\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA banner draped from a Tijuana bridge earlier this week carried a chilling warning in bold black letters: \u201cJunior H<\/a>, refrain from showing up on 08\/11. If not, you\u2019re going to get yourself killed.\u201d\u00a0 The threat, currently under investigation by the Baja California authorities, is the latest attempt by one of Mexico\u2019s most dangerous cartels to assert its control over both artists, and the city the banner is placed in.<\/p>\n \n\tIn recent years, Grupo Firme<\/a>, Fuerza Regida<\/a>, and Peso Pluma <\/a>have received similar warnings from different cartels, prompting them to cancel shows to protect themselves and their fans. A rep for Junior H, however, told Rolling Stone<\/em> <\/a>last week that the corridos artist still plans to perform as scheduled.<\/p>\n \n\tAs m\u00fasica mexicana has surged in popularity, so have \u201cnarcomantas\u201d \u2014 banners deployed by Mexican cartels to threaten artists and rival groups. In extreme cases usually unrelated to music, these narcomantas have been accompanied by severed heads or dead bodies; other times, they carry simple but serious messages that demand to be taken at face value.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNarcomantas need to be taken completely seriously,\u201d Mexico City-based criminal defense attorney Ilan Katz Mayo tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThe medium is the message. The simple fact that a narcomanta exists sends a message: the situation is dangerous and the threat is real.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKatz Mayo says that narcomantas are a \u201cway for organized criminal organizations to scare people\u201d and also threaten other cartels or those who work with them. \u201cSometimes, criminal organizations may have issues with a singer over a lyric or because the artist supports someone who antagonizes that group,\u201d Katz Mayo explains.<\/p>\n \n\tIn Junior H\u2019s case, the threat \u2014 allegedly from the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generaci\u00f3n \u2014 explicitly referenced his narcocorridos: \u201cNot singing narcocorridos now won\u2019t save you. We do not forgive,\u201d it read. The message seemed to point to his past music that alludes to leaders of rival criminal organizations.<\/p>\n