Banda MS ‘141’ Is the First Regional Mexican Song Featured in ‘Call of Duty’
If you regularly sing your heart out to a good corrido, throw back tequilita while listening to Banda MS, and go a bit crazy with your “Call of Duty” obsession — then we have big news.
Sinaloa-based Banda MS teamed up with the iconic video game franchise to bring us the collaboration we didn’t know we needed, paying homage to all things Mexico.
The Mexican Banda joined forces with “Call of Duty” to bring us their new track “141,” a corrido that pays tribute to the video game’s Mexican Special Forces’ Task Force 141 and the character Colonel Alejandro Vargas. The music video is a must-watch, showcasing the band right smack-dab in the game in Mexico, while seemingly working on the side of the military.
Even better? The song is also featured in the latest installment of the game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II,” and as per Billboard, is the first Regional Mexican song to be included in the video game franchise — ever.
As is typical with corridos, the lyrics of this song honor the subject’s legacy and describe the task force’s power and determination. The band sings, “I’m the 141 and here I go, I’m behind the cartel’s souls, ‘The Vaqueros’ going strong,” referencing the game’s Mexican special unit “Los Vaqueros” led by Vargas. Other notable lyrics include “Fighting for the team… we’re going to give you your karma” and “There are more good guys every time.”
Few are more excited about the inclusion of “141” in “COD” than Banda MS themselves, who spoke to Los Angeles Times about the incredible “honor.” Singer Oswaldo “Walo” Silvas Carreón told the outlet that this is their most important collaboration yet, and that they feel “full of pride” to have been chosen by the franchise to make the song.
Silvas Carreón described the special track, saying, “The song is about the 141 team… which now includes the character Alejandro Vargas, who is the Mexican [Colonel] in this version.” Writing the song specifically for the video game, it “narrates how the team looks to disarm the ‘bad guys.’ It is a team that fights for the greater good [and] justice.”
Meanwhile, about the franchise’s decision to go with Banda MS, the singer remembers how the video game “had to find a band that represented Mexican culture, who could connect with young people.” After going with the Sinaloan band, Silvas Carreón says they didn’t just feel proud — they felt “a lot of responsibility,” too.
There’s no doubt “141” is a massive success, and brings true Mexican representation to the video game — a very good thing, since part of the new installment actually takes place in the country.
Rodrigo Pérez, Senior Brand Manager of Latin America for Call of Duty, explained to Level Up: “With a portion of the single-player campaign set in Mexico, we knew that we had a unique opportunity in Mexico and the Hispanic market with ‘Modern Warfare II,’” continuing, “With settings from Mexico inside the game, Mexican culture was essential to explore and feel.”
While many corridos aren’t necessarily dedicated to “the good guys,” both the band and franchise wanted to do something different with the song. As per Carlos Fernández Oxté, Executive Creative Director at the agency who thought up the amazing collab, “With Banda MS and the song ‘141,’ #C.O.D.rrido was born: a subgenre of ‘corridos’ that sings to the good guys, turning the historical narrative of this musical style upside down.”
