There was no better way to kick off day two of Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 on Tuesday (October 15) than Making the Hit Live! by Grupo Frontera, during which the Texas group worked their magic to create a brand new song.
As is tradition, during Making the Hit Live!, an artist will dedicate the entire panel time to writing and producing a song from scratch. Instead, this year, Grupo Frontera – who shot to stardom in 2022 thanks to ots' cover of “No Se Va” – got lyrics from the band's producer and songwriter Edgar Barrera in advance and added the signature ots cumbia sound to the lyrics during the panel. Unofficially titled 'Ya No', the irresistible, spinning song was indeed created over the course of 40 minutes.
“Before we met Edgar Barrera, I would write songs for the group,” enthuses Pagio, the band's frontman. “We put out, like, two songs that were written by me and I wrote four more, but those didn't come out because that's when we met Edgar and we were like, 'OK, we're good,'” he added. with a laugh.
Now, when in the studio with Barrera, Frontera's Juan, Payo and Beto will contribute to the songwriting process, but Payo makes fun of his bandmates. “They just say a word hoping it sticks,” he shared. “One time, they were obsessed with the word 'blunder' and they were just repeating it, like, bro.”
As far as the production is concerned, all six of them contribute with their respective instruments.
Part of the process of creating a song also involves setting aside time to think of content for social media to complement the essence of the song. The group's online presence, whether it's recording a dance or performing a scene using part of a song's lyrics, has made Grupo Frontera go viral more than once on TikTok. “We don't create a song thinking it's going to be a hit on TikTok,” explained Juan. Payo added, “When we record a song, we always think the chorus will go viral, but we're always wrong, so we have to record all the social media content from scratch.”
As he laid down the cumbia beat for “Ya No,” Frontera shared the story of when the members recorded “No Se Va.”
“We didn't have money to rent a studio to record, well we didn't have money, period,” Beto said. “So when we were recording, we'd have to do everything in one take – even if we made a mistake, we'd leave it there. We recorded 'No Se Ve' in a friend's apartment building and every resident there was fine with us using the space — except for this one lady who complained.”
This song marked his first group Frontera Bulletin board chart entry. The song reached No. 3 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. While they're not yet sure if they'll release “Ya No,” the song they created during the panel, the track has potential to be a hit. Check out a sneak peek below:
Billboard Latin Music Week 2024 coincides with the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards airing at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 20, on Telemundo. It will be available simultaneously on Universo, Peacock and the Telemundo app and in Latin America and the Caribbean through Telemundo Internacional.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/2024-billboard-latin-music-week-grupo-frontera-making-the-hit-live-recap-1235799090/
