Grupo Frontera’s meteoric rise

(Grupo, from El] Mexican song category for their cumbia nortena tracks “Me Jalo,” a collaboration with the clamorous Mexican American band Fuerza Regida, and “Hecha Pa’ Mi,” but would lose out to Los Tigres del Norte’s “La Loteria.”

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Despite the exhaustion, Grupo Frontera was happy to be back in Sin City once again — a testament to how far they've come in such a brief period of time.

In 2022, shortly after forming, the South Texas band showed up during the last Latin Grammys week held in Las Vegas, uninvited to any legitimate ceremony; it’s a common move by growing artists to get their name out there and possibly rub elbows with some of the biggest stars and producers in the Latin music world.

“We were just doing everything around it but not the [Latin] Grammys,” says lead vocalist Adelaido “Payo” Solis III. “I always think of that time that we came with nothing under our belt.”

Grupo Frontera had already generated buzz thanks to their cover of “No Se Va,” a 2018 hit by Colombian pop band Morat. Their norteno take cracked the Billboard Hot 100 despite the group having no major label deal or studio album of their own.

Fame came quickly after linking up with fellow border kid Edgar Barrera. The award-winning songwriter producer (Madonna, Shakira, Karol G and the Weeknd) took the band under his wing after watching them perform at the grand opening of a tire shop in McAllen, Texas.

In early 2023, Barrera paired them up with Bad Bunny for “Un x100to.”

Backed by the accordion—a staple of borderland music for more than a century — the modern lovelorn cumbia propeled Grupo Frontera into the mainstream. A week after its release, Bad Bunny brought Solis on stage to perform the track at Coachella.

With a cosign from one of the biggest artists on the planet and under the tutelage of Barrera, Grupo Frontera quickly cemented itself as the Texas representative of the new wave of musica Mexicana, becoming one of the biggest players in a genre on the cusp of dominating the global streaming charts.