The Barrio Boyzz were an American
Latin pop
Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...
group. The group was made up of
Puerto Ricans
Puerto Ricans ( es, Puertorriqueños; or boricuas) are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants, and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants.
Overview
The culture held in common by most Puerto Ricans is referred t ...
who grew up in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. They gained popularity during the 1990s, when they became label-mates with Selena Quintanilla then landed their first ''Billboard'' number-one song entitled "''
Donde Quiera Que Estés
"Donde Quiera Que Estés" ( en, "Wherever You Are") is a duet recorded by American Latin pop quintet the Barrio Boyzz and American Tejano singer Selena. Released on the Barrio Boyzz' album of the same name, "Donde Quiera Que Estés" was written ...
''" (''Where Ever You Are'') in 1993, from the album of the same name.
Career
The group was formed in 1991 when they were introduced to each other by manager
Joe Jacket (of
New Kids on The Block
New Kids on the Block (also initialized as NKOTB) is an American boy band from Dorchester, Massachusetts. The band consists of brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. New Kids on the Block enjoy ...
), who was looking to create a mainstream Latino group.
After auditioning to
Charles Koppelan, the CEO of EMI Records, they were then signed to
SBK Records
SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that was currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group.
Histo ...
, a pop sub-division of
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
.
They initially wanted to
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
as mainstream American pop singers, similar to
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...
,
Jon Secada
Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez (born October 4, 1961), better known as Jon Secada, is a Cuban-born American singer. He has won two Grammy Awards and sold 15 million records, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. His music fus ...
, and
Selena
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known mononymously as Selena, was an American Tejano singer. Called the " Queen of Tejano music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mex ...
.
The following year, they released their debut album, ''
Crazy Coolin''', which they toured in middle and high schools across New York City, and made
motivational speeches.
Their single "
Muy Suavemente
Muy or MUY may refer to:
* Muy River (Wetetnagami River), a tributary of the Wetetnagami River in Quebec, Canada
* Muyang language, an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in northern Cameroon assigned the ISO 639 code muy
* Mouyondzi Airport, Republic of ...
", charted on the ''Billboard Latin Charts''; its accompanying music video was shot in the barrios of New York City, sticking to their heritages.
Their follow-up album
''Donde Quiera Que Estes'' (1993) peaked on ''
Billboard Latin Pop Albums
Latin Pop Albums is a record chart published on ''Billboard'' magazine. It features Latin music information of the Pop music genre. Established in June 1985, this chart features only full-length albums and like all album charts on ''Billboard'', i ...
'' at number-seven, whereas the album peaked at number-fifteen on the ''
Billboard Top Latin Albums
Top Latin Albums is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all ''Billboard'' album charts, the chart is based ...
''.
The duet, with Selena, peaked at number-one on three ''Billboard'' charts in 1994
[,] as Selena and the Barrio Boyzz promoted the song during her
Amor Prohibido Tour
Amor ("love" in Latin, Spanish and Portuguese) may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Amor'' (Julio Iglesias album), 1982
* ''Amor'' (Andrea Bocelli album), 2006
Songs
* "Amor" (Los Auténticos Decadentes song), 2000
* "Amor" (Cristian Castro song), 199 ...
. The song helped the Barrio Boyzz crossover to Southern United States
Their next album, "Una Vez Mas" peaked at number three on the ''Latin Pop Albums'',
while managing on the top twenty of the ''Billboard Top 50 Latin Albums''. Their crossover album, "How We Roll", an all-English language album, was released in 1995.
At the
8th
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
and
9th Lo Nuestro Awards they received a nomination for Pop Group of the Year.
The group continued to chart on ''Billboard'' until the release of
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
in 2000. The group released their last studio album, "Destino" in 2001, before the band broke up. On 5 April 2005, during the benefit concert ''
Selena ¡VIVE!'', the Barrio Boyzz reunited and sang "
Dreaming of You" along with Colombian-American singer
Soraya
Soraya ( fa, ثریا) is a feminine Persian name. It is derived from the Arabic name for the Pleiades star cluster, ''Thurayya'' ( ar, ثريّة). The name is also popular in Europe due to its association with Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, th ...
,
who died of breast cancer within a year.
Members
* Freddy Correa (1991–1994)
* Angel Ramirez (1991–1997)
* Robert Vargas (1991–1997)
* David Davila (1991–2001)
* Hans Giraldo (1994–2001)
* Louie Marrero (1991–1998)
* Jimmy Sanchez (1999-2001)
* Robert McLeod (1999-2001)
* Jeffrey Ayala (1999-2001)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Crazy Coolin''' (1992)
* ''
Donde Quiera Que Estes'' (1993)
* ''Una Vez Más'' (1995)
* ''How We Roll'' (1995)
* ''Navidad, Tu y Yo'' (1995)
* ''
Ven a Mi'' (1997)
* ''
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
'' (2000)
* ''Destino'' (2001)
* ''Barriografia'' (2006)
Compilation albums
* ''10 Super Exitos'' (1994)
* ''12 Super Exitos'' (1997)
* ''The Best of Barrio Boyzz'' (2000)
* ''Sólo Lo Mejor: 20 Exitos'' (2002)
* ''Latin Classics'' (2003)
* ''Los Romanticos'' (2007)
Filmography
* ''
I Like It Like That'' (1994)
See also
*
List of Puerto Ricans
References
{{Authority control
American pop music groups
American boy bands
Musical groups established in 1991
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups from New York City
EMI Latin artists
Spanish-language singers of the United States
1991 establishments in New York City
American Latin musical groups
Latin pop music groups