Features : Frankie 5Ø3’s “3L NIÑ0 P03TA” brings Central America back into reggaeton and Latin pop

Frankie 5Ø3 created his new album, 3L NIÑ0 P03TA (El Niño Poeta, or The Kid Poet) from the strands of three of his passions: urban Latin music, poetry, and his family’s roots in El Salvador and Central America.

He has produced an album of 13 songs that talk about love in its many faces, set to an equal variety of melodies and instruments in the pop/electronic rhythms and instruments of reggaeton.

The primary language of the lyrics is Spanish but knowing that language is not necessary to fully enjoy the music, which ranges from slow, smooth and soulful to dance beats.

“A lot of the songs are either based on love, or falling out of love, or some phase of love that you feel. Being in love with somebody, you know, is not always gonna be positive,” he said.

The songs progress from a phone call to begin the first track, “V-L.”

“You’re just talking to this girl, and then it’s love for the next three or four songs, and you’re talking about all these beautiful things, kind of how a relationship will start.”

Well, as far as this love story goes, it ends, as so many do, in heartbreak, with song No. 13 called “F3LL IN

About those numbers. Frankie 5Ø3 was born in Lansdowne, Virginia, but his parents are from and a lot of his family still lives in El Salvador, for which the country phone code is 5Ø3.

Hence, his artist name, Frankie 5Ø3, and his song titles, in which “S” is rendered “5,” “O” is “0,” and “E” is “3.”

 Love is in text for heart, “

Two of the tracks have music videos on YouTube, “@KIMKIMYALA” and “F3LL

“I know that it’s a little weird,” he said, “but I wanted it to be a little weird. I wanted an album that even when you read it, you’re like ‘What is this? I haven’t seen anything like this before.’”

Reggaeton began in Central America but is mostly viewed through a Puerto Rican lens because that is where the style gained traction and fame.

Frankie 5Ø3 wants to take it back home. He would like to be heard in El Salvador and Central America, and he would like to inspire people there to create and send music out into the world.

“I want to pioneer urban Latino music in Central America. I think that’ll bring joy. I think that’ll bring a lot of kids to maybe try something they never thought they could do there.”

He also wants the flavor of his family’s homeland to be more noticeable flavor the musical stew of the big melting pot called America.

“If you look at pop artists, I don’t think there’s one that I can name off the top of my head that’s from either El Salvador or Central America. There’s probably a few that are from Central America that I’m missing, but not in urban pop.”

The roots of his own music reach into poetry, especially of two artists known for their poetic lyrics, Romeo Santos and Bob Dylan.

“Romeo Santos, in Spanish culture, is known for his very romantic, poetic words, and I love Bob Dylan for the kind of music he makes and his words. Those two you cannot compare to anybody else.”

“I want to write for the rest of my life,” he said. “I love writing poems. That’s why the album’s called ‘El Niño Poeta.’ I want to write for myself, I want to collaborate with others and write for others, write with others.”

He is The Kid Poet, and he also writes his own music but gives great credit to his producer friend Ben Balserak and the other producers he worked with to create “3L NIÑ0 P03TA.”

“Like all the little things, like where you hear a bass cut out, or you only hear the synth line over here and you won’t hear it during this part. That’s Ben Balserak. Man, Ben is a big part of why I’m doing what I’m doing. I love writing words. I love singing, and I can play multiple instruments, but he helped me with the production of that album.”

He will another single, “Baby J,” on March 29. The track will also get a music video. After that, he wants to release another single, or a double, and another single.

Now 23, Frankie 5Ø3 has been making music since he was a child, 6 or 7, playing at his mother’s church. At first, he was in the choir, then learned to play guitar, keyboard, drums and bass.

He plays in an alt rock band, “so I’m all over the place with my music.” But, he said, “I found this pop vein that I want to go with in my solo stuff, my Frankie 5Ø3 stuff.”

His aim now is to promote his album and get some solo performances. He lives in Northern Virginia, an area where there is also a shortage of reggaeton, Latin music, and artists from Central America.

“I want to promote my stuff a little bit more, then throw it out there to some clubs in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia), get some plays, see how the crowd reacts and then go from there.”

Connect to Frankie 5Ø3 on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts and see where he goes.

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