In recent years, the narcocorrido, a type of Mexican ballad usually performed by conjunto norteño groups, has become a popular subject of sociological inquiry. El Narcotraficante: Narcocorridos and the Construction of a Cultural-Persona on the U.S.-Mexico Border by Mark Cameron Edberg, is one such study of this controversial musical genre. The book provides an extensive overview of drug traffickers as social actors in the context of Mexican border culture, the global music industry, and their socioeconomic and political contingencies. Edberg’s work is based on the premise that music not only reflects, but also actively shapes social reality. As for the aim of his study, Edberg explains that it is to investigate the role of narcocorridos, “in combination with social conditions, in shaping the creation of a cultural archetype or persona—the narcotrafficker—and the pattern of action that ties violence, power, money, and drugs to political, social, and regional themes for which the narcotrafficker is known” (p.25).