Who's To Blame...When We Put the Remedy On Ice!

Editor's Note: This is a true story about the making of a song or should we say a firme rola (great hit). It was never intended to be made public but it had to be...the universe demanded it be!

You see, there was this vato, RicoS (aka: Suave), who has been playing guitar and sharing firme rolas for half a century (56 years, to be exact) with anyone who would listen. Sí, he's a legend in his own mind!

Pero, we don't make idols here at PuroChisme. No, no, we've learned a thing from the past and have been reminded recently, heroes don't always shine! ¿Tú sabes, porque, César? Porque!

Besides, RicoS never worried about fame because he'd been a closet musician for most of his life. Until some seasoned musicians found him, aging but still strumming & singing in a corner. They put him in a bigger room with people listening.

What a risky notion! They must have heard something in his songs that was worth sharing. Today, we are sharing one of those songs with you. The song is called "Who's To Blame."

The Backstory: In November of 2025, RicoS wrote the song after watching the news and seeing the inhumanity of man against man orchestrated by a law enforcement agency - ICE. What he observed ICE doing on the streets wasn't happening in a third-world country; it was happening in Los Angeles, California, and other cities across the United States.

He watched as unidentified masked gunmen, armed to the teeth, apprehended people without probable cause and denied due process, as a matter of policy, solely based on the color of their skin or the accent in their voice.

His background as a peace officer for over 30 years taught him about the freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution, including the rights to face his accuser, to representation, and to a speedy trial. None of that was happening and what's worse, our leaders were ignoring our national devotion to the basic principle of "innocent until proven guilty?" A crucial part of what makes a true democracy.

Well, it seems only citizens of these United States are given that devotion...the rest are assumed to be rapists, murderers, and gang members. Or are they? You see ICE was grabbing anyone they wanted. RicoS was pissed at the daily assault against humanity and finally vented his frustration in a song.

He share the rola with his Mensajes Ensemble to get feedback during a gig rehearsal in San Diego.

MensajesE is a collection of OG's and young musicians that play an array of music. Their ages range from 75 years young, to 10 years old. MensajesE liked the song so much they volunteered to record the rola.

Each ensemble member's musical roots stem from their own band experiences: The Wandering Dogs, Los Alacranes Mojados, La Rondalla Amerindá, The RugRats, La Rondalla de San Diego, and the Inland Empire's very own Joel Soto from Saints of Sinners fame.

The business of recording music is not as simple as getting the band in a room and putting on a tape recorder. The sound and track beats must be clean. MensajesE never claimed to be so polished; they preferred to sing and play con ganas for Raza, ignoring the occasional chord, key, and/or voice hiccups. Live music was the only way for MensajesE to play!

So that's how they recorded it: the guitar licks for "Who's To Blame" were played by RicoS as he sang the rola. Joel Soto, on lead guitar, asked, "How do you want this track played?" RicoS replied, "I wrote it angry, just play what you're feeling." So Joel improvised and, in just three takes, nailed a furious soundtrack that brought the rola to life!

JanoA, guitarist/singer, actor, and filmmaker, suggested making a music video for release. RicoS readily agreed, "Why not? Let's get the message out." JanoA volunteered to make the film and submit it for consideration at music festivals.

JanoA and RicoS agreed that having the younger musicians - who had never sang before - sing the chorus in harmony with the OG's would make the rola more powerful.

The RugRats: Angela, Aubrey, Ricky, and Anderson's voices brought heart & soul to the rola.

Life reminds us that timing is everything - the rough cut of the song was completed mere days before the recording studio went out of business.

As if the studio had hung on just to make our musical journey complete before closing its door.

Here's the Rola (chorus in Green):

Saw them Rollin' Hard,

Just down the street,

Faces covered up, flak-jack, fatigues,

Waving guns around,

with No ID-yeah,

For Everyone, they meet,

Mama’s running for her life,

Children screaming, Why, Why, Why?

Why Are We To Blame,

When Everybody Here’s the Same,

We’ve seen this all before,

Rounding up, citizens galore,

Ship out that Wetback Threat,

So today, there’s No Regrets,

You Claim to Save the world,

For every Boy & Girl,

But Us, You Deny,

Papa’s running for his life,

Children screaming, Why, Why, Why?

CHORUS

Everyone’s Got uh, Point of View,

Learned it all, from, watching the news,

But History, Repeats Itself, When We, Chose to Ignore,

 FACTS don’t mean too much, when you don’t give a FUCK,

Cause It’s, Them or Us!

So, Who’s To Blame, in this Fantasy Charade,

When Everybody’s Still the Same,

Who’s To Blame, for Another Racist Game

We Know, That’s Why We’re To Blame

Why Are We, Why Are We, Why Are We …To Blame?

Gente, the Who's To Blame music video has been selected by seven different music festivals and has won Best Music Video in India's Golden Lion International Film Festival, Free Speech Award at the Bangkok Movie Awards, semi-finalist at the Sweden Film Awards, and honorable mention at the Athens International Film Festival in Greece.

As of this blog post, we are excited about our rola's premiere at the 2026 Indie Vegas Film Festival at the Regal Aliante IMAX @ Aliante Casino & Hotel held

April 30-May 3, 2026. And, yes...we won for Best Editing Music Video!

The music video will be released for public viewing online in the near future! First, we got to do that marketing thing to generate interest, tú sabes!

You can hear the rola right now ese, on Spotify, Pandora and un chingo de otra stations too! Do we sound like a pinché commercial? Si mon que yes, y porque no?

@www.purochisme.org @_film_maker @who's__to__blame__music__video