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Los Angeles-based band The Mexican Standoff has written, recorded, and produced a video for a new song honoring Benjamín Ramírez, the elotero whose cart was knocked over by an angry Argentine man in a now viral video. The song is on the faster side of a corrido—a Mexican narrative ballad that often honors underdogs. The band, which only recently formed and has been gigging around L.A., describes members as folk music players from Mexico and the US who “sing in both languages, and show people a good time in [these] tough times.”
"El corrido de Benjamín Ramirez" starts out in Spanish and explains how Ramírez was “earning his bread;” it also includes a couple of interludes in English that pushes the narrative. At the end of the song, singer Fernández imitates the man who attacked Ramírez’s cart, poking fun of irritating, exaggerated Argentine slang and even taking a jab at the Ole song, which is famously and annoyingly chanted by droves of Argentines during the World Cup.
When asked why the band recorded the song, the answer was to the point: “End racism.” The Mexican Standoff is performing Saturday at 10 p.m. at The Escondite (Hideout). Word has it they’ll play El corrido de Benjamín Ramirez at the show.
