Savani Quintanilla | Who Is Principe Q?
Savani Quintanilla is the name many people use when searching for Svani Quintanilla, the Texas-based music producer and DJ known professionally as Principe Q. He is part of the famous Quintanilla musical family: his father is musician and producer A.B. Quintanilla III, while his aunt is the late Tejano star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.
But the family connection is only part of his story. As Principe Q, Svani has developed a career around DJing, production, remixing and contemporary Latin music. His work with Royal Highness and the Screwmbia project is particularly notable for bringing cumbia together with trap, electronic music and the slowed-down aesthetic associated with Houston’s chopped-and-screwed tradition.
One important clarification comes first: “Savani Quintanilla” is a common spelling in online searches, while “Svani Quintanilla” is the spelling used on his own music profiles and in established coverage of his career. His professional name is Principe Q.
Savani Quintanilla at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Name commonly searched | Savani Quintanilla |
| Professional spelling | Svani Quintanilla |
| Stage name | Principe Q |
| Profession | Music producer and DJ |
| Father | A.B. Quintanilla III |
| Aunt | Selena Quintanilla-Pérez |
| Texas connection | Corpus Christi and Houston; currently associated with San Antonio |
| Best-known project | Royal Highness |
| Signature concept | Screwmbia |
| Musical territory | Cumbia, trap, hip-hop, electronic and Latin dance music |
| Publicly documented career | DJing, production, remixing and collaborations |
Principe Q’s own Bandcamp profile identifies him as “Music producer/DJ Svani Quintanilla” and lists San Antonio, Texas as his base.
Who Is Svani Quintanilla?
Svani Quintanilla comes from one of Texas’s most recognizable musical families.
His father, A.B. Quintanilla III, was a bassist, songwriter and producer who worked closely with his younger sister Selena as part of Selena y Los Dinos. A.B. was involved in writing, producing and performing music for the family group before developing his own projects after Selena’s death.
That makes the family relationship straightforward:
A.B. Quintanilla III is Svani Quintanilla’s father, and Selena Quintanilla was Svani’s aunt.
Selena was A.B.’s younger sister, so Svani is part of the next generation of the Quintanilla family musical lineage.
That connection naturally attracts attention, but Svani’s professional identity is more closely associated with contemporary cumbia, DJ culture and electronic production than with reproducing the Tejano-pop sound for which Selena became famous.
The Quintanilla Family Connection
The Quintanilla name is closely connected to the development of modern Tejano and Latin music in Texas.
Selena, A.B. and their sister Suzette performed together in the family group Selena y Los Dinos. A.B. played bass and became a major songwriting and production figure within the group, while Selena eventually became one of the most influential figures in Tejano music. The Library of Congress describes A.B. as Selena’s older brother and producer-composer.
For Svani, that meant growing up within a family where music was already an established profession. In a 2013 interview with the Houston Press, Svani explained that growing up in a family of musicians made falling in love with music feel natural.
The distinction between family heritage and individual career is useful when looking at his work. His surname connects him to Selena and A.B., but his public music catalog shows a separate interest in cumbia, electronic production, hip-hop and DJ culture.
Principe Q: His Professional Music Identity
Svani Quintanilla performs and releases music as Principe Q.
His current music profiles identify him directly with that name, and his catalog includes DJ edits, remixes, bootlegs and original productions. Bandcamp describes him as a San Antonio-based music producer and DJ, while his SoundCloud profile describes his work as a modern interpretation of cumbia incorporating trap drums and slowed-down beats.
The Principe Q identity also helped distinguish Svani’s work from the much larger public identity attached to the Quintanilla family.
Rather than positioning himself primarily as a Tejano performer, his music has developed around the club, DJ and remix side of Latin music. His catalog demonstrates an interest in reshaping familiar rhythms for contemporary audiences.
Royal Highness and the Development of Screwmbia
One of the most important chapters of Svani Quintanilla’s career began with Royal Highness, his collaboration with DJ and turntablist Luis Espada, known as King Louie.
The duo’s 2012 release Screwmbia provides some of the clearest documentation of Svani’s early musical direction. The official Bandcamp credits list both Svani Quintanilla and Luis Espada as artists, and the project was released on October 1, 2012. Its description says the music was built around integrating trap, cumbia and other sounds with an authentic Texas feel.
The Houston Press subsequently profiled Royal Highness in 2013, describing the duo as a combination of cumbia and electronic dance genres. The article identified Svani as A.B. Quintanilla’s son and Selena’s nephew.
What Is Screwmbia?
Screwmbia is a fusion of cumbia with elements of Houston’s chopped-and-screwed musical tradition, hip-hop and modern bass-heavy production.
Svani explained the approach to the Houston Press in 2013: the duo would slow down cumbia samples, add hip-hop drums and lower the pitch, creating a distinctly Texas and Southern sound.
That explanation is important because “Screwmbia” is more than a catchy name. It describes the meeting point between two regional musical traditions:
- Cumbia, with its distinctive Latin rhythmic foundation.
- Houston’s chopped-and-screwed tradition, known for slowed tempos, altered pitch and a heavy, spacious sound.
- Hip-hop and trap production, which adds bass, drums and contemporary club energy.
- Electronic dance music, which broadens the sound beyond conventional cumbia arrangements.
Royal Highness therefore became an early vehicle for Svani’s interest in crossing musical boundaries rather than staying inside a single genre.
His Musical Style: Cumbia Meets Urban Production
Principe Q’s music is best understood as Latin-rooted electronic and DJ music, with cumbia acting as an important foundation.
His publicly documented work incorporates several overlapping influences:
- Cumbia
- Hip-hop
- Trap
- Electronic dance music
- Chopped-and-screwed production
- Moombahton
- Reggaeton
- Remix and bootleg culture
His BOOTLEG Q VOL. 2, released in 2021, is tagged with hip-hop, Latin, moombahton, reggaeton, trap, cumbia and pop, illustrating how broad his production palette can be.
A related example is BOOTLEG Q VOL. 1, which includes a version of Grupo Kual’s “Pajaro Cenzontle” presented as “Screwmbia.”
This makes Principe Q’s role easier to understand: he is not simply a musician carrying forward a family tradition. His catalog shows an ongoing interest in reworking Latin rhythms through contemporary DJ and electronic-production techniques.
Beyond Royal Highness: Production and DJ Work
Svani’s work has extended beyond Royal Highness.
He has been connected with the Houston music collective Bombón, participating in a community of DJs and artists exploring tropical, Latin and electronic sounds. His broader career also includes production work with other musicians.
For example, Houston Press reported in 2017 that Svani, identified as Principe Q, co-produced Gio Chamba’s “High Rider.” The report said Chamba had introduced Svani to boogaloo artists, after which Svani created a beat for the project.
These collaborations demonstrate why reducing his career to “Selena’s nephew” misses an important part of the public record. His documented work involves the practical roles of producer, DJ and collaborator.
Is Savani Quintanilla a Member of Kumbia All Starz?
Svani has also been publicly associated with Kumbia All Starz, the group founded and led by his father, A.B. Quintanilla.
Public listings identify Svani as a member of the group, with credits including güira, DJ work and backing vocals.
That connection places him directly within his father’s later cumbia-oriented musical world. At the same time, his Principe Q work developed a noticeably different direction, particularly through DJ culture, electronic production and Screwmbia.
It is therefore useful to treat Kumbia All Starz as one part of his musical history, rather than as a complete description of his career.
How Old Is Savani Quintanilla?
This is one of the areas where online biography pages should be treated carefully.
A 2013 Houston Press profile described Svani as 22 years old at the time.
His birthday is commonly listed online as November 27, but the birth year is not consistently established by strong primary documentation. Some modern biography sites publish 1991, while the contemporary 2013 age reference creates a discrepancy with that year.
For that reason, an exact current age should not be presented as an established fact without a reliable first-party confirmation of the birth year.
The safest factual summary is:
Svani Quintanilla’s birthday is commonly reported as November 27, but his exact birth year—and consequently his precise current age—should be treated as unverified.
This is preferable to repeating a specific age simply because it appears on multiple biography websites.
Where Is Svani Quintanilla From?
Svani has strong ties to Corpus Christi, Texas, where earlier coverage identified him as being from. His career also became connected to Austin and Houston’s Latin and electronic music scenes.
His current Principe Q music profiles identify San Antonio, Texas as his base.
Taken together, his career has a distinctly Texas musical geography: Corpus Christi roots, connections to Houston’s cumbia and DJ community, and a current San Antonio base.
What Is Known About His Private Life?
Compared with his music career and family lineage, relatively little reliable information about Svani Quintanilla’s private adult life is necessary to understand his public profile.
Online biographies sometimes publish details about relationships, children, family circumstances or finances, but these claims are not equally documented. Where a detail does not come from a reliable public source, it is better not to treat it as established fact.
The strongest public record concerns his music: Principe Q, Royal Highness, Screwmbia, DJ work, production and his connection to the Quintanilla musical family.
That distinction also prevents a common biography problem: turning a musician’s famous relatives into an excuse to speculate about parts of his life that he has not publicly documented.
Why Principe Q Matters to the Quintanilla Musical Legacy
Selena’s musical legacy is rooted in Tejano, while A.B. Quintanilla’s later work expanded into cumbia and Latin pop. Svani’s work represents another generation’s interpretation of that broader musical heritage.
The difference is particularly visible in Screwmbia.
Instead of reproducing the sound associated with Selena’s recordings, Principe Q brings cumbia into conversation with Houston hip-hop culture, trap, electronic dance music and DJ remix practices. His own description of the style emphasizes the Texas and Southern character of that combination.
That makes his career interesting within the larger Quintanilla story: the family connection provides historical context, while his production work shows how a younger musician can approach Latin music through a different generation of sounds and technology.
Savani Quintanilla Career Timeline
| Period | Documented development |
|---|---|
| Early career | Developed an interest in DJing and music production within a musical family |
| 2012 | Royal Highness released Screwmbia, credited to Svani Quintanilla and Luis Espada |
| 2013 | Houston Press profiled Royal Highness and documented Svani’s approach to Screwmbia |
| 2010s | Continued work across Texas cumbia, DJ and electronic music communities |
| 2017 | Credited as co-producer on Gio Chamba’s “High Rider” |
| 2020 | Released BOOTLEG Q VOL. 1 as Principe Q |
| 2021 | Released BOOTLEG Q VOL. 2 |
| 2020s | Continued releasing DJ edits, remixes and production work under Principe Q |
| Current profile | Based in San Antonio and continuing to identify publicly as a music producer/DJ |
The timeline is intentionally limited to developments supported by publicly available music records and established coverage rather than filling gaps with unverified biographical claims.
Frequently Asked Questions About Savani Quintanilla
Is Savani Quintanilla the same person as Svani Quintanilla?
Yes. Svani Quintanilla is the spelling used on his professional music profiles, while Savani Quintanilla is a common spelling used in online searches and biography pages. His professional artist name is Principe Q.
Is Savani Quintanilla Selena’s nephew?
Yes. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was Svani Quintanilla’s aunt. Svani is the son of Selena’s older brother, A.B. Quintanilla III.
Who is Savani Quintanilla’s father?
His father is A.B. Quintanilla III, the musician, songwriter and producer who played a major role in Selena y Los Dinos and later founded projects including Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz.
What is Principe Q known for?
Principe Q is known publicly as a music producer and DJ. His work includes contemporary cumbia, electronic Latin music, remixing and the Screwmbia concept associated with Royal Highness. His current Bandcamp profile identifies him as “Music producer/DJ Svani Quintanilla.”
What is Screwmbia?
Screwmbia is a fusion of cumbia with slowed-down production influenced by Houston’s chopped-and-screwed tradition, along with hip-hop and trap elements. Svani and DJ King Louie developed the concept through their Royal Highness project.
Was Svani Quintanilla part of Royal Highness?
Yes. Royal Highness was a duo involving Svani Quintanilla and Luis Espada, known as King Louie. Their 2012 Screwmbia release officially credits both artists.
Is Svani Quintanilla part of Kumbia All Starz?
Public listings identify Svani as a member of Kumbia All Starz, with roles including DJ, güira and backing vocals. The group was founded and led by his father, A.B. Quintanilla.
How old is Savani Quintanilla?
His exact current age cannot be stated confidently because public sources disagree about his birth year. A 2013 Houston Press profile described him as 22, while later biography sites have published different birth years. His birthday is commonly listed as November 27, but the year is not sufficiently verified to calculate a definitive age.
Where is Principe Q based?
His current music profiles identify him as being based in San Antonio, Texas. Earlier coverage connected him with Corpus Christi and the wider Houston/Austin music scenes.
Does Savani Quintanilla have a confirmed net worth?
There is no reliable public financial record establishing an exact net worth for Svani Quintanilla. Online estimates should not be presented as verified figures.
Conclusion
Savani Quintanilla—professionally known as Svani Quintanilla and Principe Q—belongs to the Quintanilla family that helped shape Texas Latin music, but his public career has developed along its own path.
His relationship to the family is clear: A.B. Quintanilla III is his father, and Selena Quintanilla-Pérez is his aunt. His own musical identity is equally clear through his work as a producer and DJ, particularly his involvement with Royal Highness and Screwmbia.
The most distinctive part of Principe Q’s catalog is the way it connects cumbia with contemporary urban and electronic production. By combining Latin rhythms with trap, hip-hop, slowed-down Texas sounds and DJ culture, his work represents a different chapter in the Quintanilla musical story.
For readers searching for “Savani Quintanilla,” the key distinction is simple: the name commonly searched online points to Svani Quintanilla, the musician known professionally as Principe Q—not simply a member of Selena’s family, but a producer and DJ with a documented body of work of his own.