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Natanael Cano, leader and creator of the corridos tumbados genre, defied the ban imposed by authorities in the Mexican state of Aguascalientes against narcocorridos on Saturday (May 3). During his performance at the Feria Nacional de San Marcos, he played a couple of songs with explicit references to figures of drug trafficking and glorification of crime. In response, the event organizers lowered the audio volume and turned off the lights, bringing the show to an end.
Videos on social media show the moment Cano responds to the request of some attendees at his concert during the Feria Nacional de San Marcos, who insisted on hearing “Cuerno Azulado,” a controversial song in which the musician talks about organized crime and its alleged ties to Mexican authorities.
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“‘Cuerno (Azulado)’ isn’t something you need to ask me for, my friend. ‘Cuerno’ is something you need to ask your government for. If you want it so badly, do something about it,” the singer responded to the crowd. “With all due respect, we came here to Aguascalientes to sing for you, my friend, and with all due respect to the people who are prohibiting us from singing and showcasing our art, we don’t give a damn. Do something about it yourselves, don’t come asking me for it here”
Natanael Cano’s performance, announced as one of the star acts of the legendary fair that has been held for 197 years, began with a series of corridos and ballads that adhered to the list previously approved by local authorities. However, after midnight, the setlist included “Pacas de Billetes,” a song referencing Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the notorious drug lord who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States following his conviction in 2019.
The musician continued with “El de la Codeína,” a song that references substance trafficking, which led the organizers to lower the sound volume in the venue. In response, the artist’s technical team activated its own audio system so Cano could keep performing. However, after finishing the song, the organizers turned off the lights, and the singer abruptly left the stage without the concert officially concluding.
Billboard Español has reached out to Natanael Cano’s representatives as well as festival organizers and the government of Aguascalientes for comment on what happened Sunday, but has not heard back as of press time.
The incident with Cano comes three weeks after the concert by corridos superstar Luis R. Conriquez at the Feria de Texcoco in the State of Mexico on April 11 ended in chaos when he refused to perform narcocorridos, complying with restrictions imposed by local authorities on expressions that glorify crime in public spaces.
Conriquez revealed in an exclusive interview with Billboard that local authorities had warned him not to perform narcocorridos during his show at the Feria de Texcoco. “They said that if I sang a corrido, they would cut off the sound.”
The local Congress of Aguascalientes on April 16 approved legislation to penalize “the dissemination of content, images and artistic or musical expressions that promote activities related to organized crime.” State authorities have not commented on what happened during Cano’s show.
Aguascalientes is one of 10 states (out of 32) in Mexico that have banned or restricted the dissemination of narcocorridos or expressions that glorify crime. Without a federal law, local governments enforce penalties ranging from hefty fines to up to a year in prison for those who perform music that promotes violence.
Grupo Firme, another of the superstar regional Mexican acts that performed at this year’s Feria de San Marcos, declined to play corridos during its concerts on April 19 and 20, as previously announced by vocalist Eduin Caz in a social media message saying the band was complying with the new restrictions.
Junior H, another leading figure in the corridos tumbados genre, is scheduled to perform at the palenque of the mentioned fair Wednesday (May 7).
The new bans implemented in Mexico have expanded to the United States. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. State Department announced on April 1 the revocation of work and tourist visas for the Mexican corridos group Los Alegres del Barranco after it displayed images of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during a concert on March 29 at an auditorium at the University of Guadalajara.
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Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” ascends 3-2 for a new Hot 100 high. It tops Streaming Songs (21.5 million streams, up 2%) and Digital Song Sales (7,000 sold, up 6%) for a second week each, while boasting a 17% surge to 19.7 million in radio audience.
Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” dips 2-3, following five nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 beginning in January, and Drake’s “Nokia” holds at No. 4, after reaching No. 2.
Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” keeps at No. 5 on the Hot 100, following its record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 beginning last July. It notches a 43rd week in the top five – matching The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” in 2020-21, for the most weeks spent in the tier all-time. (Fittingly, it ties the top-five weeks record, at No. 5, and in its 55th week on the chart overall, on Cinco de Mayo.) “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” also adds a 43rd week at No. 1 on the multimetric Hot Country Songs chart.
Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” is steady at No. 6 on the Hot 100 after hitting No. 4.
Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which led the Hot 100 for a week in March 2024, and became the year’s No. 1 song, lifts 9-7, as it logs a record-extending 60th week in the top 10; two weeks earlier, it surpassed the 57-week run in the region of “Blinding Lights” for the most such frames in the chart’s history. “Lose Control” notches an 89th week on the Hot 100 overall, the third-longest stay in the chart’s history. The only hits with longer runs: Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” (91 weeks, in 2021-22) and “Blinding Lights” (90, in 2019-22).
Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” slips 7-8 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2; Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” rises 10-9, also after peaking at No. 2; and, rounding out the top 10, Doechii’s “Anxiety” returns to the tier, up two spots back to its No. 10 best.
Rina Sawayama is headed back to the Wick-everse. The singer/actress who made her big screen debut in 2023 in John Wick: Chapter 4 as Shimazu Akira — the daughter of Osaka Continental Hotel manager and Wick pal Shimazu Koji — will reprise the role as the hotel’s concierge in an upcoming expansion of the film’s universe.
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According to Variety, Sawayama will once again play Akira in the Wick spin-off Caine, where she will appear opposite that film’s director/star/executive producer Donnie Yen. The legendary Hong Kong action star/producer played the blind High Table assassin Caine in the fourth installment in the blood-spattered action thriller series; Caine is slated to go into production later this year.
Yen had high praise for his co-star, telling Variety, “Most delighted to welcome Rina back into this new exciting journey with us. It will be my pleasure and attempt to elevate her amazing character that left us mesmerized from John Wick: Chapter 4!”
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Co-producer Chad Stahelski added, “Rina is such a badass. I love what she did with this role in Chapter 4 and can’t wait to see her cross paths with Caine once again.”
At press time there was no additional information on the plot, but according the magazine it is being billed as a “Hong Kong-style action thriller” similar to the Ip Man series that made Yen a star. Caine will reportedly continue the story arc in the wake of the fourth chapter of the series starring Keanu Reeves as a retired hitman lured back into the murder game after the killing of his beloved dog, with Caine now freed from his obligations to the mysterious High Table.
“John Wick: Chapter 4 introduced us to so many compelling, original characters, including Akira,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson. “We’re beyond thrilled to have Rina coming back to the franchise — Caine and Akira have unfinished business, and this next chapter in their stories will be explosive.”
The critically acclaimed Wick series is rapidly expanding its cinematic universe, with an upcoming spinoff starring Ana de Armas, Ballerina (June 6), as well as a recently announced animated Wick movie and a fifth chapter of the original film series.
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Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest film released its first official trailer on Monday (May 5), ahead of its nationwide arrival in theaters this August.
The director and Denzel Washington reunite to work together for the fifth time in the crime thriller, which also stars A$AP Rocky as Yung Felon, who’s Washington’s son in the movie, and the project serves as Ice Spice’s feature film debut, who does not appear in the new trailer.
The film is said to be loosely based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 noir High and Low, which finds an individual at a moral crossroads and dealing with the chaos of New York City.
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“There’s more to life than just making money. There’s integrity, there’s what you stand for. There’s what you actually believe in,” Washington narrates in the clip. “The hard times will come from the money and the mayhem follows … That’s the question I have for you, can you handle it? All money ain’t good money.”
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Produced by A24 along with 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Highest 2 Lowest was shot throughout New York City. The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival later in May before coming to theaters on Aug. 22 and eventually landing on Apple TV+ on Sept. 5.
“And A$AP, man. Fire,” Spike Lee gushed about Rocky’s acting during an appearance on Carmelo Anthony’s 7pm in Brooklyn show in April. “I mean, there’s some scenes with him and D head to head, he ain’t backin’ up. It’s like, ‘I’m here too!’ Very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing with the world.”
Rocky was also impressed with Denzel Washington’s music taste, as he revealed that the esteemed actor pulled up to the movie set bumping Memphis rappers such as Pooh Shiesty and Moneybagg Yo.
“He likes to listen to Memphis rappers, but modern Memphis rappers,” Rocky told Vogue recently. “Then he started quoting NLE Choppa … He’s really tapped in. Working with Denzel was a dream come true, he’s an OG.”
Watch the Highest 2 Lowest trailer below.
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It was fitting that Miranda Lambert was on hand for Sunday night’s (May 4) “Iconic Women”-themed night. As the show’s top 10 competed for a spot in the top 8, Lambert was in the house for a killer performance of one of her breakthrough hits and to offer advice and encouragement to the singers, beginning with country crooner John Foster, who admitted that the singer was his “first crush.”
They clearly got along like old friends, with country gentleman Foster even taking off his cowboy hat in deference to Lambert, who counseled him to work the stage a bit as they did an impromptu duet on Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.”
Lambert wasn’t done singing, though, as she had her own spotlight moment later in the show when she took the stage to perform her breakthrough 2005 hit single, “Kerosene,” which peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Nov. 15 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song, which was the third single and title track of Lambert’s debut album, has lost none of its rocking vibe in the ensuing two decades.
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“Dusty roads ain’t made for walking/ Spinning tires ain’t made for stoppin’/ I’m giving up on love ’cause love’s given up on me,” Lambert sang over her band’s foot-stomping backing, as, following her own advice, she worked the stage in a rhinestone-studded black jumpsuit while the giant screen behind her featured the tune’s title in flaming letters.
Fellow country stars and Idol judges Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan clapped and bopped their heads to the song’s driving beat and gospel-flecked keyboards. Afterwards, host Ryan Seacrest asked Lambert how her mentoring run on the show has been going and she said, “I love them all so much. I’ve had such a blast getting to be part of this Idol family and getting to know these wonderful artists. It has been a real blessing for me.”
Lambert also plugged her new record label, Big Loud Texas, where she said she’s trying to keep the “outlaw movement going.”
Other top 10 performances on the episode included: Kolbi Jordan (Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”), Josh King (Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”), Breanna Nix (Adele’s “Water Under the Bridge”), Canaan James Hill (Carrie Underwood’s “Love Wins”), Thunderstorm Artis (Adele’s “When We Were Young”), Slater Nalley (Reba McEntire’s “Whoever’s In New England”), Jamal Roberts (Underwood’s “Undo It”), Mattie Pruitt (Lambert’s “The House That Built Me”) and Gabby Samone (Beyoncé’s “I Was Here”).
Idol winner Abi Carter also returned during the episode to sing her new ballad, “Burned.” By show’s end, the top 10 was cut down to the top eight, with Jordan and Hill eliminated. The next episode of Idol, the judge’s song contest, airs on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, where America will vote for the top six and the judges will use their save to complete the top seven.
Watch Lambert perform “Kerosene” on American Idol below.