# Frankie J

Francisco Javier Bautista Jr. (born December 7, 1975) 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, 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.

## Early life

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.

## Career

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.

### Kumbia Kings (1999–2003)

In 1999, he became a member of the Kumbia Kings (created by A.B. Quintanilla, brother of Selena). He performed under the name Cisko.

### Solo career: What's a Man to Do

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.

### The One and breakthrough

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 Top40 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.

### Independent route

Following his departure from Columbia Records, Frankie J released a few singles ("Pictures", "If You Were My Girlfriend", "Crush") between 2008 and 2011, as well as starting his own label, Soulsick Records. He has also written songs for other artists, most recently the number 2 hit song "Take a Chance on Me" in the United Kingdom for boyband JLS.
He released his fourth English-language studio album Courage on December 7, 2011. The lead single "How Beautiful You Are" was released to digital retailers on October 24, 2011. The music video was directed by Mike Ho and premiered on YouTube on September 11, 2011. The video for the album's second single "And I Had You There" premiered on Frankie's YouTube channel on November 26, 2011. Frankie J and Baby Bash shot a video for the album's third single "That's Wussup" in December 2011 in San Diego, California. The video premiered on January 8, 2012.
On July 12, 2012, it was announced that Frankie J will join Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias on their joint North America tour, serving as a special guest, replacing Wisin & Yandel who were initially the opening act.

### Faith, Hope y Amor and Grammy success

In 2011, he signed with Universal Music and began work on a new Spanish-language album. He released two digital singles ("Ay, Ay, Ay" and "Tienes Que Creer En Mi"/"Take a Chance on Me") in late 2012.
In 2013, he released his new album, Faith, Hope y Amor on May 28, 2013. The album was nominated for the 56th annual Grammy Award under the category of Best Latin Pop Album. It was preceded by the release of the singles "No Te Quiero Ver Con Él" and "Beautiful" (featuring Pitbull). "Impossible" was also released as a single.
On November 26, 2015, he premiered the single "Breakin'", with a music video (in English and Spanglish) premiering on December 14. The digital single was released on December 25, 2015. Four additional singles — "Let the Music Take Control", "I Promise You", "Riches in Heaven", and "Body Rock" — followed in 2016. He announced his next album would be titled More Than the Music. Another single "Not So Dangerous" was released on December 25, 2016.
In March 2017, he scored a radio hit with "Si Una Vez (If I Once)" which was a collaboration with Play-N-Skillz, Wisin, and Leslie Grace. In June, he collaborated with Baby Bash for a new single titled "Vamonos". The following month in July, he released a new single "Lowrider" with Baby Bash, C Kan, Ozomatli & Kid Frost.
On July 27, he released his new studio album titled Eleven through his own label Soulsick Musick Inc.

### Acting

Frankie appeared as a celebrity guest at the 16th birthday party of Marissa Mishelle on MTV's My Super Sweet 16.
In 2011, he joined the mun2 television series RPM Miami as mechanic Ramon. The series was quickly renewed for a second season.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Details | US | US Latin | AUS | Certifications |
| What's a Man to Do | Released: May 27, 2003 Label: Columbia Formats: CD, digital download | 53 | — | — | |
| Frankie J | Released: July 30, 2003 Label: Sony Discos Formats: CD, digital download | — | 57 | — | |
| The One | Released: March 22, 2005 Label: Columbia Formats: CD, digital download | 3 | — | 88 | RIAA: Platinum |
| Un Nuevo Dia | Released: June 13, 2006 Label: Norte/Columbia Formats: CD, digital download | 198 | 9 | — | |
| Priceless | Released: October 17, 2006 Label: Columbia Formats: CD, digital download | 30 | — | — | |
| Courage | Released: December 7, 2011 Label: Soulsick Musick Formats: Digital download, CD | — | — | — | |
| Faith, Hope y Amor | Released: May 28, 2013 Label: Universal Music Latino Formats: Digital download, CD | — | 7 | — | |
| Eleven | Released: July 27, 2017 Label: Soulsick Musick Formats: Digital download | — | — | — | |
| Canciones Que Recuerdo | Released: May 15, 2020 Label: Soulsick Musick Formats: Digital download | — | — | — | |
| Back2us | Released: February 22, 2022 Label: Soulsick Musick Formats: Digital download | — | — | — | |

### Collaborative albums

| Title | Details |
| Sangría (with Baby Bash) | Released: October 20, 2017 Label: Soulsick Musick Formats: Digital download |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Year | Title | US | US R&B | US Rhy. | US Latin | AUS | NZ | UK R&B | UK | Certifications | Album |
| 2003 | "Don't Wanna Try" | 19 | — | 8 | — | 81 | — | — | — | | What's a Man to Do? |
| 2003 | "We Still" | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | | What's a Man to Do? |
| 2003 | "Ya No Es Igual" | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | | Frankie J |
| 2005 | "Obsession (No Es Amor)" (featuring Baby Bash) | 3 | 69 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 38 | RIAA: Platinum ARIA: Gold | The One |
| 2005 | "How to Deal" | 39 | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | RIAA: Gold | The One |
| 2005 | "More Than Words" | 25 | — | 17 | 40 | — | — | — | — | RIAA: Gold | The One |
| 2006 | "Pensando En Ti" | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | | Un Nuevo Dia |
| 2006 | "That Girl" (featuring Mannie Fresh and Chamillionaire) | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Priceless |
| 2006 | "Daddy's Little Girl" | 123 | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | | Priceless |
| 2009 | "If You Were My Girlfriend" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2009 | "Crush" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2011 | "How Beautiful You Are" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Courage |
| 2011 | "And I Had You There" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Courage |
| 2011 | "Santa Do Right" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| 2012 | "That's Wussup" (featuring Baby Bash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Courage |
| 2012 | "Ay, Ay, Ay" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Faith, Hope, y Amor |
| 2012 | "Tienes Que Creer En Mi"/"Take a Chance on Me" | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | | Faith, Hope, y Amor |
| 2013 | "No Te Quiero Ver Con Él" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Faith, Hope, y Amor |
| 2013 | "Impossible" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Faith, Hope, y Amor |
| 2013 | "Beautiful" (featuring Pitbull) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Faith, Hope, y Amor |
| 2015 | "Breakin'" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Let the Music Take Control" (featuring George LaMond) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "I Promise You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Riches in Heaven" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Body Rock" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Not So Dangerous" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2017 | "Lowrider" (featuring Baby Bash, C Kan, Ozomatli & Kid Frost) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2017 | "Candy Coated Dreamer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2017 | "Body Yo Body" (with Baby Bash featuring Paula Deanda & Kap G) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "El Sueno" (with Humby featuring Romany) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Night School |
| 2018 | "Rush" (with Baby Bash and Baeza) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "Dame de Lo Tuyo" (with Raymor) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "Llevame Amarte" (with EMIL) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2018 | "I Hope He Breaks Your Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Nunca Voy a Olvidarte" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Makes Me Weak" (featuring Baby Bash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Lo Que Pasó" (with Artifex) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Con los Ojos Cerrados" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Bring It Back" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2019 | "Delighted" (with Baby Bash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2020 | "Borrón y Cuenta Nueva" (with Artifex) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2020 | "Sabor a Mi" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2020 | "Yo Estoy Aqui" (with David Rolas featuring Alcover and DJ Buddha) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2020 | "One Woman" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2021 | "With You" (featuring Raz B and Paul Wall) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Back2us |
| 2021 | "Eres Bueno" (with Gerardo and Alex Zurdo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2021 | "My Love Is on the Way" (featuring Baby Bash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Back2us |
| 2021 | "Pretty Brown Eyes (PBE)" (featuring Mellow Man Ace) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Back2us |
| 2022 | "El Único" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2022 | "Devil Woman" (featuring Baby Bash) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2022 | "The Only One" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| 2024 | "Never Giving up on You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |

#### As featured artist

| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Year | Title | US | US R&B | US Rap | AUS | CZE | FRA | GER | NZ | POL | SWI | Certifications | Album |
| 2003 | "Suga Suga" (Baby Bash featuring Frankie J) | 7 | 54 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 2 | RIAA: 4× Platinum ARIA: Platinum BPI: Silver BVMI: Gold RMNZ: Platinum | Tha Smokin' Nephew |
| 2019 | "Acapella" (Mikolas Josef featuring Fito Blanko and Frankie J) | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 2 | — | | Non-album single |

### Guest appearances

| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Album |
| 2003 | "Ménage à Trois" | Baby Bash featuring Frankie J & Powda | Tha Smokin' Nephew |
| 2004 | "Ménage à Trois" | Baby Bash featuring Shadow, Don Cisco & Frankie J | Ménage à Trois |
| 2004 | "Hot Zone" | Baby Bash featuring Frost, Nino Brown & Frankie J | Ménage à Trois |
| 2005 | "Are You Still Alone" | Play-N-Skillz featuring Frankie J | The Process |
| 2006 | "Los Infieles (Remix)" | Aventura featuring Frankie J | Non-album single |
| 2006 | "Run Away" | Bubba Sparxxx featuring Frankie J | The Charm |
| 2007 | "Lifted" | Latino Velvet featuring Frankie J & Malik | The Camp Is Back |
| 2007 | "Perfect Girl" | Los Super Reyes featuring Frankie J & Damon Reel | El Regreso De Los Reyes |
| 2007 | "Tell Me (Remix)" | Pitbull featuring Frankie J & Ken-Y | The Boatlift |
| 2007 | "Be Gone" | First Class Fiction featuring Frankie J | Overdue |
| 2008 | "Slow It Down" | Lil Rob featuring Frankie J | Twelve Eighteen, Pt. 2 |
| 2008 | "To the Top" | Omar Cruz featuring Frankie J | Sign of the Cruz |
| 2009 | "Eres (Remix)" | Los Super Reyes featuring Frankie J | Non-album single |
| 2010 | "Night & Day" | Cuete Yeska featuring Frankie J | Love Stories 2: The Notebook |
| 2010 | "You Deserve Better" | Cuete Yeska featuring Frankie J | Love Stories 2: The Notebook |
| 2010 | "Rebound" | Jump Smokers featuring Frankie J | Kings of the Dancefloor |
| 2011 | "El Reloj No Perdona" | Syko "El Terror" featuring Frankie J | The Sykology: The Mixtape |
| 2011 | "Number 1" | Royalty featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2011 | "La Nave Del Olvido (Remix)" | Cristian Castro featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2011 | "Inevitable" | Gemini featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2011 | "I'm Not Coming Home" | Play-N-Skillz featuring Frankie J | Red October |
| 2013 | "Butterfly Kisses" | Baby Bash & Frankie J featuring Paula DeAnda | Non-album single |
| 2014 | "Te Quedarás" | Dulce María featuring Frankie J | Sin Fronteras |
| 2016 | "Enseñar Amar" | Beatriz Gonzalez featuring Frankie J | Enseñar Amar |
| 2016 | "Bad of the Heart (25th Anniversary Live)" | George Lamond featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Na Na Na" | Superstar Guess featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Love Me / Amame" | J Grace featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2016 | "Extraño" | Jon Carmen featuring Frankie J | Jon Carmen |
| 2017 | "Si Una Vez (If I Once)" | Play-N-Skillz featuring Frankie J, Wisin & Leslie Grace | Non-album singles |
| 2017 | "Vámonos" | Baby Bash featuring Frankie J | Non-album singles |
| 2023 | "Te Quiero Hacer Feliz" | Morenito de Fuego featuring Frankie J | TXMX |
| 2024 | "Tu Forma de ser (Love your way)" | Magic Juan featuring Frankie J & David Anthony | Non-album single |
| 2024 | "Sola" | xBValentine featuring Frankie J | Non-album single |
| 2024 | "Cobarde - Acoustic Mix" | Christian Alicea featuring Frankie J | Yo Deluxe |
| 2024 | "5AM" | Anna Mvze featuring Frankie J | Non-album single |
| 2024 | "Beso" | Kamran & Hooman featuring Frankie J | Non-album single |