Junior H

Biography

Antonio Herrera Pérez (born 23 April 2001), known professionally as Junior H, is a Mexican singer-songwriter. He is considered a major artist of the corridos tumbados genre, having popularized the genre with his earlier studio albums.

Early life

Antonio Herrera Pérez was born on 23 April 2001, in the municipality of Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico. At the age of 12, he and one of his friends would begin to write lyrics since they did not know how to play instruments yet. He lived his childhood in Cerano until the age of 15 when he and his family moved to the United States in 2015, in the state of Utah. At the age of 17, while in high school, he worked as a cook at a local Wendy's restaurant and learned to play different instruments during his spare time, by watching videos on YouTube, including the accordion and the guitar.
One day, Pérez decided to upload songs he had already made on YouTube under the name "Junior H," without telling any of his friends or family. Having not checked for a month on the songs he had uploaded, out of curiosity, he checked his songs on YouTube and upon seeing that his single "No Eh Cambiado" had more than two million views and several supportive comments, he put more focus on his independent musical project.

2019–2020: Music career beginnings

On 2 February 2019, Herrera released his debut album Mi Vida en un Cigarro×Mi vida en un cigarro3 April 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1No he cambiado2:542Mi vida en un cigarro4:293A los 193:204Allá por Texas3:235El de la Chevy3:146El güero en placas3:337El barbero3:128El choro2:529Zumbando4:19, with nine songs. Among them was his first renowned single "No Eh Cambiado" and other songs such as "Mi Vida en un Cigarro" and "El de la Chevy". Contacted by Jimmy Humilde that same year, he joined Humilde's record label Rancho Humilde, where he met labelmate Natanael Cano, who is also a Mexican singer, with whom he collaborated on the single "Disfruto lo Malo" on his acclaimed album Corridos Tumbados, which also includes "Ella", a song that Herrera had written by himself.
In December 2020, Herrera released his second studio album titled Atrapado en un Sueño×Atrapado en un sueño27 March 2020 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Atrapado en un sueño3:302Dicen3:353Jueves 104:484Me siento4:255Mente positiva3:126Pakas en las rakas4:117Si mañana3:258Tengo motivos3:08, which features his most recognized songs such as its title track "Atrapado en un Sueño", "Mente Positiva" and "Jueves 10". The album was positioned in the top five of the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, marking Herrera's first chartings in any album chart. Later that year, on September 2, he would release two albums that same day, Cruisin' with Junior H and Musica <3, which contain 12 songs on each album. On December 18, together with Natanael Cano and Ovi, they released the album Las 3 Torres, including 16 songs which feature artists such as Snoop Dogg, Ñengo Flow and Snow Tha Product.

2021–2022: Further career

On 12 February 2021, Herrera released $ad Boyz 4 Life, with 16 songs, whose lyrics talk about love and heartbreak. In less than 24 hours, the album managed to position itself in the top spot of Apple Music's Latin Albums chart. Some of his recognized songs from the album are "La Bestia×La Bestia14 January 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1La Bestia6:31", "160 Gramos", "Me Consume", and a cover of Enanitos Verdes' hit single "Lamento Boliviano". On 7 February 2022, he announced and revealed the tracklist of his seventh studio album titled Mi Vida en un Cigarro 2×Mi vida en un cigarro 211 February 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 21 tracks1Que siga la mata dando3:392Esta vida3:213Nunca tristes siempre locos3:584El hijo del Señor4:015Los botones azules2:166Como Jordan3:457Pa que te duela3:538Volveremos5:299Extssy Model4:0110El Cherokón4:2411Número 73:5712Una navaja3:3613El nene4:1314El pelos2:5615Empresa Fly Club3:1516Nací para amarte4:3317El pana3:4618La navego al modo3:1319Qué hay que hacer3:4820Mis manos4:0721Yo voy a amarte4:46, in reference to the name of his first album, which was officially released on February 11.
Months later, Herrera announced that he was working on a new album, but it contained Latin trap songs, which would be his first and only album of that genre, said Herrera himself. In October, he revealed the release date of his album, which would be 11 November, although days later he changed it to a later date that would be the official one, 23 November of that same year. At the end of 2022, the album would be released as Contingente×Contingente23 November 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Índice2:382Contingente3:393Tus besox4:004Vete ya3:505Le llego3:246Veneno3:347Cologne3:458La pasé3:169Te alejaste3:2110Morena3:2811Baby no3:0112Last Song3:20, which also consists of collaborations with other well-known artists such as Alemán, Big Soto, Ovi, Paloma Mami, and Snow Tha Product.

2023–present: $ad Boyz 4 Life II

In January 2023, Herrera released the single "Fin de Semana×Fin de semana12 January 2023 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Fin de semana3:50" with Oscar Maydon, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on number 86, making it both artists' first time appearing in the chart. In February, Herrera collaborated with Mexican musician and singer Peso Pluma on "El Azul", which marked both artists' first collaboration. Herrera and Peso Pluma became frequent collaborators and had collaborated on "El Tsurito", "Lady Gaga," "Luna", and "Bipolar". "Lady Gaga" had peaked at number one on the Mexico Songs and Hot Latin Songs charts, making this Junior H's first number one debut on both charts. On 7 July, Junior H collaborated with reggaeton artist Rauw Alejandro, on the song "Picardía", from Alejandro's album Playa Saturno. In 14 September, he and norteño group Grupo Frontera, released the single "En Altavoz×EN ALTAVOZ14 September 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1En altavoz2:47", from the group's debut album, El Comienzo. On 6 October, Junior H released his eighth studio album $ad Boyz 4 Life II×$ad Boyz 4 Life II5 October 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1$AD BOYZ II3:282ROCKSTAR2:483SERPIENTE3:464LA CHERRY3:325MIÉNTELE2:566Y LLORO2:597LAS NOCHES3:468TRES BOTELLAS2:429MILES DE ROSAS4:1110PARÍS3:5611OTRO AMOR4:0712EN LA PEDA3:5413PIÉNSALO4:0014A TU NOMBRE4:0715LOKERÓN X AMOR3:1116MIENTRAS DUERMES3:4617ENTRE NOSOTROS2:45, in which Herrera refers it as "more of an accident" since there were supposedly going to be featured artists in the album. In 3 November, Junior H and Grupo Marca Registrada released "Mafiosa×Mafiosa19 October 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Mafiosa2:50", marking it both artists' second collaboration. On 13 November 2023, Junior H appeared on El Alfa's album El Rey del Dembow, on the song "Aqui Ta Smoke", alongside Pop Smoke.

Artistry

Junior H is known for being one of the most important figures of the corridos tumbados subgenre, along with Natanael Cano, which are also referred as trap corridos. He also incorporates elements of Latin trap and reggaeton in his music, though the singer's debut on the latter genre would be on "Picardía" with Rauw Alejandro. The title for his Latin trap album Contingente×Contingente23 November 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Índice2:382Contingente3:393Tus besox4:004Vete ya3:505Le llego3:246Veneno3:347Cologne3:458La pasé3:169Te alejaste3:2110Morena3:2811Baby no3:0112Last Song3:20 was chosen because he thought it would be the last time the singer created any album in those genres.
The lyrics Junior H writes are about what is influential and what is devastating, usually relationships, in which music with such lyrics is often referred as urban sierreño or sad sierreño, a genre inspired by Ariel Camacho. In the song "1004 Kilómetros", taken from the singer's album $ad Boyz 4 Life×$ad Boyz 4 Life12 February 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1$ad Boyz 4 Life4:462Me consume4:213Enseñame4:364Por dentro5:145Chanel4:496Mi cuerno3:397Fvck3:598Corazón negro5:419160 gramos4:0810El velador3:4911Henne$$y3:34121004 KM4:4213La bestia6:3114Te llevaste4:0115Tal vez3:5916Lamento boliviano5:46, the lyrics are about and are dedicated to Junior H's mom, who lived 1004 kilometers away from him at the time. The lyrics represent a long-distance relationship.
Spanish rappers Yung Beef and C. Tangana and Mexican rapper Alemán have said that they've listened to Junior H's music. Bad Bunny once posted himself on an Instagram story listening to a Junior H song.