The band shouted out Bad Bunny and manifested a new collab with Grupo Firme
Only a few groups could find a way to mash up classic norteño, jazzy R&B, and country reggae in a single performance — Grupo Frontera is one of them. On Thursday, NPR Music premiered the band’s Tiny Desk show, capturing the band effortlessly jumping between genres while staying true to their accordion-backed sound.
Frontera opened the performance with “un x100to,” starting with a slower, female vocal-backed intro to the norteño song that originally featured Bad Bunny. Replacing the Puerto Rican star, two backup singers paired with a trumpeteer took over the verse before frontman Payo Solis continued the song.
“We collaborated with our compadre Benito… It’s a special song because we didn’t know he was going to be on the song until he showed up for the video,” said Solis. “He came to us as a surprise, and [Benito] said, ‘Have you heard the song, the full version, with me in it?’ And we said, ‘What version?!’ It was a beautiful surprise.”
Frontera continued with “Hecha Pa’ Mí,” opening with a country flair thanks to the pedal steel before fusing the sound with their classic norteño cumbia, known for its signature accordion. The band then took a jazzy route as they continued with “Ángel,” the band’s bachata-infused Romeo Santos collaboration.
For “Por Qué Será,” the band introduced the song with a sort of reggae country sound to start the song before introducing the norteña sounds into the breakup song. The band ended the show with a Bukis-style rendition of “El Amor de Su Vida” from the band’s debut album, El Comienzo.
“I’m already sweating because I’m nervous. Thank you Tiny Desk, but we have one more song called ‘El Amor De Su Vida’… We made it with Grupo Firme,” Solis said. “To be honest, I think we should make more songs with pir compadres of Grupo Firme. Let us know what you think of that.”