CNCO


CNCO is a Latin American boy band formed on the first season of La Banda. The group is composed of Joel Pimentel, Richard Camacho, Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez, and Zabdiel De Jesús. They won a five-year recording contract with Sony Music Latin after becoming the winning competitors of the first season of La Banda. The band toured with Ricky Martin. Their debut and second singles "Tan Fácil" and "Quisiera", charted well soon after their debut. They released their first album, Primera Cita on August 26, 2016, which included the hit "Reggaetón Lento ".
The group released their self-titled second album, on April 6, 2018, which included the singles "Mamita" and "Se Vuelve Loca".
Their debut EP Que Quiénes Somos, containing the singles "De Cero" and "Pegao" featuring Manuel Turizo, was released on August 29. Both albums debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and the top 40 on the Billboard 200, while the EP debuted within the Top 15 of the former chart.

History

2015: ''La Banda'' and "Devuélveme Mi Corazón"

Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez, Zabdiel De Jesús, Richard Camacho and Joel Pimentel auditioned for the first season of La Banda, a televised singing competition which started on Univision in September 2015, created by Simon Cowell and produced by Ricky Martin. They all received an 75% of votes from the public during auditions except Colón, though he was saved by Martin. The band's members competed individually with other contestants from Latin America and the United States before the show's judges, Martin, Alejandro Sanz and Laura Pausini. The boys had to go through several phases to become the winners. During the competition, they were put into groups, with Camacho and De Jesús in the same band, while Vélez, Colón and Pimentel were in another. The band was formed on the finale of the show, on December 13, 2015, when they received their name, which alludes to the Spanish word for five, "cinco", and is pronounced in English as it is spelled: "C-N-C-O." They won a recording contract of 5 years with Sony Music Latin, and rapper Wisin was scheduled to produce their first album. Martin became their representative.
They performed the song "Devuélveme Mi Corazón" on the finale, which included performances by Pitbull, Fifth Harmony, Wisin, and a video congratulations from One Direction. They sang it again in Times Square at Univision's Feliz 2016 New Year's celebration.

2016: Ricky Martin One World Tour and ''Primera Cita''

On January 29, 2016, they released their debut single, "Tan Fácil" which debuted on Billboards Latin Rhythm Airplay at number 25, number 23 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and instantly topped the U.S. iTunes Latino charts, later peaking at number one on the Latin Airplay chart. On January 30, 2016, they held their first concert in The Fillmore Miami Beach.
On February 12, CNCO started touring as opening acts on Ricky Martin's One World Tour for some of his shows in the U.S., including Hollywood, Florida San Juan, Puerto Rico, and parts of South America, including Chile and Argentina.
On May 13, they released their second single "Quisiera", which peaked on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs at number 29, with its music video premiering on June 3. In May, they sang the national anthem at Yankee Stadium. On July 13, the band was nominated for six awards, at Premios Juventud and won five for the Most – "Tan Fácil", My Pop/Rock Artist Producers' Choice Award, My Favorite Twitter Celebrity, and My Favorite Fan-Army; they also performed at the ceremony.
In August, their fans, called "CNCOwners", voted the band first place in Billboards "Favorite New Latin Boy Band Poll'. On August 23, the group asked fans to locate hotspots for songs from their upcoming album, in a Pokémon Go inspired game, called 'CNCOGo', and Ecuadorian fans found the first song, "Cometa".
On August 26, their first album, Primera Cita,, produced by Wisin, was released. Wisin spoke about their album saying, "It is a union of countries and cultures. It is what keeps us growing because the people can understand that we can unite different genres." The album has fourteen tracks and includes an urban remix of "Tan Fácil" featuring the rapper, and a ballad version of the song "Quisiera" featuring Spanish singer Abraham Mateo. On its release date, the band met fans while traveling with Ricky Martin on his tour, and they gave a concert at the Miami International Mall to celebrate the album's debut.
In November, they filmed a new music video for one of the songs on Primera Cita, "Para Enamorarte", at the Los Angeles Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. It was produced in conjunction with Toyota and included fans who also selected the ending of the video. A video clip was scheduled for airing on La Banda's season finale on December 11, then on Toyota's Latino Facebook page and on YouTube. They also announced plans for their first headlining tour in February 2017 in Latin America. On October 7, they released the single "Reggaetón Lento ", which peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and number 11 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.

2017–2018: ''Más Allá'' Tour and ''CNCO'' World Tour

On February 7, 2017, the band was announced as one of four finalists in the category "Artist of the Year, New" for the 2017 Billboard Latin Music Awards, representing artists who charted well over the past year. On February 26 they began their first headlining tour, Más Allá, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, for a total of 15 countries, including 40 performances in Central and South America, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and the United States; and recorded music for their second album while on tour.
On April 4, 2017, the group officially released the lead single from their second album, "Hey DJ", featuring Puerto Rican singer Yandel; they also released a solo pop version. On August 18, CNCO released a remixed version of "Reggaetón Lento" featuring vocals from British girl group Little Mix as the second single from the record. On October 20, 2017, the group released the third single, "Mamita" from their second album. On March 3, 2018, they released the song, "Mi Medicina," announcing the album's pre-order. It was followed by "Bonita" two weeks later, on March 16, and finally "Fiesta en Mi Casa", also arriving two weeks later, on March 30. The music videos accompanied the songs' releases.
On April 6, 2018, the boy band released their highly anticipated second self-titled album, CNCO. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Latin Albums and entered at number 33 on the Billboard 200, succeeding their debut. The group released "Sólo Yo", along with its music video, to celebrate the album's release. The music video for the fifth single "Se Vuelve Loca" was made available on July 19, with a Spanglish version being released for digital download and streaming several hours later. It reached number one on the Latin Pop Songs Chart in October 2018. The band embarked on the CNCO World Tour, starting in Guatemala. They announced shows in the United States, thus becoming their first U.S. tour. The band released a collaboration with singer-songwriter Prince Royce on October 26, titled "Llegaste Tú". On November 8, the group released a remix version of "Hey DJ", with American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor and Jamaican artist Sean Paul.
On May 16, 2018, CNCO signed a new management deal with Walter Kolm Entertainment, after being managed by Ricky Martin for nearly three years. Walter Kolm Entertainment has also signed other successful artists like Maluma, Wisin, and Silvestre Dangond.

2019-present: ''Que Quienes Somos''

The band announced the single "Pretend", which was released on February 15, 2019. The song is their first official solo Spanglish release, and samples "Rhythm of the Night" by DeBarge.
CNCO released the single "De Cero" on June 24 along with its music video. They performed a short version of "Pretend" at the Teen Choice Awards of 2019, where they won the Choice Latin Artist and were nominated for Choice Group. Spanish singer-songwriter Abraham Mateo launched his song "Me Vuelvo Loco" in collaboration with the boys in July. The group revealed their first extended play, Que Quiénes Somos, in mid-August, along with its cover art. Its title references the line sung by Colón at the end in most of their songs and also alludes as to who the boys are as they co-wrote the EP themselves. They released the first promotional single, titled "Ya Tú Sabes" in the 23rd of the same month. It contains a sample of a song by Cuban salsa singer, Celia Cruz and features Latin Trap in its production. The second promotional song, named "La Ley", was made free on all digital platforms on September 27. Both songs were released with audios on YouTube. The EP was released on 11 October 2019 and includes seven tracks in total. They also released the single "Pegao" with Manuel Turizo on the same day with a music video. The EP Que Quiénes Somos debuted at #1 on the Latin Pop Albums Billboard chart. The group collaborated with fellow boy band PRETTYMUCH on the song "Me Necesita." CNCO performed "Ya Tú Sabes" and also performed "Me Vuelvo Loco" alongside Abraham Mateo at the 2019 Latin American Music Awards and also won 2 awards that night. On November 7 the group was featured on the song "Como Así" by Argentinian singer Lali Espósito, which will appear on her upcoming album. In the same month, CNCO announced a clothing campaign with Forever 21.

2020: Press Start Tour and upcoming third studio album

The band announced their new tour "Press Start" on January 21, 2020. The tour was set to begin on May 30, 2020 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico and end in Chicago, Illinois at the Rosemont Theater on June 21, but was postponed due to the ongoing 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic. The boys also stated their self-written third LP would be released in March, but it was pushed back for the same reason. However, they released a single titled "Honey Boo" with Dominican singer Natti Natasha on April 2 along with its music video.

Members

Christopher Vélez

Christopher Bryant Vélez Muñoz was born on November 23, 1995 in New Jersey.
He moved with his family to their home country, Ecuador when he was three years old. When he turned 18, Vélez returned to the U.S. in hopes of helping his family economically; he had several jobs, including shining shoes for a living. He originally wanted to go to school to study music but saw La Banda as a better opportunity. Vélez is also the oldest member in CNCO.

Richard Camacho

Richard Yashel Camacho Puello was born on January 22, 1997, in New York City and grew up in the Dominican Republic. His father is a musician and cameraman and his mother is a dancer, which is also a hobby for him. Camacho has been singing and dancing ever since he was just three years old, and the first song he has ever listened to was "With You" by Chris Brown. He has three other siblings; Yashua Camacho, who also took the lifestyle of singing and is a solo artist, Dairan Camacho and Yarliza Camacho. He has a daughter named Aaliyah Sofia Camacho, which he had with Instagram model, Yocelyn Alexander.

Zabdiel De Jesús

Zabdiel De Jesús was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico on December 13, 1997. He developed an interest in singing at age twelve, singing with his church hip-hop and salsa group, as well as dancing ballet at Ballet Concierto, a prestigious academy in Puerto Rico. As a young child, his father, a musician, showed him a love for the music that is now what keeps their family together. From a young age, De Jesús had the ability to play instruments that was incredible and that's where his love for music comes from. He has shown his skills at beatboxing. Interestingly, De Jesús' birthday is on the same day as the group's.

Joel Pimentel

Joel Pimentel de León was born in Victorville, California on February 28, 1999, but grew up in Hesperia. He has Mexican ancestry and was inspired by his late grandfather to pursue his music career. He was part of the drama club at Hesperia High School, where he discovered his acting skills. In his spare time, Pimentel likes to play soccer, write songs and act. At one point during La Banda, Pimentel believed he would be eliminated because he couldn't speak or sing in Spanish very well as it was not his first language. However, his talent helped him become a member of CNCO.

Erick Brian Colón

Erick Brian Colón Arista was born on January 3, 2001 in Havana, Cuba. He moved to Tampa, Florida with his family at the age of 11 in 2012. There, Colón played soccer, danced and participated in musical activities at school. He has a sister named Yanelis. Colón is the youngest member of the boyband and was in La Banda when he was just 14 years old.

Reception

Griselda Flores of Billboard said the band is "taking the torch and leading a new boy band era", like prior Latino bands Magneto, Menudo, Uff!, and :es:Salserín|Salserín.

Discography

Studio albums
Extended plays

Headlining

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2016Premios JuventudVoz del MomentoThemselves
2016Premios JuventudMi Artista Pop RockThemselves
2016Premios JuventudProducers Choice AwardThemselves
2016Premios JuventudMi Tuitero FavoritoThemselves
2016Premios JuventudLa Mas Pegajosa"Tan Fácil"
2016Premios JuventudMi "Fan Army" FavoritoCNCOwners
2016Premios JuventudMejor LookThemselves
2016Latin American Music AwardsFavorite Pop/Rock New ArtistThemselves
2016Latin American Music AwardsFavorite Pop/Rock Duo or GroupThemselves
2016Latin American Music AwardsXfinitiy New Artist of the YearThemselves
2017Premios Lo NuestroPop/Rock Song of the Year"Tan Fácil"
2017Premios Lo NuestroPop/Rock Album of the YearPrimera Cita
2017Premios Lo NuestroPop/Rock Group or Duo of the YearThemselves
2017Billboard Latin Music AwardsArtist of the Year DebutThemselves
2017Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Pop Songs Artist of the Year, Duo or Group:Themselves
2017Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Pop Album of the YearPrimera Cita
2017Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Pop Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or GroupThemselves
2017BreakTudo AwardsBest International GroupThemselves
2017iHeartRadio Music AwardsBest New Latin ArtistThemselves
2017iHeartRadio Music AwardsBest New ArtistThemselves
2018iHeartRadio Music AwardsBest Boy BandThemselves
2018iHeartRadio Music AwardsBest Remix"Reggaeton Lento "
2018BreakTudo AwardsBest International GroupThemselves
2018:es: Tudo Information Awards|Tudo Information AwardsGroup of The YearThemselves
2019Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Pop Artist of the Year, Duo or GroupThemselves
2019Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Pop Album of the YearCNCO
2019Billboard Latin Music AwardsLatin Rhythm Artist of the Year, Duo or GroupThemselves
2019The Pop Hub AwardsNajlepsza Choreografia "Pretend"
2019The Pop Hub AwardsUlubiona Trasa Koncertowa CNCO World Tour
2019The Pop Hub AwardsUlubiona Gwiazda Latynoska CNCO
2019Latin AMAsFavorite Duo or GroupCNCO
2019Latin AMAsFavorite Pop ArtistCNCO
20192019 MTV Video Music AwardsPush Artist of the YearCNCO
20192019 MTV Video Music AwardsBest GroupCNCO
2019BreakTudo AwardsInternational FandomCNCOwners
2020Gardel AwardsCollaboration of the Year"Como Así"

Others

Latin American Music Awards

2016
2017
2018
2019
2017
2017
2018
2019