In the last year Mexico has seen an unprecedented 2,544 drug-related murders (these numbers are according to the press, since the government doesn’t keep tabs). Unfortunately, this violence has affected the music scene. Last week two of Mexico’s biggest pop stars, Sergio Gomez of K-Paz de la Sierra and Zayda Pena of Zayda y Los Culpables were brutally murdered - Zayda in her hospital bed after a failed murder attempt left her injured.

The reason these pop stars are getting murdered is that their songs are being adopted as anthems for various cartels. The artists then become a symbols of whichever cartels adopt them, and murdering these artists is just another way for these groups to battle one another.

The cartels don’t care about how they are seen by the public, they are worried about showing their absolute control of their territory, and they will impose their control at all costs,” González said. “(Killing a singer) is like planting the flag of their cartel in the ground.
- Samuel González Ruiz, former head of a federal organized crime task force