Background and career
Francisco Javier Bautista Jr. (born December 7, 1976) better known by his stage name Frankie J, is a Mexican-American singer and former member of the musical group Kumbia Kings. Born in Mexico, Latin America. He is of Native Latino-American descent. He grew up in San Diego and became a freestyle artist under the stage name Frankie Boy in the late 1990s. He then joined Kumbia Kings before re-embarking on a solo career. Frankie J's solo debut album, What's a Man to Do, was released in 2003, followed by more English and Spanish language albums. He received a Grammy Award nomination for his album Faith, Hope y Amor in 2013 for Best Latin Pop Album.
Bautista was born in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, and raised in San Diego, California, United States, from the age of two, after his uncle brought him and his siblings to the United States. He grew up listening to both traditional Latin music as well as American urban music. He attended Southwest Senior High School in San Diego. He later began to develop more interest in singing, with the encouragement of his family. At high school age, he began participating in talent shows and performing at school functions. He graduated high school in 1995.
Bautista's first taste of the music business was in 1993, when he was briefly signed to Canadian independent record label Ventura International Records, featuring on a song called "Margarita" by Turkish artist Atilla. In 1997, Bautista signed with the now-defunct Hola Recordings which at the time had only one artist signed to the label, the brainchild of dance music legend and producer Jellybean Benitez. At the time, he was a freestyle artist known as Frankie Boy and his music was released on three Maximum Freestyle compilations but his solo CD was shelved before release.
In 1999, he became a member of the Kumbia Kings (created by A.B. Quintanilla, brother of Selena). He performed under the name Cisko.
Frankie J signed as a solo artist with Columbia Records and released his first album What's a Man to Do on May 27, 2003. His self-titled first Spanish-language album Frankie J was also released later in the same year. The album's lead single "Don't Wanna Try" peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, while "Ya No Es Igual" went Top 10 on the World Latin charts. Later that year, he was featured in the Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Suga Suga" by rapper Baby Bash.
His second album The One was released on March 22, 2005. It was led by the #3 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Obsession (No Es Amor)" featuring rapper Baby Bash, and followed by the Top 40 singles "How To Deal" and "More Than Words". To coincide with the release of "More Than Words", the album was re-released on the DualDisc format in October. By January 2006, The One was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipping over a million copies. His second Spanish-language album Un Nuevo Dia was released on June 13, 2006, and featured the single "Pensado En Ti". Frankie's third English-language album, Priceless, was released on October 17, 2006. It debuted at #30 on the Billboard 200. The lead single "That Girl" featured Chamillionaire and Mannie Fresh and peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single, "Daddy's Little Girl", charted at number 23 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
