Spanish singer-songwriter Bad Gyal presented this Thursday in Miami her new album ‘Más cara’, the second of her career and a project she defines as “a gift” for her teenage self, with deep roots in the urban rhythms of the Caribbean.
“La Alba, 12 to 16 years old, could not believe this,” said the artist, whose name is Alba Farelo i Solé (1997) during a live broadcast on TikTok with which she began the launch activities of the album, recorded in Miami, Medellín, Puerto Rico and Spain.
“I’m nervous, excited and very aware of how people are going to receive it. I do see the reactions on social networks. I’m not going to say no,” she confessed from Miami.
Much of those nerves came from the “great effort and passion” that went into the production of ‘Más cara’. “It was three composition camps with a lot of people I admire very much since I started consuming this music,” he explained.
Although the composition was largely digital, “it was done from the ground up. We created the beats together, me sitting in the studio saying this yes, this no,” he added, describing an uncommon process in the creation of urban music, in which songs are pieced together, often from remote locations.
“I wanted a warm album that was created in the moment and I think that’s going to come across to anyone who listens to my music,” he added.
Bad Gyal describes the project as her “dream playlist” and as a kind of sound map that connects the influences that marked her adolescence with her current evolution as a global artist, starting with Puerto Rican artist J. Álvarez, with whom she shares the microphone in ‘La iniciativa’.
“I used to listen to it as a teenager in Barcelona, when I adored reggaeton, but I saw it as coming from a very distant world,” he recalled.
Throughout its 19 tracks, the album fuses reggaeton, R&B, dancehall, merengue house, Jamaican shatta, guaracha and Haitian kompa, a mix that maintains Bad Gyal’s signature disco and nightclub spirit while exploring new textures and rhythms.
The result is an eminently danceable project that moves between the nostalgic and the contemporary, reaffirming the singer’s link with the sounds that dominated the urban scene of the last two decades.
The track list opens with ‘Más cara’, followed by songs like ‘Un coro y ya :)’, ‘Te daré’, ‘Dame’ and ‘Noticia de ayer’, the latter defined by the artist as “the most fun to create”.
Bad Gyal and her new album ‘Más cara’.
On ‘Choque’ he teams up with reggaeton veteran Chencho Corleone, while ‘Última noche’ is a collaboration with Ozuna.
Other guests on the project include 8Belial, De La Rose, Jadiel, Jenny “La sexy voz”, Maureen and Victor Mendivil, artists featured on songs such as ‘Tic Tac (Hour Love)’, ‘Hoy te toca’, ‘Perro’, ‘Muñeca’ and ‘Fashion Girl pt.2’.
The project was executive produced by Dominican Cromo X, whom Bad Gyal calls “brother”, who coordinated the work of a new generation of urban producers such as Botlok, Jorge Milliano, Mazzarri and Wicked Outside.
The album also includes contributions from influential figures in urban music such as Luny Tunes, Nely el Arma Secreta, Sky Rompiendo and Ovy On The Drums, responsible for some of the most recognizable sounds in modern reggaeton.
In addition to the album release, Bad Gyal premiered the official video for ‘Un coro y ya :)’, directed by photographer and filmmaker Daniel Sannwald. The video, shot in Barcelona, explores a sensual aesthetic that accompanies the tone of the song and reflects the visual universe that the artist has built around this new stage.
The release comes at a time of consolidation for the artist, who continues to expand her international presence with a sold-out tour of Spain and an upcoming headlining performance at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona in June.
With this second album, reported Agencia EFE, Bad Gyal reaffirms her position as one of the most influential figures in European urban pop and one of the most promising voices in contemporary Latin music.
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