Uncovering Mexico
Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.What's on this page?
The entry titled "Slain narco corrido singer finds success in death."
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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2007 > November > 26 > Entry
Slain narco corrido singer finds success in death
It’s only been a year since his death, but murdered corrido crooner Valentin Elizalde is already on a path to Elvis-like post-death reverance in Mexico. Elizalde was a moderately successful singer when he was gunned down after a show in the border town of Reynosa last November 25. The Sonoran-born singer had been linked to the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and sang some inflammatory narco-corridos - songs that detail the exploits of drug smugglers - in Reynosa. But Reynosa, the theory goes, is territory of the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa’s main rival, and it’s widely believed that disgruntled Gulf cartel hitmen were responsible for the post-concert bloodbath.
Since his death, Elizalde has become a pop culture phenomenon. His songs are heard everywhere in the country and at all hours. Here in Mexico City, Elizalde can seem omnipresent, blasting from the stalls at the city’s markets, on the bus, in the taxi. He had recorded an album shortly before his death which has been released posthumously, a la 2Pac, the fallen American rapper. The album, “Lobo Domesticado” sold more than 100,000 units, a spectacular success in bootlegging-plagued Mexico.
The National Enquirer-like Fama weekly magazine recently published a 47-page special issue dedicated to Elizalde, comparing his success to that of slain Tejano star Selena. The magazine details how some of his fans have taken to praying to his image, and in Sinaloa his music is considered to have healing powers and is credited with helping a boy with Down Syndrome to talk. Meanwhile, a legion of imitators have seized Elizalde’s name, hoping to sell some records of their own.
Elizalde was killed during a wave of violence directed at Mexican singers of narco-corridos, a trend that thankfully has lost steam recently.
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By ashley favela
November 28, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this
valentin elizalde was a great man and i will always remember him