Frankie J knows exactly what fame and success tastes like. He was with the multi-platinum Mexican-American group, Kumbia Kings for four years before he went solo with his album What’s A Man To Do? in 2003. The first single off that album, Don’t Wanna Try was a smash hit and on heavy rotation on all the music channels.
After his recent chart-topping collaboration with rapper Baby Bash on Suga Suga, and two years after his solo album, Frankie J is finally releasing a second, The One and is nervous about taking more control of his sound. “I was very nervous. You get this weird feeling in your gut. You don’t know how people will accept (a new album). It’s a big turn from the first album.” But with big industry names like Mariah Carey, K-Ci & JoJo, Mario Winans and Irv Gotti producing this album, it’s clear he has nothing to worry about. “Being able to work with some big names, they bring you to a different light and they are used to producing big. (It’s) pushed me into a whole different level and allowed me to catch up with other artists doing their thing.”
Frankie J’s own thing is about leading the current Latin and R&B movement. “R&B music has always been in my heart,” Frankie says. “People would always doubt me and say, ‘You’re Mexican, you don’t have the soul to make it.’ But soul is just soul, whatever the ethnic background. I think the music speaks for itself.”
Frankie J photo by Jonathan Mannion
Written by Faze contributor Linda Nguyen
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