Grupo Firme Replaces Itself at No. 1 on Latin Airplay With ‘El Beneficio De La Duda’

A week after Grupo Firme scored its first career No. 1 on Latin Airplay, the group replaces itself at the summit with new single “El Beneficio De La Duda,” as the song flies 24-1 on the July 13-dated list. The new leader follows the one-week reign of “Te Va a Doler,” the group’s first collab with Thalia.

“We are grateful to our audience for supporting each one of our crazy ideas,” Eduin Caz, lead singer for Grupo Firme, tells Billboard. “Both songs are completely different and the fact that they have accepted them as such, to take them to No. 1 one after the other is incredible and only motivates us to keep going.”

“El Beneficio De La Duda” scores 6.2 million audience impressions, up 56%, earned during the June 28-July 4 tracking week, according to Luminate. Thalia’s “Te Va a Doler,” with Grupo Firme, meanwhile, falls to No. 26 with a 48% decline in audience (down 48%) after one week on top.

Thanks to the 56% gain in audience, “El Beneficio De La Duda” takes home the Greatest Gainer trophy, a weekly award for the song with the largest increase in audience among the 50-title radio ranking. A pair of California stations lead the way with the most plays, KLAX in Los Angeles and KRZZ in San Francisco, in the latest tracking week, while KFZO in Dallas, rounds up the top three.

“El Beneficio De La Duda,” composed by singer-songwriter Joss Favela and released May 28 via Music VIP, grants the label its first ruler on the overall Latin radio ranking. Music VIP came close when “Que Onda Perdida,” another Grupo Firme song, with Gerardo Coronel, reached No. 3 in July 2023.

“For us, it is wonderful to continue to represent our Mexican music in the highest possible way,” Isael Gutiérrez, founder and CEO of Music VIP Entertainment, tells Billboard. “Every achievement and every record we break drives us to keep innovating and creating music that continues to break boundaries.”

As “El Beneficio” lands at the summit on the overall Latin radio tally, Grupo Firme replaces itself at No. 1, the second act to achieve the feat in 2024, following Myke Towers whose “Borracho y Loco” with Yandel ceded the throne to his own “La Falda,” after the latter’s one week in charge (Feb. 24-dated list).

Beyond its Latin Airplay coronation, “El Beneficio” takes the lead on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, for the group’s 10th No. 1 there, tying with Christian Nodal for second-most champs this decade, both trailing only Calibre 50’s 11 No. 1s since 2020.

“When Joss Favela sent me the first take of the song, he simulated the accordion with his voice because the song wasn’t produced yet,” Caz adds. “I still liked how his voice hummed the melody and decided to incorporate it, and that is one of the most special details of the song.”

Grupo Firme, comprising Eduin and Johnny Caz, Abraham Hernandez, Joaquin Ruiz, Christian Gutierrez, Jose Rubio and Dylan Camacho, celebrates its second No. 1 on the heels of the group’s La Última Peda Tour 2024, the 32-date run that launched in San Antonio, Texas on May 10 and will wrap up Nov. 2 at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.