El Comienzo

“I could tell you it feels crazy, but we don’t really take in the full experience,” Grupo Frontera percussionist Julian Peña Jr. tells Apple Music about his band’s extraordinary early successes. “We’re always moving around, which to us feels like a good thing because we don’t want to get too in over our heads. But we love seeing everything that’s changing. It’s something incredible.” Given the cross-border and wider international fame of música mexicana in the early 2020s, it should come as no surprise that a Texas-based band would eventually become one of its most discussed acts. And while Grupo Frontera’s rapid rise remains impressive, what’s perhaps more profound is just how many other artists swiftly joined their circle. Their momentum truly began with recording a version of Colombian pop act Morat’s “No Se Va,” and their shrewd if initially reluctant decision to upload it for all to hear. “That song is everything,” says vocalist and bajo quinto player Adelaido “Payo” Solís III. “It’s the beginning, in the middle, and the future for us.” After the cumbia-accented cover became a viral hit in 2022, the group went on to release a number of collaborative smashes with the likes of Fuerza Regida, Peso Pluma, and, most notably, Bad Bunny. “We knew that \[‘un x100to’\] was going to be one of the hit songs on the album,” Payo says. “For him to hop on it and for us to be able to put his name on our album, that’s something that just launched it way farther than we could have imagined.” In making their full-length debut, *El Comienzo*, Grupo Frontera worked closely with hitmaking songwriter/producer Edgar Barrera. “The way Edgar has explained to me that he writes his songs is he gets into the mind of the artist while he’s writing,” says Payo. “He puts himself in the shoes of that artist—what they’re feeling, what they’re thinking about. It’s an out-of-body experience.” In that way, tracks like the lovelorn “LE VA DOLER” speak strongly to the singer’s own romantic woes. “It was way too perfect on the dot of what was going on,” adds Peña. “We were like, what the hell? How?” Throughout *El Comienzo*, they continue their collaborative streak. Previously released singles “QUE VUELVAS” with Carin León and “OJITOS ROJOS” with Ke Personajes join fresher cuts like “EN ALTAVOZ” with Junior H and “LAS FLORES” with Yahritza Y Su Esencia. Among those highlights is “EL AMOR DE SU VIDA,” a potent lovelorn song recorded with Grupo Firme. By teaming up with personal idols and contemporaneously rising stars, Grupo Frontera makes *El Comienzo* one extraordinary start to what promises to be a long career.