is the new stuff.

6

The “polka music” you’re hearing is probably norteña. I wrote a post somewhere that describes it, but I’m having a hard time finding it, so here’s something from [url=]Univision, of all places:

I’m willing to bet that most of what you’re hearing is norteña. Mexican country music, more or less – no different than an American teenager blasting Toby Keith out his windows. I’m not personally a fan of norteña, but it has its places.

It may also be tejano, conjunto, banda, or something else entirely, but I’m putting my money on norteña.

7

Meant to add:

Pretty much any genre you can find in the US you can find in Mexico or in other Latino countries. For Mexican pop, you’ve got Paulina Rubio, Thalía, Julieta Venegas (a personal fave – highly recommended), among many, many others. Mexican rock: Maná, Café Tacuba (both also recommended), and others. Mexican hip-hop and rap I’m less familiar with, but I know they’re there.

8

I love Julieta Venegas :slight_smile:

9

I hear a lot of cars going by playing what I gather is reggaetón, which always seems to have exactly the same bouncy semi-hip-hop beat, like bop…ba-boop bop, bop…ba-boop bop over and over forever.

10

The norteña stations cater mainly to Mexican immigrants, the vast majority of which come from rural areas. It would be as if there were hundreds of English-language country radio stations in … oh, let’s say Russia, because most of the country’s American immigrants happened to come from small towns in the Southern states.

In El Paso, Spanish language stations playing nothing but norteña and ranchero are in the minority. You’ll hear more Spanish-language rock, pop, and rap on the radio, sometimes but not always with a Latin flavor. The further north one gets from the Mexican border, the less variety they’ll find in Spanish language radio.

11

Yet it is still Polka and most of us Gringos associate Polka with elderly Bohunks (my ancestry) and Polacks (my wife’s) and, regardless how big and shiny the guns carried by Tejanos are, we find it hard to be scared of people who listen and dance to Polkas, at least since our grandmothers (who had bony fingers that stung) died.

12

It’s a quick step rhythm, just like you heard. However, reggaetón isn’t Mexican in origin; it’s originally Panamanian but is now largely associated with Puerto Rico. Other Caribbean styles include bachata, merengue, salsa, and others.

Reggaetón artists: Ivy Queen, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar.
Bachata: Monchy & Alexandra, Andy Andy, Aventura
Merengue: Olga Tañón, Milly Quezada
Salsa: Celia Cruz (of course!), Tito Nieves, India

13

Yes, there are other types of music other than mariachi/norteño/ranchera. And not all Mexicans like that type of music, either (not all Mexicans are from the north of Mexico :wink: ). And definitely not all Latinos find that music cool!!!

Besides the examples given above, there are also Molotov (controversial rock band) and Jaguares (Caifanes).

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Try Molotov for ska kind of thingee, I know I should know othes but can’t remember any right now. Julieta Venegas has sort of two periods: apparently she used to be more of a “hard rocker” and some of her old fans felt betrayed that she’s more poppy now.

Lots of mexican songs are about antiheroes. In old times, about Villa and Zapata. Nowadays, about drug dealers - or about the mother who fights the drug dealers away without any help from the cops thank you much. Whether a song is “daddy’s” or “sonny’s” can depend a lot more on its lyrics than on the music.*

  • This isn’t about Mexico, but the music I liked best in my teens was Rockabilly, following in the steps of the guys to whom my uncles used to listen to… only, my uncles found the lyrics of “my” songs offensive and then some.
15

My Spanish speaking girlfriend gave me a few Julieta Venegas tunes. I have no idea what she’s saying (Julieta, not the girlfriend) but I still enjoy listening to her.

The girlfriend has given me translations but that’s not the same when listening to the song at the moment.

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You see, I think everyone, regardless of language, should listen to Julieta Venegas. I’m a latter-day fan, in that Sí was the first album of hers that I ever heard, but I’m liking most of the rest of it too. Have you heard her latest album? If not, you should. I could listen to Me Voy all day long.

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I love Molotov. I really, really love El Control Machete, Plastilina Mosh, Cafe Tacuba, and Astrid Hadad, too. Mexico has a thriving “cool” music scene.

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From what I have always heard, the Polka sound of some types of Mexican music comes from the influence of German settlers in the mid 1800’s in Texas. Of all crazy combinations- Germans and their Oompah and Mexicans and their string based folk stuck together. German Roots of Mexican Music

19

Thanks, everybody! This is really interesting–I was especially interested to find out that some Mexican music really is polkas–and that they were influenced by German polkas. I’d never have guessed that in a million years. :slight_smile:

20

Where does banda fit in with this whole mariachi/norteño/ranchera mix? I’m getting the impression the differences, such as they are, are too subtle for this anglo’s ears to distinguish.

We live in a definitely mixed neighborhood where we get a lot of involuntary music samples as young men in cars pass by. We’ve dubbed it “Mexican Polka” but whatever it’s called I much prefer it to the hip hop and rap which is the other predominant sample.