Paulino Vargas Jiménez grew up illiterate in rural Durango, met accordionist Xavier Núñez as a teenager, and together they formed Los Broncos de Reynosa in 1957. Composing prolifically for himself and for acts like Los Tigres del Norte, Vargas is widely credited as the songwriter who gave the narcocorrido its enduring shape — plainspoken ballads that narrate traffickers' exploits without moral commentary.

the sound in question

1972

Carga LadeadaPaulino Vargas