Author: Isabelia Herrera
Exclusive Photography: Giel Domen & Kenneth Van De Velde
Styling: Nicola Formichetti
Rolling Stone released its September issue, featuring Colombian star Karol G coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month. For the first time ever, the artist discusses her brand-new album, Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season), which represents an uncompromising new era for her steeped in strength and self-confidence. “It’s about a woman who feels proud of where she is, of everything she had to go through. Of never abandoning herself, of always having an internal voice that told her, ‘Go, you can do this,’”said Karol G.
In March, Mañana Será Bonito became the first Spanish-language album by a woman to hit number one on theBillboard 200, and it is currently the highest-selling Latin album released this year. This summer, one of her tracks “Watati” was featured on the Barbie movie soundtrack.
Rolling Stone was with Karol G in the days before Bichota Season dropped, following her through her history-making Today show performance and sitting with her as she sang before 15,000 people — “one of the biggest crowds the program has ever seen,” according to Al Roker. Rolling Stone was backstage as she broke down briefly, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the moment. Over the last few months, Karol G has unlocked a new level of global fame. In addition to her chart success story, and record-breaking Today audience, she became the first Latina to headline Lollapalooza, and recently launched a massive stadium tour through the U.S.
Karol G is also the first Latina making music exclusively in Spanish to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. Her cover comes just one month after Bad Bunny’s cover feature for the July/August double issue.
Story Highlights:
On the empowered message of Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)
Karol G talks about how she’s learned to knock down barriers and bet on herself over her last two albums. “They teach us it’s wrong to celebrate ourselves for something we have. And it’s not. We have to be the first ones to give ourselves credit.” She thinks about how she’s worked through her own fears and hardships. “A lot of things that don’t scare me have happened in my life,” she continues. “I’m not scared anymore, because I know I overcame them.”
On overcoming heartbreak and baring her soul in her music:
“I swear to you, even in the moments when I’ve been super mega in love, I still make music about heartbreak,” says Karol. “You can put on the saddest songs in the world, and it’s as if you were killing yourself, but really, you’re healing.”
“I go over the strange moments, the crazy moments, the difficult ones in my head,” she says. “The moments where I felt, ‘I’m dying and I won’t be able to deal with this.’ It’s what I had to go through to get to today.”
On her public separation and broken engagement from former fiancé, Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA, in2021: “The two weeks before the album came out, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat,” she says. “Being so exposed in my music was very psychologically heavy…. Imagine something like this happening, and you have to tell millions of people what happened to you.”
On her partnership with producer Ovy on the Drums:
Karol G shares that when she first met her longtime producer Ovy on the Drums, they didn’t vibe, especially after he jumped in and offered to DJ for her after overhearing a conversation she was having with someone else. “I turn around, like, ‘You’re a DJ?’ ‘Yes, I’m a DJ for some people in Medellín.’ And I was like, ‘So you’regonna leave those people in Medellín for me?’ Horrible! My first reaction was like, ‘Who is this? And why did he insert himself into this conversation?’”
Ovy on their unbreakable bond: “When we finish a song, she sees possibilities that you never saw,” he says. “She can have a million problems. But you’re always going to see her with a smile, always with a good attitude.”
On the collaboration with rumored boyfriend Feid that didn’t quite make the album:
Karol G talks about “Verano Rosa,” an unfinished song that her rumored boyfriend, the Colombian star Feid, had planned to jump on. “[Feid] says, ‘I know you’ve thought of thousands of people and no one fits but … are you gonna let me get on that song?’” Karol recounts.
On making Bichota Season and collaborating with artists like Kali Uchis
She also talks about teaming up with the Colombian singer Kali Uchis, who she has a tight relationship with. “We’ve seen each other, gone to the studio together; she’s been at my house, I’ve been to her house. But Kali is like me, we’re like ‘zero pressure,’” she says. “We made a ton of songs, and she would tell me ‘I don’t like that one,’ and I’d tell her, ‘I’m not feeling it either.’ ”
On representing Latinos and the sometimes-overwhelming emotions that come with success: Karol G got emotional and broke down behind the scenes of her history-making Today show performance. “So many good things come to us. I think it’s so crazy,” she told Rolling Stone through tears. “Beyoncé, Shakira, Rihanna, Ricky Martin have been some of the artists [they’ve had here], and they tell you that you broke attendance records. It’s something you don’t believe; it feels like it’s a lie.”
“We’re doing something special, and I don’t mean just me,” she added. “Many Latino artists are making a massive effort for our community. It’s really big what’s happening, because they didn’t expect that. Theydidn’t expect that because they don’t understand that Latinos stand up for Latinos.”