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 The roots of the Corrido in Mexico begin with the Spanish conquest of the country. "Spanish romance ballads brought over by soldiers during and after the conquest" (Edberg 2004, pg.29). The Corrido was a romance ballad similar to the Spanish 16th-century romance ballads. The Mexican corrido style descents from the Spanish romance songs (Paredes, 1963). In the New World, the Corrido began its transformation. The Corrido became very popular during the intercultural strife of the Texas-Mexican border zone at the beginning of the 20th century (Paredes, 1963). The Corrido evolved from being about mainly romance o being songs that told the story and heroic exploits of Mexican fighting the Texans, particularly the Texas Rangers. An example of this is the

Corrido of Gregorio Cortez who became a hero for the Mexicans living on the border after he shot the Major Sheriff of El Carmen defending himself and became the target of the largest manhunt by Texas Rangers (Paredes, 1958, Pg.40.41). He was a hero to the Mexican people because he fought the Texas Rangers, who saw Mexicans as inferior, and was brave in facing them. Corridos with similar stories of heroic exploits became popular in Northern Mexico. Corridos also rose in popularity during the Mexican Revolution as they told stories of the revolutionary heroes and the bloody struggles of the revolution (McDowell, 2012). After the Mexican revolution, Corridos lose popularity. It is not until the 1970's that the Corrido rose in popularity again when the famous Norteno band, Los Tigres del Norte, begin to sing Corridos about immigration stories of Mexicans crossing the border into the United States (McDowell, 2012). Then they started to sing corridos about drug smuggling like their corrido "Contrabando y Traicion" ("Contraband and Betrayal"). It was during the 1980s, and 1990's that the Corrido began to become the Narcocorrido. Bandas began to sing Narcocorridos about the drug traffickers who were becoming very powerful people (McDowell, 2012). One of the most famous corridistas (a person who sings Corridos) was Chalino Sanchez, who became very popular with his narcocorridos and was killed by narcos in Sinaloa for singing about the rival narcos of his killers (McDowell, 2012). Bands like the Tucanes de Tijuana began to sing Corridos about Narcos and their exploits (McDowell, 2012). As the Drug War in Mexico got more intense in the 2000s with the declaration of war by Mexican President Felipe Calderon on the Cartels, the Narcocorrido became the most popular type of song in Northern Mexico, Southern California and Texas in the Hispanic communities. Narcocorridos have become extremely popular in Mexico's northern states like Sinaloa and Sonora, where most of Mexico's drug traffickers are from (McDowell, 2012). The Corrido has evolved to telling the stories of the battles of the narcos, their exploits, and their lives. The Narco war has made the Corrido about the heroic acts of people like Gregorio Cortez and Revolutionary heroes to become the Narcocorrido that talks about the heroic acts of Drug smugglers and the Drug Cartels (McDowell, 2012).  

Los Tigres Del Norte

Chalino Sanchez was one of the most famous singers of Corridos. He often sang Corridos about drug smugglers and romance. He was killed in Sinaloa by Narcos.

Felipe Calderon was the President of Mexico who declared war on the Cartels which started the Drug War that Mexico is currently in.