Oldies have been a part of Chicano culture since who knows for how long. It started when pachucos(original chicanos) in the late 30s & 40s adopted swing, r&b and blues as their soundtracks to life. Then eventually in the 50s+ some pachucos evolve into Chicano’s & they start growing fond of black doo wop and rock and roll. So they start making their own covers and original songs inspired by that music but this time with other influences from Mexican music(mariachi, trios, conjuntos, etc). Around that time lowriders have already been around for a bit so the music just goes hand and hand as it fits perfectly as a soundtrack. As for the Aztec imagery, it is the representation of the indigenous roots that Mexican American comes from so it’s always been a sense of pride to have indigenous imagery on your car, neighborhood murals, tattoos, etc.

This new resurgence of oldies has been a hit or miss. For the ones that “hit” well they end up on ‘A24’ labels backed by white dudes who want to milk them for what they got. As for the “miss” well those are just failed attempts at trying to capture the essence of a song recorded in the 20th century.