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Blunt: When I was a kid, I listened to cumbia [a beat-heavy Colombian genre] and drug ballads, but I also listened to American hip-hop like Dr. Dre, Lil Wayne, and Eminem. Tego Calderón is another rapper I’m really inspired by.
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Cano: Ever since we came along, basically anybody in Reynosa can go out and perform rap. Some of them have become successful. Hip-hop is getting bigger here, but it’s all thanks to us.Has the subject matter of your songs—particularly those about the Gulf Cartel—gotten you in trouble?
Cano: In Mexico everyone lives in fear. We’ve never received threats, thank God. I think people understand that we’re just in it for the music. I don’t worry about the drug dealers as much as I do the government.Have the authorities harassed you?
Blunt: Yes, actually. They’ve stolen my equipment, asked me why I sing about these things, even tortured me. I’ve told them it’s the only way I know how to make a living. One day, the military came knocking on our door and accused us of working for the cartels. We were beaten for about two hours! I don’t know why they pick on us instead of going after the actual drug dealers. Why don’t they pick on the Tucanes de Tijuana or Larry Hernandez [a popular narcocorrido singer]? They screw with us because they think we work for those people. We just sing for whoever is listening. We sing for the people.Do you mind being classified as narco-rappers?
Cano: That’s what they call us: Reynosa narco-rap. It became a thing because the songs are dedicated to certain subjects. We have a song called “Lagrimas en Mi Cuaderno” (“Tears in My Notebook”) that had half a million views on YouTube in less than five days. But we want a record deal.
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Blunt: We know it’s dangerous. Everyone here knows you’re on one side or the other. Shit, man, there isn’t any other way of earning a living here in Reynosa. Just try to find a job around here.Do you feel any guilt or remorse because you make money by singing about people who kill, kidnap, and deal drugs for a living?
No. Remorse is for people who are doing bad things; we just make music. Everyone gets what he or she deserves, and he who does wrong will get what’s coming to him in the end.Can you see any sort of positive future for narco-rap?
I’d ask you: Do you see a positive future for Mexico?Translated by Rafael Gutierrez S.