La Mafia was formed in Houston Texas, by Oscar De La Rosa (vocalist), and Armando Lichtenberger Jr (accordion) in 1980. The 2 founding members later welcomed Tim Ruiz (bass), Joe Gonzales(drums), Jesus Angel (keyboards) and Viktor (guitar). La Mafia (first known as Los Jovenes) helped popularize the THEN unknown music genre, Tex-Mex or Tejano Music. La Mafia gained world wide achievement doing something unheard of at the time, and touring parts of Mexico and Latin America