They ask to exclude Peso Pluma from the Viña del Mar Festival for inciting “narcoculture”

National Television Chili (TVN) asked this Tuesday to cancel the Mexican singer’s show Featherweight at the Viña del Mar International Festival, despite the fact that the contest is opposed to it, and said that a public channel like TVN cannot “convey” songs related to “narcoculture”.

“As part of its public mission, National Television Chili must promote democratic values ​​and human rights (…) It cannot share, transmit, or promote repertoires alluding to violence, drug trafficking and other elements related to the so-called narcoculture.”the channel said in a statement.

TVN, which together with the private Channel 13 is responsible for broadcasting the contest, “considers that it is the duty of the entire society, as well as public and private institutions, to take the necessary measures and deliver unequivocal signals, in matters such as crime, organized crime and drug trafficking.”the statement added.

The controversy began last week when the Chilean sociologist Alberto Mayol pointed out in an opinion column on the Radio Biobio website that Featherweight “epically praises the narco life” in his songs, ““It refers to the luxuries that drug traffickers provide.” and “refers to sexual relations based on the money that drug traffickers allow”.

Mayol also questioned TVN for broadcasting the festival and the Municipality of the coastal town of Viña del Mar, 100 kilometers from Santiago, for organizing it.

After the column, the Villamarino councilor René Lues sent a letter to the mayor of the coastal town, Macarena Ripamonti, requesting the suspension of the show scheduled for March 1 during the closing of the contest, one of the main and longest-running stages of the Latin American music and whose first edition took place in 1960.

The festival organization confirmed the singer’s show last Friday and said that “will not incur any type of censorship or discrimination”.

Featherweight, the contest added, “It has more than 55.5 million monthly listeners” and has been described by international media such as Time “as a musical phenomenon that transcends borders, fusing genres and bringing the richness of regional Mexican music to global audiences”.

24-year-old Hassan Emilio Kabande Laija is a reggaeton, Latin trap and corridos tumbaos singer (a subgenre that combines urban music and regional Mexican music), whose fame has skyrocketed in recent years, mainly among young people.

In 2023, he was the fifth most listened to artist globally on Spotify and his song ‘She dances alone’, which he performs with Eslabón Armado, was the fifth most played on the platform.

Some of his songs allude to Mexican cartels and the famous drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The rival cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación recently threatened to kill him over his lyrics.

In his lyrics he talks about love, power and wealth, but he also makes reference to drugs such as ‘tusi’ (“They do not occupy flowers, only a powder that is pink”) and recognized drug traffickers, such as the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín ‘ El Chapo’ Guzmán (“I am from Chapo Guzmán’s people”).

A Cadem survey published on January 14 showed that Chilean citizens are increasingly concerned about organized crime in the country. More than 50% even said they were very afraid that the wave of violence currently affecting Ecuador could spread to Chile.

TVN is one of the channels that will broadcast the music festival at the end of February. Other artists who have lyrics related to guns and criminals, such as local singer Pailita, have performed at the festival in the past.