Larry Hernández

Ask the Los Angeles-born, Culiacán-bred narcocorrido singer Larry Hernández to explain one of his tracks and he'll probably answer by singing it back to you.

When Los Tigres del Norte launched the narcorrido genre nearly 30 years ago they were careful to throw hints about the drug traffickers that inspired their ballads. The 29-year-old Hernández is far more blunt:

"Me pongo un toque de kush
y mi persona se altera
no miro monos con trinchetes
y bien traigo una loquera
ese humo tranquilizante
hasta el cerebro me pega"

I take a toke of the kush
and my mind state is altered
I'm not seeing any visions
but I feel so crazy
that calming smoke
hits my brain

- "El Baleado"

Painting too vivid a picture of narco life could be dangerous, but Hernández insists he's singing about fictional characters: "My corridos aren't made for starting beef with anyone, they are corridos that are made to entertain, so people can drink and have a good time." His nickname, "El Amigo de Todos (Everyone's Friend)," could either describe his easygoing nature or a shrewd marketing strategy in a business where entertainment and reality often collide.

On his latest album, 16 Narcocorridos, Hernández chronicles a world where the bad guys are calling the shots: there's El Querendón y Cajetoso, a womanizer without remorse, Rey Midas, a man who escapes poverty by joining the mafia, and a ruthless gang of killers known simply as El Taliban. Hernández, who takes pride in singing about "things no one else would dare sing about," says these days, he's more worried about ticket sales than anything else: "What I'm afraid is of getting a weekend where nobody shows up [to my shows]."

See: myspace.com/larryhernandez