Grupo Frontera

Hailing from the Texas Valley just north of the Mexican border, Grupo Frontera are a norteño band who rose to viral success not long after forming in early 2022. They released their debut EP, En Vivo, Vol. 1, but it was their cover of the song "No Se Va," originally by Colombian group Morat, that brought them fame and became a charting hit on the Hot 100. Another Hot 100 hit arrived in 2023 with their Bad Bunny collaboration "Un x100to," which appeared on their debut album El Comienzo. They followed it in 2024 with the collaboration-rich Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada and Mala Mía, a split EP with Fuerza Regida. Among their 2025 singles was the charting "Hoy No Me Siento Bien" with Alejandro Sanz.

Bandmembers Adelaido Solis II "Payo" (vocals), Julián Peña, Jr. (percussion), Carlos Frontera (drums), Alberto "Beto" Acosta (guitar), Carlos Zamora (bass), and Juan Javier Cantú (accordion, vocals) formed in Edinburg, Texas, a small town just across the border from Mexico. They quickly released an EP, En Vivo, Vol. 1 and a string of Latin and Mexican cover songs, including a version of Morat's 2019 song "No Se Va," which found viral success on various online platforms and was played obsessively across the U.S. Southwest, and Northern Mexico, intersecting various communities. In October 2022, after conquering various smaller charts, the song made its way onto Billboard's all-genre Hot 100, becoming only the fifth regional Mexican song ever to do so. Buoyed by their momentum, Grupo Frontera played their first concert south of the border later that year.

In May 2023, they scored a Hot 100 Top Five hit with "Un x100to" in collaboration with Bad Bunny. They also teamed up with Peso Pluma on the standalone single "Tulum," followed by "Ojitos Rojos" with Ke Personajes. They went viral on TikTok. The two bookend tracks also appeared on El Comienzo, their 11-song debut long-player produced by multi-Latin Grammy-winner Edgar "Edge" Barrera. Issued in August, the album entered the general Top 200 at number 33 and landed inside the Top Ten on various streaming charts. Another single, "Amor Propio," appeared a few months later. Across 2022 and 2023, the band placed eight singles in the general Hot 100.

Grupo Frontera kicked off 2024 with the romantic "Quédate Bebé," and further enhanced their Latin American fan base after collaborating with Shakira on "(Entre Paréntesis)," the chart-topping single from Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, her comeback album. It registered more than 100 million streams during its first month while its video racked up 30 million views inside of a week. The collaboration was extended with a non-album single and video for "Esto Ya No Da Más." In May 2024, Grupo Frontera released Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada, their second long-player. First single "Ya Pedo Quien Sabe," in collaboration with Christian Nodal, topped the Mexican Regional charts, as did the track "Quedate Babe." Other collaborations on the 12-song set included "Por Que Sera" featuring Maluma (with a video), "Desquite" with Nicki Nichole, and "Los Dos" featuring Morat. In December, they teamed up with Fuerza Regida to release a joint EP, Mala Mía, which reached the Latin Top Ten and yielded a hit in "Me Jalo." Grupo Frontera kept up their momentum in early 2025 with "Hoy No Me Siento Bien" with Alejandro Sanz and "La Buena Eras Tú" featuring Neton Vega. ~ Timothy Monger