Gomez 1

Bianca Gomez

Professor Johnson

Writing 2 ACE

11 June 2017

Hip-Hop and Mexican Ballad

When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending the best Theyre bringing drugs.

Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists And some, I assume, are good people. This is just

one of numerous insults Donald Trump made against Mexican immigrants during his presidential

campaign in 2016. Many people critiqued him for his remarks towards various individuals,

groups, ethnicities, and religions. Some artists even wrote songs about the presidential candidate

to express their negative opinions of him. Los Angeles rappers YG and Nipsey Hussle released a

harsh diss track directed at the candidate titled FDT (Fuck Donald Trump) and Banda La

Maravillosa recorded a song titled El Corrido de la Hillary Clinton y el Trump where they

compare both presidential candidates. The hip-hop song is directed towards an African-American

audience, whereas the corrido is speaking to an audience of Mexican descent. Each of these

songs is speaking to different cultural groups, both of which have been victims of Trumps

hateful, violent rhetoric. Although both genres of music are on the presidential campaign, they

differ in musical structure and they express themselves differently because they each have a

different approach to resonate with their audience. The hip-hop song is doing what most hip-hop

songs do, that is, using anger and strong language to get its audience to resist against Donald

Trump, whereas the corrido is genre bending to influence a larger audience and get them to vote.

Hip-hop music was pioneered by African-Americans from South Bronx New York City

in the 1970s. Hip-hop topics can range from gang culture to relationship subjects and also
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prejudice. The genre is mainly thought to be a black-dominated industry because the lyrics

depicted are mostly about the history and struggle of the artists and African-Americans. Incidents

of crime, poverty, and violence are usually portrayed. The primary demographics of hip-hop

audiences consists mostly of working class, African-American males ranging from the ages of

eleven to thirty-six. This demographic is more likely to relate to the songs because they have also

likely been victims of hate crimes. The majority of hip-hop songs are structured the same; they

have more than one verse, a hook, and a bridge. The specific hip-hop song Ive decided to focus

on for this paper is FDT (Fuck Donald Trump), a song that critiques Trump by highlighting the

prejudiced remarks he has made towards people of color.

Corridos are a form of narrative song or verse sung in Spanish that became popular

during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), during which major figures who fought in the battle

were commemorated in verse. This genre was first introduced in Mexico and then spread to the

Southwestern United States. Popular topics of corridos are immigration, the struggle of crossing

the border, drug trafficking, love, wars and revolutions, and social and political events. The main

audience for corridos are Spanish-speaking Mexicans who are more likely to relate to the topics

mentioned above. The classic corrido generally consists of eight-syllable, four-line stanzas sung

to a simple tune. The corrido I have chosen to write about for the purpose of this paper is El

Corrido de la Hillary Clinton y el Trump, a ballad that focuses on the presidential election and

how itll affect Mexicans in particular.

The hip-hop song FDT (Fuck Donald Trump) has a musical structure that is common

among most hip-hop songs. FDT has an intro, a hook, three different verses, and an interlude.

The intro gives us some background information so we know the motives for writing the song,

which in this is to critique the presidential candidate. FDT opens up like this, just when I
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thought it wouldn't get no sicker, woke up one morning and heard this weird ass mothafucka

talkin' out the side of his neck. With this opening statement, we learn that the artists are hostile

towards the presidential candidate because he has said some things that the artists did not like.

Another component of hip-hop songs is the hook. The hook of the song is a short riff that is

repeated multiple times, therefore, it is the part that listeners remember the most. Like the author

of Ten Ways to Think About Writing, Shelley Reid says, the chorus serves as a place for the

audience to recognize the main idea and find a way to sing along (12). Most hip-hop songs

have a chorus or a hook, so if the audience doesnt remember the lyrics to the whole song, they

can at least sing along to the main idea. The hook for this hip-hop song is Fuck Donald Trump.

With this musical structure and use of language, the artists try to catch the ear of the listener and

influence them to stand against the presidential candidate.

Unlike the hip-hop song that follows the standard musical structure, El Corrido de la

Hillary Clinton y el Trump is genre bending in order to appeal to a larger audience. Corridos

consist of three major chords and rarely any minor ones, and they have only verses, no choruses.

Because a corrido is a narrative ballad, it usually begins with a verse that sets the theme, then

tells a story, and ends with a farewell. Since corridos are written by artists of Mexican descent,

they are usually sung in Spanish. What makes El Corrido de la Hillary Clinton y el Trump

unique is that it is sung in both English and Spanish. The corrido starts like this, Ah viene el

new Presidente de los Estados Unidos. Its between Hillary Clinton and a toupee on a Cheeto. If

youre not sure who to vote for, escuchen este corrido.1 With this opening statement, we can

decipher the theme of the ballad, the artists political position, and the purpose of the song. The

1
Translated in English as Here comes the new president of the United States. Its between
Hillary Clinton and a toupee on a Cheeto. If youre not sure who to vote for, listen to this song.
 Gomez 4

corrido then goes on to tell a story about both presidential candidates and ends with a call to

action, Make sure you register pronto to vote el Noviembre ocho. Make your voice heard with

your ballot2 It doesnt have a chorus because it is telling a story, and just like in a book, it

wouldnt make sense to keep repeating things. The purpose of this narrative structure is to get its

audience to remember the overall message and not just the hook. It is also sung in two languages

to cater to both the Spanish and English speaking audience. This acknowledges the fact that due

to immigration, some second-generation Americans may not speak or understand Spanish.

The artists in FDT use a lot of profanity and slang, and they entertain their audience

with the use of rhyme. They use profanity from the first line of the song to the last and slang

terms like trippin, prolly, ain't, and wanna. The artists entertain their audience by using

rhythmic lyrics like, look, Reagan sold coke, Obama sold hope, Donald Trump spent his trust

fund money on the vote. This explicit language and rhythmic lyrics are common in hip-hop

songs. They use angry and assertive speech to tap into peoples emotions and rowdy up the

audience. With this form of expression, the hip-hop artists influence the audience to stand against

Donald Trump.

Contrary to them, the artists in El Corrido de La Hillary y el Trump use little, if any,

profanity and they try to entertain their audience with comedy. The corrido mentions only one

swear word, and instead uses comic relief to get its point across. It includes lines like, Its

between Hillary Clinton and a toupee on a cheeto, No quiere a los inmigrantes aunque su

esposa es mojada,3 El Trump tira ms veneno que un grupo de angry cholas,4 and vota por

2
Translated in English as Make sure you register soon to vote on November eighth. Make your
voice heard with your ballot
3
Translated in English as He doesnt like immigrants although his wife is a wetback
4
Translated in English as Trump spits more venom than a group of angry female gangsters
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quien te guste mientras no sea Pinocho.5 This corrido is more subtle and gentle compared to the

hip-hop song. The use of comic relief is probably meant to dissuade the audience from acting out

and instead, inspire them to influence the system in a positive way.

The two genres differ in musical style because they are catering to audiences who have

different relationships towards America. The hip-hop song functions as the voice of an otherwise

underrepresented groupyoung, urban, working-class African-Americans. The lyrics go, I'm

from a place where you prolly can't go,speakin' for some people that you prolly ain't know.

With this, the artist implies that he is the voice for a group that has inadequate representation.

The artists use explicit language and anger that reflects the emotions of this marginalized group.

They mention unjust treatment to get their audience to react, for example, Black students,

ejected from your rally, what? I'm ready to go right now, your racist ass did too much. I'm 'bout

to turn Black Panther. With this the artists want the audience to stand against Trump and fight

for the rights of blacks. The way they present themselves in the song and react towards the

presidential candidate might have a lot to do with their relationship toward American. African

slaves were an immigrant population that was forcefully brought to the United States. They did

not chose to come here, thus it makes sense that hip-hop songs are very abrupt and critical of the

American system.

On the contrary, corridos are directed towards an audience of Mexican descent, thus their

musical style differs because Mexican descendants have a different relationship to America than

African-Americans. The corrido has English and Spanish terms like the one that says, make

5
Translated in English as vote for who you like as long as its not Pinocchio
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your voice heard with your ballot, Paisas,6 Chicanos,7 and Pochos.8 With this bilingualism, the

artists broaden their audience to more than just the Spanish-speaking community. This way they

are able to inform a larger audience on the presidential election and persuade them to vote.

Unlike the hip-hop song that uses anger, the corrido is rude and shows a lack of respect in a way

that seems playful or amusing. This is probably because the audience does not have a negative

relationship towards America. Mexican immigrants voluntarily come to the United States; they

arent forcefully brought here so instead of resisting, they try to work within the system.

These two genres of music are speaking to cultural groups that Donald Trump has

insulted. Anytime a cultural group perceives a threat, potentially it will rise up against it. These

two communities may feel powerless, yet in this situation they joined to push back against this

threat. The hip-hop song used anger and hateful speech to get its audience to resist Trump and

the corrido bent its genre to persuade the English and Spanish-speaking community to vote

against him. The genre conventions of these two songs where catered to the audiences history

with America.

6
Defined as a Mexican living in the United States that wears cowboy hats, belts, and boots and
who speaks very little English
7
Defined as a person of Mexican origin or descent
8
Defined as an Americanized Mexican, or Mexican who has lost their culture. Pochos speak
English and lack fluency in Spanish
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Works Cited

El Corrido de La Hillary y el Trump- mit. Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJJAKoGSgFo>.

Reid, Shelly E. Ten Ways to Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing

Student. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2010. Print.

YG & Nipsey Hussle "FDT (Fuck Donald Trump)".Web. 13 Apr. 2017.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkZ5e94QnWk>.