Frankie J

Bautista was born in Tijuana, Mexico and raised in San Diego, California from the age of 2, after his uncle brought him and his siblings to the United States. He grew up listening to both traditional Latin music as well as American urban music. He attended Southwest Senior High School in San Diego. He later began to develop more interest in singing, with the encouragement of his family. At high school age, he began participating in talent shows and performing at school functions.

In 1997, Bautista signed with the now defunct Hola Recordings which at the time had only one Artist signed to the label Jonathan Liberato, the brainchild of dance music legend and producer Jellybean Benitez. At the time he was a freestyle artist known as Frankie Boy and his music was released on 3 Maximum Freestyle compilations but his solo CD was shelved before release. Read Less