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.
Just Can't Say It's Love
Frankie J Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You just can't wait to hear those three little words
Come from my mouth, yea yea yea
I just can't tell you
Or find the words for
The way I feel about'cha
I just can't be without'cha
Contemplating, still debating
Should I just let it go
I just can't say it's love
But you already know what's up
I really can't put into words
Baby you got to feel me
And I hope you can hear me
It's only you I'm thinkin of
But still I just can't say it's love
You probably think I'm runnin game
But that ain't the case, I'm just not sure
See I've made that mistake before
Don't want to hurt no more, babe
I want to take my time with you, yea
I just can't tell you
Or find the words for
The way I feel about'cha
I just can't be without'cha
I want to say it so bad but something keeps telling me no
Contemplating, still debating
Should I just let it go
I just can't say it's love
But you already know what's up
I really can't put into words
Baby you got to feel me
And I hope you can hear me
It's only you I'm thinkin of
But still I just can't say it's love
No matter if I wait
This still could be fate
Girl I get so frustrated
My mind, my heart can't take it
Just like the sun had the moon
Baby I want you
But I just can't say I love you
In the song Just Can't Say It's Love, Frankie J is singing about a girl he has been seeing for a while but he can't bring himself to say the three little words she wants to hear. The girl is constantly waiting to hear the words "I love you" from him but Frankie J can't find the words to express the way he feels. He wants to say it so bad but his mind and heart won't let him. Frankie J is not sure if he is ready to take that step again after being hurt before. He wants to take his time with this girl and not make the same mistake.
The lyrics convey a sense of hesitation and uncertainty when it comes to expressing one's feelings. Despite the fact that he cannot say "I love you," he hopes she can feel his love and hear his sincerity. He is not playing games with her and is not sure if he is ready to take the leap again. The lyrics suggest that he is contemplating and still debating whether he should express his love or let it go.
Line by Line Meaning
Girl you been kicking it with me constantly, for a while
You've been spending a lot of time with me lately
You just can't wait to hear those three little words
You're eagerly waiting for me to say 'I love you'
Come from my mouth, yea yea yea
To hear me say 'I love you'
I just can't tell you
I can't bring myself to say it
Or find the words for
I can't express my feelings in words
The way I feel about'cha
How much I care about you
I just can't be without'cha
I can't imagine not having you around
I want to say it so bad but something keeps telling me no
I want to express my love for you but something is holding me back
Contemplating, still debating
I'm still thinking about it and can't make a decision
Should I just let it go
Maybe I should just forget about it
You probably think I'm runnin game
You might think I'm lying or leading you on
But that ain't the case, I'm just not sure
But that's not true, I'm just uncertain
See I've made that mistake before
I've said 'I love you' before and regretted it
Don't want to hurt no more, babe
I don't want to feel that pain again
I want to take my time with you, yea
I want to proceed slowly with our relationship
No matter if I wait
Even if I wait
This still could be fate
This could still be destiny
Girl I get so frustrated
It's frustrating for me
My mind, my heart can't take it
I can't handle these feelings
Just like the sun had the moon
Like the sun and moon
Baby I want you
I want you
But I just can't say I love you
But I can't bring myself to say 'I love you'
I just can't say it's love
I can't say that I love you
But you already know what's up
But you already know how I feel
I really can't put into words
I can't express it in words
Baby you got to feel me
You have to understand my feelings
And I hope you can hear me
I hope you can understand me
It's only you I'm thinkin of
I only think about you
But still I just can't say it's love
But I can't say that I love you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDRE ROMELL YOUNG, FRANCISCO BAUTISTA, JACK KNIGHT, MARIO WINANS, MARIO MENDELL WINANS, MICHAEL JONES, MICHAEL CARLOS JONES, TIJUAN FRAMPTON, TOMMIE MC LAUGHLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind