Corridos of the Chicano Movement in Bloomington, MN

Based on the Texas border in the '60s and '70s,
Rumel Fuentes
built a small following as something of a protest singer. He specialized in corridos, storytelling ballads with a tendency to turn toward the political. The lyrics cover elements of the Chicano movement: walkouts of laborers,
Cesar Chavez
's push for unionization, generalized Mexican pride. He does this with the singsong cadence common to so much norteno music, a bouncing bajo with lightly plucked guitar in the front.
Fuentes
' vocals are perhaps stereotypical, but provide something of a cultural backdrop for the lyrical messages. There are more musically interesting takes on tejano/norteno music out there to be had (
Flaco Jimenez
, for example), but the mix of bare musicality and lyrical prowess meet well in
' work. ~ Adam Greenberg