Junior H

Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Junior H is among the progenitors of the corrido tumbado (trap corrido) movement. His sound is dominated by requinto and reedy baritone, and traditional corrido instrumentation such as tuba and percussion. After self-releasing the viral video single “No Eh Cambiado” while still in high school, he signed to Rancho Humilde, which issued his debut EP, Atrapado en un Sueño (Trapped in a Dream), along with a pair of full-length projects in 2020. The prolific artist returned in 2021 with the smash hit $ad Boyz 4 Life. In 2022, Junior H released Mi Vida en un Cigarro 2 (which entered the Mexican Regional chart at number one) and rounded out the year with Contingente. 2023 saw the release of numerous hit singles and the high-charting album $AD BOYZ 4 Life II. Junior H (Antonio Herrera Perez) was born in Guanajuato in central Mexico in 2001. Deeply interested in music from a very young age, he grew up with traditional music and hip-hop on the radio. At 12, he and a friend began writing song lyrics because neither could play an instrument, though he spent time at local studios and learned how to record music. At 15, after three years of learning and practicing the art of music, Junior had to start from scratch when his family moved to Utah. He taught himself to play guitar by watching YouTube videos. The lack of proper training has benefitted the songwriter in developing a truly unique playing style. He began to issue his own music videos on YouTube and self-recorded a demo album at age 17 titled Mi Vida en un Cigarro. One of its songs, “No Eh Cambiado,” went viral given its unique, raw sound. It garnered two million views in its first week and 12 million inside of a year. One of its viewers was Jimmy Humilde, boss of Rancho Humilde Records. He signed Junior to his label, which boasts other urban corrido practitioners Natanael Cano, Dan Sanchez, and Nueva Era on its roster. Junior’s first opportunity with the label was participating on Cano’s smash Corridos Tumbados long-player in 2019 with his aforementioned labelmates; the album is universally regarded as the manifesto of the urban corrido genre. Junior’s audio-only videos for the songs “Disfruto Lo Malo” and “Ella” (with Cano), racked up 18 and 32 million views, respectively. Rancho Humilde, impressed by the quality of Junior’s songs and passionate delivery, put him in the studio to record his debut. Rather than a proper full-length album, he cut Atrapado en un Sueño, comprising seven songs totaling 27 minutes; its final cut, “Si Mañana,” was a duet with Cano. Junior’s songs about ambition, toxic relationships, street life, and infectious optimism registered with listeners. The set debuted at number five on the Hot Latin Albums chart. In the aftermath of the record’s release, Junior issued charting singles for the album track “Mente Positiva,” and the non-album single “Psicodelica.” A pair of full-length projects, MUSICA <3 and Cruisin' with Junior H, followed, as did a collaborative set with Cano and Ovi called Las 3 Torres, rounding out an impressive 2020. Junior kept up his prolific pace the following year with another full-length, $ad Boyz 4 Life. It peaked at number five and spent most of the year on the chart. That December he previewed an upcoming album with the singles “Nací Para Amarte” and “Empresa Fly Club.” Exactly a year later, in February 2022, the artist followed $ad Boyz 4 Life with the long-player Mi Vida en un Cigarro 2. Produced by Humilde, the massive 21-track offering included collaborations with Eslabón Armado (“Pa’ Que Te Duela”), Luis R Conriquez (“Los Botones Azules”), Junior Torres (“El Pelos”), and Compa Steve (“El Pana”). It debuted on the Mexican Regional Albums chart at number one. After Cano, he became the youngest artist to reach that milestone. That November, he delivered another full-length, Contingente, featuring collaborations with Paloma Mami, Snow Tha Product, and OVI. Several tracks arrived in 2023, including “El Patrocinador” with Grupo Firme and “El Azul” with Peso Pluma. In October 2023, Junior H issued $AD BOYZ 4 LIFE II, a 17-track follow-up to his 2021 set. Perez wrote or co-wrote the lion’s share of the album and co-produced it with Jimmy Humilde and Ernesto Fernandez. A week after its release, it entered the Top Latin albums chart at number two and claimed the top spot a week later. ~ Thom Jurek