la vida loca, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

la vida loca n.

also mi vida loca, mi loca vida

[Sp. la vida loca, the crazy life; coined by the Mexican immigrant gangs, starting with the pachucos of the 1930s–40s and the cholos of 1950s–60s, who initiated the gang style, subseq. picked up by black teens and their elders]

(US gang) the gangster lifestyle of the Mexican barrios of the US, esp. Los Angeles; also in non-gang use (see cite 2023).

1977		(con. 1969) M. Herr Dispatches 9: We’d still be running around inside our skins like something was after us, ha, ha, La Vida Loca.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 176: The tattoo [...] read mi loca vida, the cholo version of born to lose.
1997		G. Sikes 8 Ball Chicks (1998) 30: I noticed a tattoo on her wrist — three dots, the symbol of the gang motto: ‘Mi vida loca’ (‘My Crazy Life’).
1998		Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office City of Houston, TX Street Gang Sl. / Gloss. 9 Nov.: mi vida loca Spanish translation for ‘My crazy life.’ Symbolizes what the gang member thinks of their lifestyle. Live for now, don’t worry about the consequences.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 226: [E]v’body else downstairs livin la vida loca.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 53: It plays inimcal to her [i.e. Marilyn Monroe] whole vida loca.