Singer Pepe Aguilar takes inspiration for his lyrics from his nation's multitude of northbound emigrants whom he sees as heroes in their long-suffering quests to improve the lot of their families. "They are more heroic than anyone, more than Superman and Spiderman, because they leave their homeland, their family, they risk their lives and get to a country (and it is) as if they were criminals. It's really unfair the way they are treated," he said.
Aguilar said that, like many singers, he uses his voice to express his feelings about it because he can't do anything else.
"I'm not going to go stand in front of the White House so they change things," he added. "What I do is sing, and that's how I say what I think. As maestro Sergio Arau (director of the mock-documentary "A Day Without a Mexican") says, without Latinos, the United States would be dead."
He says he feels sad when he hears about the deaths in the desert of emigrants seeking the "American dream," and he expressed his solidarity with, and affection for, the Hispanic community of the United States, calling it "a great audience."
Each year at least 500,000 Mexicans cross the border illegally into the United States, where an estimated 4.5 million of their undocumented compatriots already live.
AWARD WINNING MUSIC
With millions of records sold and a Grammy award in 2001, Aguilar says he does not see Luis Miguel who is entering the ranchero genre with a new album due to hit the market in November as a rival.
"I think it's good that he's recording a ranchero album, but I believe he should have recorded new songs, which would have been something different, not singing the old songs again. I don't have anything against him, but one has to offer" something new, said Aguilar.
GREAT INFLUENCES
Although Aguilar's new album features ballads, he says he will never abandon ranchero.
"Mexican music is part of me and will be all my life, but my intention is not to be Pedro Infante or Javier Solis or Jorge Negrete. To start with, I don't think I have the artistic gifts that these gods of Mexican music have. I have, in a humble way, my way of doing things and it's different from theirs," he said.
"No soy de nadie" is the name of his most recent album, his first with the Sony label.
Aguilar's recording career in the ranchero genre began in 1998 when he launched "Por mujeres como tu," a huge success, followed by "Por el amor de siempre" and "Por una mujer bonita."
