Strange as it may seem, Bad Gyal today ends a stage, still the first, of his artistic career. A journey that began in 2016 as an obvious diamond in the rough, with those distant and very fresh songs like ‘Pai’ or ‘Indapanden’, and that ends with ‘La joia’, his first album as such after publishing a multitude of dance anthems, two foundational mixtapes (‘Slow wine mixtape’, 2016, and ‘Worlwide angel’, 2018) and an EP (‘Warm up’, 2021). The stage ends as the races began before, but Alba Farelo i Solé herself, 26 years old, is a sign of the new times and rhythms that have turned around what was known until now.
The title of his first album is not a coincidence, it responds to his perseverance and the talent he already had at the age of 19 and which he has honed. “I felt identified with the idea of a diamond, of a stone that has to be worked on, polished. Applied to the album and to myself as a composer,” explains the artist from Vilassar de Mar in conversation with this newspaper. ‘La joia’ is published this Friday, in what we can call the eighth year of her career, later than planned due to paperwork, collaborations and, precisely, because of that search for brilliance. “I’ve been on top of all the details. As for the songs, I do everything, the choice of the features, the producers, the sound of the beats, what kind of sounds…” he says. the Catalan, who says that she has had the resources she imagined when she signed years ago with Universal. “I have been able to take my project to another level,” she says, ambitious from her first steps into this.
The album is a mirror of the Bad Gyal that we know today, that of the enjoyable songs, designed for the party, the explicit and powerful lyrics. More than half of the songs – 13 songs plus an ‘intro’ and a piece that serves as a transition – have already had a life of their own as ‘singles’. This has not been the case with the most “special”, the one that falls outside the ‘catch-all’ genre, the urban Latin one, a collaboration with the Jamaican Tommy Lee Sparta and that connects it with his fetish rhythm, dance hall. Nor had the one that unites her for the first time with another Catalan artist who, like her, is already an international star, Morad, been published. “We are quite different, I think this is where the fun is, being able to get together with other artists and see how they do it. He is super passionate,” details Bad Gyal, about a mix that materializes in the most calm of the album, ‘ Here I am’.
Referrer
‘La joia’ arrives with a Bad Gyal settled in success. This is said by his nearly 14 million listeners on Spotify or his second full Palau Sant Jordi in a year (February 9), masses that are moved by his connection with an audience – a notable phenomenon among the LGTBIQ+ collective – dedicated to his figure, for her character, how she transmits power, subversion and freedom through her lyrics, her way of facing and expressing love and sex, which make her an artist with cultural, social and political weight, even if not consciously. “It’s a natural thing, I have simply chosen to be myself. I am not a product, I feel that I have the freedom to express myself how I want… Maybe that is what has generated the connection, but it is not intentional,” he remarks. Your audience in data: 55% are women and 40% are men; and 78% of the total are between 18 and 34 years old.
And he integrates all of these messages into songs that are mixtures of many styles, and all of them designed for dancing, for a continuous party, like his concerts. “I do feel that girls, seeing how I express myself, that I dance how I want, that I dress how I want… It gives them more confidence to be themselves the way they want to be, and that’s very cool,” she points out. “I never act thinking about changing anyone’s mentality or winning over anyone,” she says.
Having become a reference, she says, does not condition her. Nor does he believe that his career should turn towards a less fiery tone to find an even broader audience. “It is no impediment to have explicit lyrics to have a larger audience. On the contrary, it is where everything is going right now,” she says.
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Bad Gyal emerged in the turbulent genesis – due to contempt and attacks – of what is now called urban music, being part of a generation that has managed to shape the ‘mainstream’ and the music industry. “When the numbers are what they are, young people listen to what they hear, the rest of the world can do nothing but adapt. I don’t think it has changed because the general media or people of other generations have decided to change their mentality. “It’s what had to happen, and it has happened,” he asserts. But do you notice that your music is more socially accepted? “Yes, but it has been accepted through seeing how successful you are and the success you have. In the end, if you see that your son loves it, you will stop judging who makes that music.”
Bad Gyal, who says that, tired of touring, she envisions a calmer imminent future, focused on composing, remains firm and focused when talking about her project. But his expression changes, he relaxes and draws a half smile, when asked about Mushkaa, his sister. and one of the most imposing lights of an urban scene that takes advantage of the path opened by, among others, the greatest of the Farelo i Solé. “I feel a lot of admiration and I love how she is doing it. I see her with very clear ideas. I feel super proud and, beyond being my sister, she is an artist, super complete.”