If somebody pays me to do a corrido, I'll do it.

He is not the first corrido singer to have cosied up to the cartels.

It's lucrative work: the Ace can charge up to $30,000 for a brand-new corrido - although he will sometimes waive the fee for a friend.

But Hernandez says that even the corridos featuring fictional characters reflect the realities of Mexican life.

Like Angel, he began composing corridos for fellow inmates, and once outside, found his skills in demand from both dealers and legitimate immigrants.