Gracias a Dios que los Bailes Me Han Ayudado: Exploring the Baile Economy and Symbolic Networking among Mexican Sonidos in Chicagoland

Sonidero is a subculture centered around immigrant Mexican sonidos (sound men) who possess powerful DJ sound equipment. Working in Latina/o nightlife spaces that are popular with Mexican immigrants, sonidos typically curate bailes (dances) with Latin American soundscapes, including cumbia and salsa rhythms, that are accompanied by saludos (shout-outs). Scholars have focused on sonidero as a form of transnational cultural practice, but few have examined the informal economy of labor, earnings, and expenses associated with sonidero spaces and the sonido's role. This essay looks at Mexican sonidos' participation in the baile economy in Chicagoland following the Great Recession, when sonidos supplemented their low-wage jobs in the formal sector by working in sonidero dances on weekends. I introduce the concept of symbolic networking to analyze how Chicagoland Mexican sonidos strategically use collaboration, as well as competition, with other sonidos to realize both material and social benefits. In this way they transform sonidero bailes into leisure and labor spaces as a means to confront economic uncertainties associated with neoliberal restructuring in both Mexico and the United States.