Statistiken
Biografie
It seems that for all the esoteric and boundary pushing records that most musicians seem to gravitate towards later in life, it’s always going to be the music that they grow up with that will come the most naturally to them. This makes Frankie J quite lucky in a strange way, since he and his family moved to San Diego, California from Tijuana, Mexico when he was two. Because of that, the music that would shape him in his most formative years would be the Latin music that his family brought over and played when he was a kid, as well as the first waves of west coast hip hop that would spawn from his neck of the woods when he was a teenager.
The combination of the two has made him one of the most consistently succesful pop stars of the 2000’s, and is still going strong to this very day. By the time he was in high school, he was already singing in talent shows across his home state, encouraged to sing as much as he could by his family. By 1997 he’d signed with Hola Recordings as a Freestyle artist by the name of Frankie Boy. His brand of dance pop was released on three compilation records but a full length album was shelved, since in 1999, Frankie joined his first group, the Mexican Cumba sensations Kumbia Kings, as their co-lead vocalist. The group saw his first taste of true success, with the group’s first album selling half a million copies and earned a nomination for Latin artist of the year at the American Music Awards.
However, Frankie wasn’t satisfied with being one of the boys in the band. By 2003 he’d signed a solo contract with Columbia Records and in the same year his first and second solo records were released to great commercial success. May saw the release of his debut, “What’s A Man To Do” and the following July was when his first Spanish language solo album “Frankie J” came out as well. 2003 proved to be a banner year for Frankie, as his debut solo single went to number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first single that he featured on after his solo debut, Baby Bash’s “Suga Suga”, went into the top ten of the same chart.
Since then, he’s had a platinum record in the form of his second English language album “The One”, a number 3 hit on the Hot 100 with “Obsession (No Es Amour)”, and has toured with fellow Latin legends Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias. While he may not get the chart hits that he regularly scored in his earlier career anymore, Frankie J is an artist that doesn’t need figures or chart placements to back him up. He’s proved himself time and time again and will continue to do so with panache and fantastic songs. Highly recommended.
Live-Bewertungen
Having been born in Tijuana, Mexico, there’s no question that Frankie J - or Francisco Javier Bautista, Jr. to give him his full name - has plenty of genuine credentials as far as his latin style of music goes, but it’s also true that even if his sound was born south of the border, it was refined and hones north of it, in San Diego, California. He moved there at the age of just two, but his style of music has very much remained Mexican; he’s recorded albums in both Spanish and English down the years, but it’s in terms of the latter that he’s really enjoyed the greatest success, having seen his third full-length album, The One, go to number three on the U.S. albums charts back in 2005; it’s since been certified platinum. His most recent offering, last year’s Faith, Hope y Amor, saw him return to Spanish and - in the process - hit the top ten of the U.S. Latin charts; when he tours with a full live band, he tends to mix up both sides of his repertoire to keep both sets of fans happy. He seldom tours outside North America, though, so fans from further afield might have to factor in a hefty trip if they want to catch him live.
Francisco Javier Bautista Jr is better known as Frankie J, and used to be a part of the musical group Kumbia Kings. However, when he started out on his solo career, he was able to establish a name for himself. Having been born in Tijuana, Mexico and raised in San Diego, California, he used his upbringing of latin and urban music as his major influences. This allowed him to have, what was at the time an extremely fresh sound. Able to both rap and sing, he is a multi-talented artist who puts on one hell of a show.
During his live set, there is a live band, but also uses a lot of pre-recorded tracks as well. The venue was fairly small, but also pretty full. His 10-song set lasted about 45 minutes, and had a various amount of guests. Most notable was Baby Bash, who took the stage with him for their song “Suga Suga.” The best song of the night was the stripped down acoustic version of “Obsession No Es Amor” which he did entirely in Spanish. For the song, a lot of the crowd was singing along, and at one point overpowered him, so he let them sing instead. He was very down to earth and greatly appreciated the support of his fans.