Early career
He was born Francisco Javier Bautista (a.k.a. Frankie J.) in Tijuana and raised in San Diego from the age of 2. He comes from a musical background with his father being the lead singer of a traditional band. Frankie J grew up listening to both traditional Latin music as well as R&B. He attended Southwest High School (San Diego, CA) for his high school years.
As a teenager, he started listening to freestyle music by Lisa Lisa, Brenda K. Starr and George Lamond. He started writing his own songs and singing in the same falsetto style as Lamond. At 15, he signed a contract with a Canadian independent label working as Frankie Boy and recorded songs which failed to achieve any success. In 1997, he signed with Jellybean Benitez.
In the late 1990s, he joined Kumbia Kings and was a member of that successful Latin group touring throughout Latin America. The group played in front of 100,000 people in a concert in Monterrey, Mexico.
Frankie's ambitions were always directed to the American pop-music markets. In 2002 He approached Los Kumbia Kings mangement in an attempt to secure record deal as a solo-artist. He proposed that they record, promote, and market him to the "MTV" market. A vastly diffent music culture then what Los Kumbia Kings made their name in, but Management declined, citing the risky investment. Frankie then shopped demos to an array of record companies, and garnered a tremendous amount of interest, but his contract with The Kumbia Kings would prove to be a problem.
Frankie asked to be his released from his Kumbia Kings contract, but they declined. Frankie bolted from the group anyway, but soon found himself in court over the matter. Lawsuits were filed from both sides, and eventually settled out of court. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
Solo Career
Frankie J signed as a solo artist with Columbia Records and released his first album What's A Man To Do in 2003 which failed to chart. His self-titled first Spanish-language album was released later in the same year. The single "Don't Wanna Try" peaked in the top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart, while "Ya No Eres Igual" was top 10 on the World Latin charts.
He collaborated with Baby Bash, a relative, on another pop hit called "Suga Suga" which reached #1 in New Zealand in 2004 and was a top 10 hit in the US and Australia in the same year. Frankie J worked with a number of wellknown producers on The One including Irv Gotti of Murder Inc. on the title track. Mario Winans on a track called "Just Can't Say It's Love". The first single "Obsession (No Es Amor)" featuring Baby Bash has been a big hit on the US pop charts reaching the top 5 in April 2005. The One was released in the US in April 2005 and debuted at #3 on both the Billboard 200 chart. The follow-up singles "How To Deal" and "More Than Words" (released in conjunction with a DualDisc re-release of The One) continued the album's route to platinum sales. However, the fourth and final single, the title track featuring 3LW garnered few spins at radio.
Jermaine Dupri & Mannie Fresh are among two of the big producers for Frankie's next English studio album which will be released in the 4th quarter of 2006. The untitled album's first single will be "That Girl" which was produced by Mannie Fresh and features both Mannie Fresh and rapper Slim Thug. A version which excludes Slim Thug and replaces him with Chamillionaire exists and can be found online and on the official promo cds.
Frankie J's second Spanish-language album "Un Nuevo Dia" has already been released.
Is This What You Call Love?
Frankie J Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's no use denying,
I've heard you on the phone
I've even followed you to all the places were you've secertly have been alone
I even know about the times when you would say to me that you was overwhelmed with work,
You had to stay longer working overtime,
Baby I might be dumb but I'am not blind
At times I feel like I want to break down inside
I got to find a way out 'cause this is tearing me to pieces, I just want to make it right
Is this what you call love explain to me baby, Is this really what you want from me
(Is this what you want from me)
I'am losing my patience, just hear what I'am saying You don't want to break the family
(Don't break this family)
Is this what you call love
Then you got it all wrong
This isn't the way our lives should be
I just won't allow somebody to become between us
Is this what you call love
Is this what you call love
You come home late at night,
Pretending it's alright, acting like you're doing nothing wrong, As you lay down right
Beside me, inside I'am dying
You just don't understand the pain that you have put me through (just don't understand)
After all the thing I have ever done for you, sometimes I rather be alone
Than have a broken home
Whatever happened to forever, 'cause I still want to know, explain to me you change of heart
Is this what you call love
The lyrics to the song "Is This What You Call Love?" by Frankie J describes a man's suspicion and doubts about his partner's fidelity. He has observed her behavior over time and suspects that she has been cheating on him. He confronts her about her behavior while expressing his pain and confusion. The lyrics are raw and emotional, highlighting the pain and confusion that comes with betrayal.
Throughout the song, the man questions whether this is really what love is supposed to feel like. He feels helpless and unable to comprehend why his partner would do this to him. He hints at his own emotional struggles, expressing that he wants to make things right but doesn't know how to go about it.
Overall, the song is a powerful and emotional portrayal of the pain of betrayal in a relationship. It highlights the struggle to come to terms with the reality of the situation and the emotional turmoil that comes with it.
Line by Line Meaning
You've seen him many times,
I am aware that you have been seeing someone else
There's no use denying,
I know the truth about your infidelity, so there is no point in lying
I've heard you on the phone
I have even heard you talking to the other person on the phone
I've even followed you to all the places were you've secertly have been alone
I have been keeping tabs on you and have followed you to every place where you secretly meet the other person
You had to stay longer working overtime,
You have used work as an excuse to see the other person for longer durations
But you were always lying,
You were always lying to me about your whereabouts and intentions
Baby I might be dumb but I'am not blind
I may not be the smartest person, but I am not blind to your infidelity
At times I feel like I want to break down inside
This situation is emotionally overwhelming, and I feel like I am falling apart from the inside
I got to find a way out 'cause this is tearing me to pieces, I just want to make it right
I need to find a solution for this situation because it is tearing me apart, and I want to make things right
Is this what you call love explain to me baby, Is this really what you want from me
I want you to explain to me if this is what you call love and if this is what you want from me
(Is this what you want from me)
Reiterating the question if this is what the other person wants from me
I am losing my patience, just hear what I am saying You don't want to break the family
I am running out of patience with this situation, but I do not want our family to fall apart because of your actions
(Don't break this family)
An appeal to the other person to not break up the family
Then you got it all wrong
The other person's definition of love is flawed
This isn't the way our lives should be
This is not the kind of life that we should be living
I just won't allow somebody to become between us
I will not let another person come between us and ruin our relationship
You come home late at night, Pretending it's alright, acting like you're doing nothing wrong, As you lay down right Beside me, inside I am dying
Even when you come home late at night, you pretend like nothing is wrong, but it's killing me inside as we lie down next to each other
You just don't understand the pain that you have put me through (just don't understand)
You do not seem to realize the pain that your actions have caused me
After all the thing I have ever done for you, sometimes I rather be alone Than have a broken home
I have done so much for you, but sometimes I feel like being alone is better than having a broken home
Whatever happened to forever, 'cause I still want to know, explain to me you change of heart
I want to understand where things went wrong because I thought we were meant to be together forever, but now you have a change of heart
Is this what you call love
A repetition of the question, wondering if this is what the other person calls love
Is this what you call love
A repetition of the question, asking if this is really what the other person calls love
Lyrics © JELLYBEAN MUSIC GROUP
Written by: FRANCISCO BAUTISTA, STEVE VALDEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind