Kumbia Kings

Catering for open-minded international audiences with their forward-thinking fusion of cumbia, rap and soul music, the expansive Mexican-American collective Kumbia Kings first emerged from Corpus Christi, Texas in 1997 under the direction of A.B. Quintanilla, the older brother of Tejano pop star Selena. Promptly securing a deal with EMI Latin thanks to their distinctive sound, the group burst onto the scene in 1999 with a debut album entitled Amor, Familia y Respeto (English: Love, Family & Respect). Redefining a much-loved sound among the Latin American community, the LP catapulted them to stardom in the Spanish-speaking world, resulting in a Latin GRAMMY nomination and even shifting over half a million units in the United States. Continuing to enjoy strong sales with their follow-ups, the Billboard Latin Albums chart-toppers Shhh! (2001) and 4 (2003), the crew of producers and multi-instrumentalists subsequently found themselves involved in heated infighting, with financial and copyright disputes becoming contentious issues for the band. Amidst this controversy, the band returned with a fourth LP, Fuego (2004), which was their fourth consecutive effort to be certified gold in the US. In the same year that they brought home their first Latin GRAMMY – 2006 – they split into the two splinter groups Los Kumbia All Starz and Los Super Reyes, each of which went on to enjoy success. After patching up their differences, Quintanilla and co-founder Cruz Martinez brought Los Kumbia Kings back in 2009 for a well-received tour. Martinez has since continued to have a leading role in the group, and revealed in 2019 that many of its original members had returned to the studio to record new material under the moniker.