The Chilean National Television (TVN) asked this Tuesday to cancel the Mexican singer's show Featherweight at the Viña del Mar International Festival, despite the competition being against it, saying that a public broadcaster like TVN cannot “broadcast” songs related to “narco culture.”
“As part of its public mission, National Television of Chile must promote democratic values and human rights (…) It may not share, broadcast or promote repertoires that allude to violence, drug trafficking and other elements related to the so-called narcoculture,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
TVN, which is responsible for broadcasting the competition together with private broadcaster 13, “believes that it is the duty of the whole of society, as well as public and private institutions, to take the necessary measures and.” Send clear signals in areas such as crime, organized crime and drug trafficking“added the statement.
The controversy began last week when Chilean sociologist Alberto Mayol pointed it out in an opinion column on the Radio Biobio website Featherweight “Epicly Praises Narco Life” In his songs, he “refers to the luxuries that drug traffickers provide” and “alludes to sexual relationships based on the money that drug traffickers provide.”
Mayol also interviewed TVN to broadcast the festival and the municipality of the coastal town of Viña del Mar, 100 kilometers from Santiago, to organize it.
Following the column, Villamarino city councilor René Lues sent a letter to the coastal town's mayor, Macarena Ripamonti. calls for the show to be suspended scheduled for March 1 during the closing of the competition, one of the most important and longest-running stages of Latin American music, whose first edition took place in 1960.
The festival organization confirmed the singer's performance last Friday and explained thisand “will not be subject to any censorship or discrimination.”
Peso Pluma, the contest added, “has more than 55.5 million monthly listeners” and has been described “as” by international media outlets such as Time a musical phenomenon that transcends boundariesthat fuses genres and brings the richness of regional Mexican music to a global audience.”
24-year-old Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija is a singer of reggaeton, Latin trap and corridos tumbaos (a subgenre that combines urban music and regional Mexican music) whose fame is well known has increased dramatically in recent yearsmainly among young people.
In 2023 the time had come the fifth most listened to artist worldwide on Spotify and her song “She dances alone,” which she performs with Eslabón Armado, was the fifth most-played song on the platform.
He talks about it in his texts Love, power and wealthbut it also refers to drugs like “Tusi” (“They don’t use flowers, just a powder that’s pink”) and acknowledged drug traffickers like Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán (“I belong to the people of Chapo Guzmán (EFE)