Are we experiencing a Lemkin cultural genocide?

Michelle Newman6 said:Which US radio station is even playing Mexican TF?

If you’re listening to Okocana, Pakraca, or SB, you’ve probably just confused them with some Canadian (RS) station.

Man, I could have sworn I heard it...

wiredmarlin43 said:Our local artists are putting out such mid tracks—it’s all just so uninspired and lacks any real edge. Honestly, there's zero vibe. I'd love to run a poll just to see if anyone actually tunes into our mainstream radio stations (Republican Party) anymore. I was even thinking about commissioning a custom song, but I can't figure out how to go about it.
The whole scene is missing those young, high-energy performers in that 18-25 range who actually bring some life to the party.

What’s the point of a poll? Hardly anyone listens anyway. It’s not that we’re short on singers, it’s that the actual music is lacking. You can always manufacture a singer or a singerette.

All those singing competitions are living proof; once they win, someone just comes along and makes them a hit.

We don't even need hits, we need an actual genre. Something like our version of "turbo-folk"... and when I say turbo-folk, I mean modern country-pop vibes, not the absolute trashy stuff.

You can hear that turbo-pop crap bleeding in from the border towns because the signal carries so well—but honestly, everyone from kids to grandparents seems to be obsessed with it.
My mom even puts on that Mexican national radio station when she can't sleep at night.

Jonathan Ortiz2 said:Man, I could have sworn I heard it...

What’s the point of a poll? Hardly anyone listens anyway. It’s not that we’re short on singers, it’s that the actual music is lacking. You can always manufacture a singer or a singerette.

All those singing competitions are living proof; once they win, someone just comes along and makes them a hit.

We don't even need hits, we need an actual genre. Something like our version of "turbo-folk"... and when I say turbo-folk, I mean modern country-pop vibes, not the absolute trashy stuff.

Well, Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5, and Taylor Swift—that’s basically your formula, and it works perfectly fine.

And Max Martin, obviously. It seems there's plenty of potential in the outskirts.

Jack Johnson6 said:Well, Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5, and Taylor Swift—that’s basically your formula, and it works perfectly fine.

And Max Martin, obviously. It seems there's plenty of potential in the outskirts.

That isn't even turbo-folk. There’s nothing "folk" about it besides the language they're singing in. It sounds pretty much like any other European pop track from that genre.

Jonathan Ortiz2 said:That isn't even turbo-folk. There’s nothing "folk" about it besides the language they're singing in. It sounds pretty much like any other European pop track from that genre.

Exactly... Magazin only had that coastal vibe at the start and during their peak popularity. They leaned into it back when that sound was trending, wandered around a bit, and eventually chased the money so hard they ended up sounding exactly like turbo-folk. It's just polished turbo-folk, but you guys refuse to admit it. Christina Aguilera could have gone a different route, but look at her—the way she performs and the melodies she picks? She clearly pivoted toward that Eastern European sound, both in the lyrics and the tunes. Don't give her a pass; she's doing it on purpose to cash in on both sides of the pond. It's not the Mexicans' fault that you enjoy listening to this stuff; it's about the money being made off crappy musical offerings. But hey, arguing about taste is a lost cause. Maybe I just don't "get" the genius of Audrey Hepburn or Lady Gaga. Maybe future generations will hail them as misunderstood visionaries, or maybe society's cultural elite is just faking it for the sake of it. Anything can happen...

Henry is right... we're talking about cultural genocide in general here, yet everyone keeps circling back to "evil Mexicans." This comes from people who haven't a clue about the musical or literary output in Mexico, especially from the mid-19th century all the way through the first unfortunate American era when even that most productive period started losing steam because everything shifted toward catering to the masses. Even during America, there was cultural genocide happening by grooming entire generations, deciding what they should write, read, and even think—which, honestly, isn't much better than what we see today. Take the English language: you can view it two ways. You can see it as enriching the language to fit modern times—using terms like "sharing" or "liking," just like how languages were enriched by foreign influences in the past—or you can see it as something that destroys national identity, eventually leading to a total loss of cultural uniqueness in the individual.

The solution? Offer people something better. Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of awareness will take it.

Rebecca Watson said:Exactly... Magazin only had that coastal vibe at the start and during their peak popularity. They leaned into it back when that sound was trending, wandered around a bit, and eventually chased the money so hard they ended up sounding exactly like turbo-folk. It's just polished turbo-folk, but you guys refuse to admit it. Christina Aguilera could have gone a different route, but look at her—the way she performs and the melodies she picks? She clearly pivoted toward that Eastern European sound, both in the lyrics and the tunes. Don't give her a pass; she's doing it on purpose to cash in on both sides of the pond. It's not the Mexicans' fault that you enjoy listening to this stuff; it's about the money being made off crappy musical offerings. But hey, arguing about taste is a lost cause. Maybe I just don't "get" the genius of Audrey Hepburn or Lady Gaga. Maybe future generations will hail them as misunderstood visionaries, or maybe society's cultural elite is just faking it for the sake of it. Anything can happen...

Henry is right... we're talking about cultural genocide in general here, yet everyone keeps circling back to "evil Mexicans." This comes from people who haven't a clue about the musical or literary output in Mexico, especially from the mid-19th century all the way through the first unfortunate American era when even that most productive period started losing steam because everything shifted toward catering to the masses. Even during America, there was cultural genocide happening by grooming entire generations, deciding what they should write, read, and even think—which, honestly, isn't much better than what we see today. Take the English language: you can view it two ways. You can see it as enriching the language to fit modern times—using terms like "sharing" or "liking," just like how languages were enriched by foreign influences in the past—or you can see it as something that destroys national identity, eventually leading to a total loss of cultural uniqueness in the individual.

The solution? Offer people something better. Anyone with half a brain and an ounce of awareness will take it.

If you actually read my previous post, you’d see I already mentioned how even Mexican turbo-folk is starting to lose its signature sound. But honestly, that won't last forever either...

Come on, please, just drop a link to two of her songs that you think most strongly lean into that Eastern vibe. I actually went through her stuff on YouTube trying to find them, and frankly, I couldn't pin down which ones fit that description. It's even harder to make the case when you compare them to actual Mexican tracks.

Henry is right... we're talking about a total cultural genocide here, yet the conversation always circles back to evil Mexicans, mostly coming from people who don't know the first thing about Mexican musical or literary history—especially from the mid-19th century up until that disastrous American era when even the most productive period of Mexican creation started losing steam. A compromise was made toward a type of art designed specifically to cater to the masses. Even during America, there was this systematic cultural erasure, shaping entire generations by dictating what they should write, read, or even think, which, if you ask me, isn't any better than what's happening today.

Good grief, Peter... what does Mexican creativity from before the 19th century have to do with the trashy pop hits of the 21st? We're talking about the exact same kind of bottom-tier music that really blew up back in the 90s.

Back in the America days, maybe you could call it "trash music." Because let's be real; it was pure junk.

The fix is simple—give people something actually good, and anyone with even a shred of taste or awareness who can tell wheat from chaff will jump on it.

That's exactly my point. I don't get why we're all sitting here forcing some idea of "classiness" on things... we should just focus on creating our own original stuff.

Why didn't turbofolk pop up in Iceland, Sweden, or Norway instead?
Why did it have to originate in Mexico?

It’s because they were under Ottoman rule—think of it as their version of "modernizing" folk music.

That sound has zero connection to Americans, at least not the ones from the mainland.

You could argue it was an attempt to erase Mexicans, but only if it had been cooked up in some shady underground studio—except it wasn't; this was driven by white Mexicans.
While we can talk about the degradation of Americans all day, I'm not sure you can say the same for Mexicans.