Bad Gyal

Alba Farelo Solé (born 7 March 1997), known professionally as Bad Gyal, is a Spanish singer, songwriter, DJ and model. Known for her distinctive overall use of Auto-Tune, Bad Gyal has developed a strong cult following ever since her musical career began in 2016, with her uploading an interpretation of Rihanna's "Work", sung in Catalan, to YouTube.[1] She continued to make music as an independent artist, releasing records like "Indapanden", "Jacaranda" and the popular "Fiebre". Bad Gyal later released two mixtapes: Slow Wine Mixtape (2016) and Worldwide Angel (2018), which consecrated her as an emerging artist within the Spanish urban scene.[2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Farelo and the second or maternal family name is Solé.
Bad Gyal
Bad Gyal in 2022
Born
Alba Farelo Solé

(1997-03-07) 7 March 1997
Vilassar de Mar, Catalonia, Spain
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • DJ
  • model
Years active2016–present
Parent
  • Eduard Farelo (father)
Musical career
Genres
Labels
Websiteakabadgyal.com

Bad Gyal signed with Interscope Records and Aftercluv in 2019, and saw mainstream acclaim with songs like "Santa María", "Zorra" and "Alocao", the latter becoming the number-one song in Spain for 2019.[3] 2021 saw the release of her first project as a signed artist Warm Up, as well as Sound System: The Final Releases.[4][5]

Other ventures for Bad Gyal, besides music, include fashion and modeling; she made her runway debut at Andrés Sardá's Spring/Summer 2022 show at Madrid Fashion Week.[6] As for social activism, Farelo has been an advocate for gender equality, LGBT rights and social justice.

Early life

Alba Farelo Solé was born on 7 March 1997 in Vilassar de Mar, Barcelona. The eldest of five children,[7] Farelo is the daughter of Eduard Farelo, a voice actor[8][9] who worked for international productions such as The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. After taking selectividad, Farelo earned a degree in fashion design at the University of Barcelona. While attending university, and working at a call centre, she released "Pai" (2016), an adaptation of "Work" by Rihanna in Catalan.[10] She stated that she never meant for that song to become viral, and that she just did it to create a funny memory with her group of friends. However, with that video, Farelo became one of the first artists to sing typically Latino/Spanish-language music genres in Catalan. She was named one of the most promising young musicians in Spain after the cover was picked up by a local radio station. While working in a bakery in her hometown, she decided to drop out of college to pursue a serious career in the music industry. She began as an independent artist, singing covers and playing music in nightclubs in and around Barcelona. She later became more interested in producing her own music and, with the money she made from gigs, soon rented recording studios and hired new producers. She would then release "Indapanden" and "No Pierdo Nada", among other songs produced by Fakeguido.

Career

2016–2018: Slow Wine Mixtape and Worldwide Angel

"Pai" gained popularity on YouTube, and was picked up by a local radio, which led to the creation of a mixtape, Slow Wine Mixtape, with producer Pablo Martínez. The mixtape was released on 9 November 2016. During this era, she was featured in several professional music magazines and websites including Pitchfork and Fact. Fact named her song "Jacaranda" the number 1 single of 2017.[11] After releasing the mixtape's debut single "Fiebre", Bad Gyal started to grow exponentially in the areas of El Maresme, Barcelona, and other points of Spain. Throughout the years, the song has developed a cult following and has been catalogued as a must play at clubs and music festivals. Because of "Fiebre"'s success, she was offered many record deals, which she turned down after receiving legal advice from lawyers. The success of the mixtape and its critical acclaim led Farelo to perform at several festivals in Iceland and Japan, as well as the Red Bull Music Academy Festival in Los Angeles, and Sónar in Barcelona.[12][13] In late 2017 she also toured Mexico and the United States.

In February 2018, she released her second mixtape to critical acclaim, which she titled Worldwide Angel. The album was licensed and distributed with Canada Editorial.[14] The mixtape was produced by Jam City, Dubbel Dutch, Florentino and el Guincho. It spawned many singles including "Blink", "Candela" and "Internationally". The last one was included in the digital soundtrack of the first season of the Netflix teen drama series Élite and was featured in an episode. To promote the album, she took part of international festivals such as SXSW and Lollapalooza and toured once again the United States. During winter season she embarked on her first Asian tour, which visited countries like Japan, China and the Philippines. She also released "Open the Door" featuring Jamaican singer Govana, "Yo sigo iual" and "Unknown Feeling".

2019–2021: Commercial breakthrough and Warm Up

Formerly signed with the production company Canada Editorial, in April 2019 it was announced Farelo had signed with Interscope Records and Aftercluv Dance Lab.[15] The next month she was featured in Spanish Vogue.[16] As a signed artist, Farelo moved to a more mainstream field with her first release being the long-anticipated "Santa María" featuring Busy Signal. It marked Farelo's first charting song in Spain. It was later certified gold.[17] A couple weeks later she released its B-side track, "Hookah", which peaked at 55 in Spain. During the summer she embarked on her third solo tour Bad Gyal Soundsystem, which visited many festivals including Sónar, Jameson Urban Routes, Hellow, Arenal Sound and Ceremonia, among others. In October 2019 Farelo collaborated with Omar Montes on "Alocao", which eventually became huge in Spain and selected parts of Latin America. The song peaked at number one in Spain for several weeks and was certified five times platinum.[18] Two months later, she released her biggest commercial solo track to date, "Zorra", which peaked at number two and was certified three times platinum in Spain. Bad Gyal offered two major solo sold-out concerts at Razzmatazz and another sold-out one at La Riviera.[19] The Soundsystem show was expected to begin a major Spanish and Latin American leg starting 8 March 2020, but could only do three shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Appearances at festivals like Estéreo Picnic and Primavera Sound were cancelled while the whole tour was postponed to 2021.

During the pandemic, Farelo was featured on Kafu Banton's "Tú eres un bom bom", which would later be remixed in collaboration with Guaynaa.[20] She also released "Aprendiendo el sexo" later on, with a music video produced by Canada and filmed at the luxurious W Hotel Barcelona.[21] In November, she paired with Juanka and released "Blin blin" to commercial success and the acclaim of the general public. The track became viral in her home country and had a significant use on TikTok. She also partnered with Vodafone and offered a unique virtual concert.[22]

Bad Gyal released her first extended play Warm Up on 19 March 2021 with her latest releases including the controversial Rauw Alejandro "Zorra" remix and the YouTube censored "Pussy".[23][24] The EP peaked at 5 in Spain.[25] She also collaborated with clothing brand Bershka and released an exclusive clothing line.[26] On 25 June, she collaborated with Mariah Angeliq and María Becerra on "BOBO", which sampled TLC's "No Scrubs" and sparked controversy due to similarity with Luchy DR's "Bufón".[27][28] As tour season came to an end, Farelo published "Flow 2000" as well as her second extended play Sound System: The Final Releases featuring songs she had been performing live for years yet remained unreleased.[29] She parallelly released "A la mía" exclusively for the Grand Theft Auto Online radio station Motomami Los Santos hosted by Rosalía and Arca.[30]

Awards and nominations
List of awards and nominations received by Bad Gyal
Award Year Recipient Category Result Ref.
Los 40 Music Awards 2022 Herself Best Urban Act Nominated [31]
2023 Best Spanish Urban Act Pending [32]
ARC Awards 2021 Best Self-Titled Artist Tour Won [33]
Latin Music Italian Awards 2020 "Alocao" (with Omar Montes) Best Eurolatino Song Won [34]
MTV Europe Music Awards 2022 Herself Best Spanish Act Won [35]
Premios Juventud 2022 New Female Artist Nominated [36]
2023 Female Artist – On The Rise Nominated [37]
Premios Lo Nuestro 2023 Breakthrough Female Artist Nominated [38]
Premios Odeón 2021 "Alocao" (with Omar Montes) Best Urban Song Nominated [39]
Herself Breakthrough Urban Artist Nominated
2022 Urban Artist Nominated [40]
Warm Up Album of the Year Nominated
Best Urban Album Nominated
"44" (with Rema) Best Urban Song Nominated
Premios Tu Música Urbano 2022 Herself Top New Artist – Female Nominated [41]
2023 Top Rising Star — Female Nominated [42]

Discography
Main article: Bad Gyal discography

Studio albums

  • La joia (2023)

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Ref.
2019 La hora musa  Performer [43]
2020 Gaudir Co-protagonist [44]
2021 Maestros de la costura  Guest appearance [45]
Drag Race España Guest judge [46]

Tours

Headlining
  • Slow Wine Tour (2017)
  • International Bad Gyal Sound System (2019–2021)[47]
  • La joia Tour (2022–present)
  • La joia Fall Tour (2023-present)

Supporting

References
  1. Sherburne, Philip (5 October 2017). "Bad Gyal Is a Rihanna-Loving Dancehall Badass from Barcelona". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  2. Diez-Garde, Jose Luis (28 November 2019). "Bad Gyal, la bomba sexual que quiere el trono de Rosalía" [Bad Gyal, the sex bomb that wants Rosalía's throne]. La Razón (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  3. "Bad Gyal da el salto a una multinacional y firma por Interscope y Aftercluv". jenesaispop.com (in Spanish). 1 May 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. "Bad Gyal estrena su nuevo EP "Warm Up"". Billboard (in Spanish). 22 March 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. "Bad Gyal viaja de Barcelona a "Nueva York" en su nuevo single". Billboard (in Spanish). 30 November 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  6. Periódico, El (16 September 2021). "Bad Gyal debuta como modelo de la mano de Andrés Sardà". elperiodico (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. Martin, Felicity (2 August 2018). "A Little Bit International: Bad Gyal Interviewed". Clash. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. Joshi, Tara (23 February 2018). "The Catalan reggaeton queen growing angel wings". Dazed. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  9. Sherburne, Philip (5 October 2017). "Bad Gyal Is a Rihanna-Loving Dancehall Badass From Barcelona". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  10. Aroesti, Rachel (5 July 2018). "Bad Gyal: 'Young people feel really represented by reggaeton'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  11. Bowe, Miles; Horner, Al; Lobenfeld, Claire; Twells, John; Clare Welsh, April; Wilson, Scott (15 December 2017). "The 50 Best Tracks of 2017". Fact. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  12. "Bad Gyal - Access All Areas". FACT Magazine. 9 September 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  13. "Bad Gyal presenta en Estados Unidos su nuevo disco recopilatorio". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  14. Myers, Owen (Summer 2018). "The dazzling melancholy of Bad Gyal's dancehall-inspired party music". The Fader. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  15. Madeleine, Fernando (30 April 2019). "Bad Gyal Signs With Interscope and Aftercluv: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  16. Blanco, Eva (May 2019). "Bad Gyal: "Todo lo decido yo..."" [Bad Gyal: "Everything I decide..."]. Vogue.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  17. "Rosalía suma su cuarto top 1 en España con 'Milionària'; Bad Gyal, top 14 con 'Santa María'". jenesaispop.com (in Spanish). 16 July 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  18. "BAD GYAL AND OMAR MONTES TEAM UP ON STEAMY NEW RECORD "ALOCAO" – Skope Entertainment Inc". 26 October 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  19. "Bad Gyal: El underground es el nuevo mainstream". Qualsevol Nit (in Spanish). 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  20. "Guaynaa se suma a Bad Gyal & Kafu Banton en BOM BOM". Periódico Digital Centroamericano y del Caribe (in Spanish). 17 May 2020. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  21. "Bad Gyal retoza con su chico en un hotel de lujo en 'Aprendiendo el sexo'". jenesaispop.com (in Spanish). 29 July 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  22. "Bad Gyal : concierto en streaming 5G con "Vodafone yu Music Shows" 15 diciembre, 2020". Qué! (in Spanish). 15 December 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  23. LOS40 (20 November 2020). "Bad Gyal: "No tiene sentido cantar una canción de empoderamiento femenino escrita por un hombre"". LOS40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  24. "El puertorriqueño Rauw Alejandro colabora en remezcla de española Bad Gyal • Hola News". Hola News. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  25. Música, El portal de, WARM UP - BAD GYAL | EPDM, retrieved 27 June 2021
  26. Baró, Mar (3 June 2021). "Bad Gyal inspira una nueva colección para Bershka". Time Out Barcelona (in European Spanish). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  27. "Bad Gyal, Mariah Angeliq y María Becerra juntas en BOBO". Neo2 Magazine (in Spanish). 25 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  28. "La artista Luchy DR acusa a Mariah Angeliq de plagio por su tema 'BOBO'". Los de la Música (in Spanish). 26 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  29. "Bad Gyal empieza su calendario de adviento con "Nueva York (tot*)"". YOUNG España (in Spanish). 26 November 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  30. "Todas las canciones de Motomami Los Santos, la emisora de GTA V presentada por Rosalía". Marca (in Spanish). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  31. Zavala, Cristina (5 November 2022). "NOMINADOS LOS40 MUSIC AWARDS 2022: ROSALÍA LIDERA CON 7 CANDIDATURAS EN UNA EDICIÓN MUY FEMENINA ©copyright los40.com". Los40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  32. "Nominados a LOS40 Music Awards 2023: lista completa". El Mundo (in Spanish). 17 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  33. "Guanyadors als Premis ARC 2021" (in Catalan). Associació Professional de Representants, Promotors i Mànagers de Catalunya [Professional Association of Representatives, Promoters and Managers of Catalonia]. 13 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  34. "Latin Music Official Italian Awards 2020: lista completa dei vincitori" (in English and Italian). Latin Music Official. 23 January 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  35. "Bad Gyal, mejor artista española en premios europeos de MTV". Deutsche Welle (in Spanish). 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  36. Moral, Selene (22 July 2022). "Lista de ganadores de los Premios Juventud: del triunfo de Karol G al 'casi vacío' de J Balvin". Los 40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  37. Flores, Griselda (13 June 2023). "2023 Premios Juventud Nominations: See the Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  38. "Nominados a Premio Lo Nuestro 2023: lista completa y cómo votar". Univision (in Spanish). 23 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  39. "Ganadores 2021 – Premios Odeón" (in Spanish). Odeón Awards. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  40. "Ganadores 2022 – Premios Odeón" (in Spanish). Odeón Awards. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  41. Mauro, Florencia (23 June 2022). "Premios Tu Música Urbano 2022: Nominados y ganadores". Billboard Argentina (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  42. Roiz, Jessica (2 May 2023). "Rauw Alejandro lidera nominaciones a Premios Tu Música Urbano 2023: Lista completa". Billboard (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  43. "The Cat Empire, Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Bad Gyal y Flamingo Tours, esta semana en 'La Hora Musa'". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 14 November 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  44. "Bad Gyal protagoniza el spot de los Premis Gaudí junto a su padre". Mondo Sonoro (in Spanish). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  45. "Bad Gyal lleva la moda TRAP a Maestros de la Costura". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 16 February 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  46. "Así será la cuarta gala de 'Drag Race España', con Bad Gyal como nueva invitada". Vertele (in Spanish). 16 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  47. Palao Murcia, Alberto (19 November 2021). "Nueva música: "Voy a lanzar temas que lleváis pidiendo tres años"". Los 40 (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 March 2022.
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