A.B. Quintanilla

A.B. Quintanilla (born Abraham Quintanilla, III on December 13, 1963) in Toppenish, Washington, is a famous Mexican-American hip hop musician and producer who is a native of Texas. He is better known as the older brother of slain Latina music legend Selena Quintanilla.

While living in [Lake Jackson, Texas] A.B. Quintanilla learned how to play the guitar and bass, and he became, alongside Selena, Suzette, and their father, Abraham, a member of the successful band, Selena y Los Dinos with A.B. becoming Selena's producer. Some of the hits that Selena had, "Como La Flor" (Like a Flower) and "Amor Prohibido" (Forbidden Love) were written by A.B. Quintanilla. Selena's murder, on March 31, 1995, deeply hurt A.B.

He and his sister Suzette were very close to Selena. He helped with production of a song called "Como Te Extraño"(How I miss you), written by Pedro "Pete" Astudillo especially for Selena as well as his (Pete) late grandmother which earned him(Pete) a Premios Lo Nuestro award for best song of the year.

A.B. Quintanilla later resurfaced in the music scene with the highly successful Kumbia Kings group, which mixed cumbia and rap music. Kumbia Kings went on an international tour, had a few CD releases and participated on such shows as Cristina Saralegui's (A.B. once broke down crying when asked by Cristina about his sister on the nationally televised show). Kumbia Kings is still one of the hottest most popular acts on the scene.

Quintanilla has also produced for such entertainers as Thalía and Cristian Castro. Early in 2004, and after six years of continuous success, the Kumbia Kings announced they will separate. It is widely expected by the Latino community, however, that A.B. will resume his career either by forming part of another group or launching a solo career.