‘These were tough dudes – and notoriously romantic’: why lowrider soul, LA’s music and car subculture, still thrives

'Low rider knows every street," chanted War on Low Rider, their 1975 hymn to the customised cars of east and south central Los Angeles whose suspension had been chopped down to allow them to run "slow and low". Later, Black LA films (Boyz n the Hood) and music videos (Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre) prominently featured lowriders, the camera passing lovingly over the cars' customised paint jobs and hydraulic systems that allowed them to bounce. But the lowrider was actually invented by LA's Mexican-American Chicano community after the second world war – and their drivers didn't listen to rap, but "lowrider soul", elegiac R&B songs that remain their preferred soundtrack for cruising.

Lowrider soul constitutes a paradox: lovelorn ballads aren't what you might expect these often extremely macho drivers to listen to. "Well, these lowrider guys were tough dudes, many street-and-prison hardened, but they were also notoriously 'romantic'," says Luis J Rodriguez, the celebrated Chicano poet and author who grew up building and driving lowriders. "I think many of us hung on to the illusions of family and home because we didn't have good families or homes. Those old R&B songs spoke to our depths."

This remarkable auto-musical subculture is now having a moment. In October 2023 the California State Assembly rescinded all remaining laws prohibiting lowriders – these statutes had been on the books for decades and allowed the police to penalise drivers, revoke licences and even impound their cars. Anti-lowrider laws ranged from those that prohibited a car's chassis from being too "low" to anti-cruising regulations (defined as driving past the same spot multiple times within a set time period). The first of these laws was passed in 1958, then intensified in the late 80s: the LAPD viewed lowriders as being driven by gang members and drug dealers. The Chicano community protested that the laws were designed to harass them when they were simply enjoying cruising and listening to "oldies".

"They were used by police to go after a marginalised community," says Rodriquez. "Now, cruising is back."

LA's Petersen Automotive Museum is currently hosting Best in Low , an exhibition celebrating the cars and their culture, while Got a Story to Tell, the second album by multimillion-streaming San Diego band Thee Sacred Souls, is bringing lowrider soul to an international audience. "Lowrider soul has always been around, but it's only recently that the term has been picking up more and more attention as people pay homage to that era," says Alex Garcia, the band's drummer and co-founder.

"Soul started out as a Black music but the Chicano community embraced it," continues singer Josh Lane. "Some of their bands and DJs kept elements of soul alive that were overlooked in the Black community as soul moved into funk and R&B. There's a correlation between Black and Brown soul cultures – a handshake, you could say – and it's very impressive. I see lowrider soul as a big Black and Brown act of togetherness."

LA's mid-century status as the most segregated US city west of Mississippi meant racial discrimination forged this bond between Black musicians and Chicanos. "In the 1950s and 60s, Black bands couldn't play in Hollywood's racist clubs," says Rodriquez. "The soul revues, from Johnny Otis to Motown, ended up in mostly Mexican dancehalls and clubs of the Eastside. Chicano youth, and often Filipinos, became their most loyal fanbase." Rodriguez notes how Chicano bands playing R&B created what was described as the "Eastside sound: Sunny & the Sunliners, the Premiers, Cannibal & the Headhunters, Thee Midniters and more" – so becoming part of the soundtrack for lowriders. "They 'sounded' Black, and added their own twists."

Today, Garcia credits record collectors for digging out rare tracks from that era and bringing them back into circulation. "There's a real correlation with the UK northern soul scene – sometimes both the northern and the lowrider collectors are looking for the same record," he says. "Although the northern collectors want the uptempo A-side while the lowriders want the ballad on the B-side." This dichotomy was explored on Kent Records' 2019 compilation This Is Lowrider Soul 1962-1970 – 24 yearning ballads collated by British and LA DJs, who bonded via their shared passion for rare soul singles.

Thee Sacred Souls are among a growing number of groups continuing to update lowrider soul with original material while staying true to the genre's analogue sound. Another outfit, Thee Sinseers, play London's Jazz Cafe this week, and Garcia credits Sinseers bandleader Joey Quinones with "doing a great deal for re-popularising classic soul music in southern California". Both bands employ "Thee" in homage to Thee Midniters, a 1960s-era east LA band now venerated by lowrider soul and garage rock aficionados, who still perform across the south-west US.

"Lowriders are now a heritage culture of Los Angeles," says Rodriguez. "Most lowrider shows involve families, older dudes and hardly ever any drugs or violence. The globalisation of lowriding has helped – especially with the Tokyo lowriders, who gave mad props and respect to Chicanos for creating this culture. I'm glad to have lived to see this love and respect."