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In case you've never heard the name Chalino Sánchez, he was a Mexican singer more hardened than any rapper. He's the indisputable king of narcocorridos, "drug ballads," but like many artists, his fame skyrocketed after his early death at age 31, which remains an unsolved murder.

Born impoverished in gritty Sinaloa, Mexico, surrounded by drug crops and violence, his youth was anything but easy. His life of crime began at the age of 15, when he shot and killed a man who had committed an offense against his sister. The man he killed was powerful, so he was forced to flee, bringing his newly forged reputation as a valiente, "brave one," with him.

The king of the narcocorrido

Sánchez went to Tijuana, where he worked smuggling migrants over the border into the US, before crossing illegally himself. He lived in LA, washing dishes, selling cars, and dealing small amounts of cannabis and cocaine. Around this time, his brother, Armado, was shot and killed in Tijuana, inspiring Sánchez's first hit song "Recordando A Armando Sánchez."

Shortly after, Sánchez was sent to jail for petty crimes, and he was commissioned by inmates, many of them cartel members, to compose songs out of their stories. When he got out of prison, he recorded those songs and sent the cassettes to the clients who rapidly ordered more copies. Sánchez began making and selling the cassettes out of the trunk of his car, bringing these narco stories into the limelight. 

Sánchez's popularity was quickly mounting. He quit his day job and began playing larger venues. One particularly raucous night when he was performing for an audience of 400 people, one man requested a song, then immediately jumped on stage and fired four shots at Sánchez, who shot back in self-defense. Sánchez took two bullets to the chest and was taken to the hospital, where he went into a coma. He woke up a few days later to find he was more famous than ever before.

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The death note

His newfound fame meant more money, concerts, and success, but it also meant greater danger. At a show in Sinaloa during his 1992 tour, Sánchez received a note from an audience member. You can still find videos online of the haunting moment in which he reads it, and a worried expression flashes onto his face as he wipes his brow. He continues his show, probably knowing it's going to be his last. It's generally believed that this piece of paper was a death note. 

Following the concert, he was kidnapped, and his body was found the following day, handcuffed, in the trunk of a car. 

Chalino's legacy

Chalino Sánchez defied the cartel not through violent acts or by getting involved with a specific faction, but by doing what no one else dared; he used their power and violence as raw material for songs that exposed them. He gave working-class Mexicans an independent role model who didn't bow to the cartel. His particular brand of bravery made him a target, but it also made him an immortal legend.