PeeWee

Pee Wee launched his independent path as a Latin pop vocalist in 2009, years after first achieving recognition inside the rotating roster of the Kumbia Kings. Irvin Salinas entered the world on December 8, 1988, in Othello, WA, and relocated to southern Texas while still an adolescent. There, Latin pop hitmaker A.B. Quintanilla III invited the teenager to become part of the commercially proven cumbia-pop collective known as the Kumbia Kings. Because of his youth he assumed the stage name Pee Wee, sometimes styled Pee Wee González, and first appeared on record with the group in 2004 via the hit single “Sabes a Chocolate,” a cover of the Menudo track originally issued on the 1984 album Evolución.

Immediately afterward he took a central role on the Kumbia Kings’ follow-up release Fuego (2004) and scored another success with “Na Na Na (Dulce Niña),” which climbed into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart in 2005. The subsequent album Ayer Fue Kumbia Kings, Hoy Es Kumbia All Starz (2006) produced yet a third Top Ten entry featuring Pee Wee, the track “Chiquilla.” Citing mistreatment at the hands of Quintanilla, he departed the ensemble in February 2008.

The ensuing months proved highly productive. He appeared on the Erre XI reggaeton single “Carita Bonita” and took part in the televised competitions El Show de los Sueños and Los Reyes del Show, claiming first place in each. After inking a solo contract with EMI, he issued his debut album Yo Soy in 2009, led by the single “Cumbayá.”