Music

In the wake of the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, an unexpected cultural phenomenon is unfolding. Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of the fatal Dec. 4 shooting in New York, has become the subject of several regional Mexican ballads posted online.
In recent years, regional Mexican music — which encompasses corridos, norteño mariachi and more –has experienced an unprecedented global revival, particularly with the emergence of corridos tumbados in early 2019, pioneered by Natanael Cano. This genre was further popularized by artists such as Fuerza Regida, Junior H and Peso Pluma. The style quickly spread across the Internet on platforms such as SoundCloud and TikTok, and by the end of that year, it had impacted the Billboard charts and continues to do so. And now, a wave of new songs has emerged on various platforms, seeking to cast Mangione within the corridos tradition.

These corridos — historically used to narrate tales of revolutionaries and rebels that date back to the Mexican Revolution of 1910 — are now casting the accused killer of the health insurance CEO as a complex figure caught between villainy and vigilantism. This musical portrayal is igniting discussions about justice, corporate ethics and the makings of modern antiheroes amid a backdrop of deep-seated societal discord.

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While a developed country, the United States still grapples with health care access and affordability disparities. Despite boasting cutting-edge medical technologies and treatments, people often face prohibitive costs and inadequate coverage. This paradox has fueled a national discourse on health care injustice and attempts to overhaul the health care system, with some sympathizing with and/or glorifying the accused killer, who is facing federal murder and stalking charges. Separately, the Manhattan district attorney, in addition to multiple murder charges, also charged Mangione with murder as an act of terrorism; he has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. If he’s convicted on the federal charges, Mangione could potentially face the death penalty, while the state charges could mean a maximum of life without the possibility of parole.

On Dec. 22, a SoundCloud user named Alan Rendon posted an accordion-led track called “El Corrido de Luigi Mangione,” which goes, “In the cold December morning in New York, his law was laid/ A man on a bicycle crossed with a plan that lived in his mind/ On 54th Street his fate was met, Brian Thompson fell by the bullets/ Justice Luigi wanted to serve.” The song continues, “In his message, he left his reason/ He did not seek riches or fame, only justice for his nation/ Today his name travels the streets, a dark message he left/ The industry he blamed so much, his own sentence he signed.”

The corrido frames Mangione as a dark symbol of resistance against corporate misconduct, and some have compared the accused to the antihero from V for Vendetta.

Artist Gabriela MC echoed this sentiment in a TikTok posted Dec. 15, singing, “One day, Dec. 4, it is said that the businessman had a meeting pending/ With high-ranking people, when three precise bullets snatched his life/ People are not moved by the rich man slain/ ‘Deny,’ ‘depose’ and ‘defend’ — keys to the murder/ And although he died suddenly, the meeting was not canceled/ Do not believe that for millions [of dollars] you have bought your life/ He was dedicated to that and could not secure it/ How life turns around, and karma claims it.”

She cites the three bullets found on the crime scene with the engraved words “deny,” “defend” and “depose.” According to The Associated Press, those three words are often used to describe insurance companies’ practices when denying claims. The phrase also mirrors the title of Jay M. Feinman’s book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. Published in 2010, this tome provides a critical look at the practices commonly used by insurance companies that negatively affect policyholders.

“Six days after his death they came upon the Italian/ A sharp young man graduated from Pennsylvania,” she sings. “He was playing Monopoly/ Don’t insult the intelligence of those American people/ His mother asked for clemency, as many were denied/ Luigi ran out of patience and adjusted them.”

During the initial manhunt after Thompson’s murder, a backpack containing Monopoly money believed to be the killer’s was found abandoned in Central Park on Dec. 6. According to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The AP, Mangione was carrying a handwritten note at the time of his arrest on Dec. 9 in Pennsylvania, and the document slammed “parasitic” health insurance companies.

A TikTok user going by the name Cruzistojose1978 posted a corrido introducing a first-person perspective of Mangione’s narrative. “I am a young, intelligent man, I graduated from Penn/ Life gave me its tests, and fate has collected them/ Today I find myself behind bars, but my motive is marked,” he sings.

While he awaits trial, Mangione’s story as depicted in corridos could challenge listeners to confront realities about the power imbalances within society — or, at least, that’s what the origin of corridos claim, if Américo Paredes’ 1958 book With His Pistol in His Hand: A Border Ballad and Its Hero can be applied to this case. The title is about Gregorio Cortez, a Mexican-American outlaw who killed a sheriff in self-defense against racism and injustice in the late 1800s. This incident sparked the creation of corridos that celebrated his deeds as a symbol of resistance against the discriminatory actions of the Anglo authorities toward Mexican-Americans in Texas. The book argues that the origin of corridos such as those about Gregorio Cortez served not just entertainment, but powerful expressions of protest against oppression.