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The lead singer of Enigma Norteño has left the band. The state prosecutor's office told the Associated Press that Ernesto Barajas was shot dead on August 19 at a parking lot in Zapopan, a city in Jalisco, Mexico. His age was 38.
According to local authorities who spoke to CBS News, two men on a motorcycle came up to Barajas and started shooting. According to police, the attack claimed the life of one man and injured another, including the musician.
Following his death, Barajas' management company posted a message on Instagram Stories on August 20 that read, "Rest in peace."
"Your Talento Linder family will always be proud of you and remember you as the great artist and human being that you were," said the group. "May God bless you."
Enigma Norteño was established in 2004 and became well-known as a member of the "narcocorrido" subgenre of music, which consists of songs about actual drug dealers and cartel members.
"It can be dangerous to release a corrido without authorization," Barajas told the Spanish-language Independent in 2022, "since you could be revealing a lot of information about the character, and the authorities would be using those details as 'clues' to arrest them."
"The best thing is to speak the truth," he added. Maybe that's why I've never experienced any issues. Ideally, you can compose the corrido as long as you act civilly and don't offend anyone.
Additionally, songs can occasionally be commissioned. At the time, Barajas told the Spanish-language publication, "I charge $25,000 per 'narcocorrido.'"
He said, without naming his customers, "Sometimes they call me and ask for a corrido." "Maybe they personally won't come because they're bosses and don't have the time to come to you and say, 'I want you to make a corrido for me and talk about this,' but they assign someone to do that task."
Barajas, however, maintained that his music does not exalt illegal activity.
“If you, as a young person, listen to 'narcocorridos' and grow up in that circle, sooner or later you'll want to imitate that pattern," he said. "We try to be very careful about what we say and not set a bad example. We're very careful about that aspect."
