Bad Gyal facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bad Gyal
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![]() Bad Gyal in 2018
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Born |
Alba Farelo i Solé
7 March 1997 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Occupation |
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Years active | 2016–present |
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Musical career | |
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Alba Farelo i 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 interpretation of Rihanna's "Work" in the Catalan language. She then continued to make music as an independent artist, releasing records like "Indapanden", "Jacaranda" or "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.
Farelo signed Interscope and Aftercluv a year later and saw mainstream acclaim with songs like "Santa María", "Zorra" or "Alocao", the latter becoming the number-one song in Spain in 2019. 2021 saw the release of her first project as a signed artist Warm Up, as well as the three-sided single Soundsystem: The Final Releases.
Other ventures of Bad Gyal besides music include fashion and modelling. She made her modelling debut at Andrés Sardá's Spring/Summer 2022 show at Madrid Fashion Week. As for social activism, Farelo has been an advocate for gender equality, LGBT rights and social justice.
Early life
Alba Farelo i Solé was born on 7 March 1997 in Vilassar de Mar, Barcelona. The eldest of five children, Farelo is the daughter of Eduard FareloStar Wars. After taking selectividad, Farelo studied a degree in fashion design at the University of Barcelona. While attending university and working at a call centre, she released "Pai" in April 2016, an adaptation of "Work" by Rihanna in the Catalan language. 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 Latin music genres in Catalan and was named one of the biggest musical promises in Spain after the cover was picked up by a local radio. 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 the province of Barcelona. She later became more interested in producing her own music and, with the money she made out of these gigs, she rented recording studios for limited hours and hired some producers. She would then release "Indapanden" and "No Pierdo Nada", among other songs produced by Fakeguido.
, a voice actor who worked for international productions such as The Lord of the Rings andCareer
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. Through that era, she hit a page on several professional music magazines and websites including Pitchfork and Fact. Fact named her song "Jacaranda" the number 1 single of 2017. 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. As "Fiebre" was having a lot of success, she was offered many record deals, which she turned down after some legal advises by lawyers and her dream to continue as an independent artist. 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. In late 2017 she also toured Mexico and the US.
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. 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. The next month she was featured in Spanish Vogue. 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 was released in parallel with "Milionària" by Rosalía, in which some called "the biggest musical weekend celebration in recent Catalan music memory". It marked Farelo's first charting song in Spain. It was later certified gold. 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. 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. 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. She also released "Aprendiendo el sexo" later on, with a music video produced by Canada and filmed at the luxurious W Hotel Barcelona. 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.
..... The EP peaked at 5 in Spain. She also collaborated with clothing brand Bershka and released an exclusive clothing line. 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". As tour season came to an end, Farelo published "Flow 2000" as well as the three-side single Soundsystem: the Final Releases featuring songs she had been performing live for years yet remained unreleased. She parallelly released "A la mía" exclusively for the Grand Theft Auto Online radio station Motomami Los Santos hosted by Rosalía and Arca.
Awards and nominations
Ceremony | Year | Recipient | Category | Result | |
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Los 40 Music Awards | 2022 | Herself | Best Urban Act | Pending | |
ARC Awards | 2021 | Herself | Best Self-Titled Artist Tour | Won | |
Juventud Awards | 2022 | New Female Artist | Nominated | ||
Latin Music Italian Awards | 2020 | "Alocao" (with Omar Montes) | Best Eurolatino Song | Won | |
Odeón Awards | 2021 | "Alocao" (with Omar Montes) | Best Urban Song | Nominated | |
Herself | Breakthrough Urban Artist | Nominated | |||
2022 | Urban Artist | Nominated | |||
Warm Up | Album of the Year | Nominated | |||
Best Urban Album | Nominated | ||||
"44" (with Rema) | Best Urban Song | Nominated | |||
MTV Europe Music Awards | 2022 | Herself | Best Spanish Act | Won | |
Tu Música Urbano Awards | 2022 | Best New Female Artist | Nominated |
Discography
Mixtapes
Title | Details | Peaks |
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SPA |
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Slow Wine Mixtape |
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75 |
Worldwide Angel |
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11 |
Extended plays
Title | Details | Peaks |
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SPA |
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Warm Up |
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5 |
Singles
As lead artist
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
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SPA |
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NIC |
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"Mercadona" | 2016 | — | — | — | Slow Wine Mixtape | |
"Fiebre" | — | — | — | |||
"Jacaranda" (featuring Dubbel Dutch) |
2017 | — | — | — | non-album single | |
"Nicest Cocky" (featuring Paul Marmota) |
— | — | — | |||
"Blink" (featuring Florentino) |
2018 | — | — | — | Worldwide Angel | |
"Candela" (featuring Dubbel Dutch) |
— | — | — | |||
"Por ti" (with Florentino) |
— | — | — | Fragmentos | ||
"Internationally" (featuring Jam City and Dubbel Dutch) |
— | — | — | Worldwide Angel | ||
"Más raro" | — | — | — | non-album single | ||
"Open the Door" (with Govana featuring DJ Papis) |
— | — | — | |||
"Yo sigo iual" (featuring Fakeguido and El Guincho) |
— | — | — | Worldwide Angel | ||
"Unknown Feeling" (featuring Qraig Voicemail) |
— | — | — | non-album single | ||
"Santa María" (featuring Busy Signal) |
2019 | 14 | — | — |
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"Hookah" | 55 | — | 11 |
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"Alocao" (with Omar Montes) |
1 | — | — |
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"Zorra" (solo or with Rauw Alejandro) |
2 | — | — |
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"Tú eres un bom bom (remix)" (with Kafu Banton or version with Kafu Banton and Guaynaa) |
2020 | 9 | — | — |
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"Aprendiendo el sexo" | 29 | — | — | Warm Up | ||
"Blin blin" (featuring Juanka) |
7 | — | — |
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"..." (featuring El Guincho) |
2021 | 50 | — | — | ||
"Judas" (featuring Khea) |
44 | — | — | |||
"44" (featuring Rema) |
17 | — | — |
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"Bobo" (with Mariah Angeliq and María Becerra) |
41 | 96 | — | La tóxica | ||
"Esta noche" (with Lalo Ebratt) |
— | — | — | non-album single | ||
"Flow 2000" (solo or featuring Beny Jr) |
9 | — | — |
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TBA | |
"Formosa (remix)" (with Kaio Viana and Toy el Frio featuring MC CJ) |
2022 | — | — | — | non-album single | |
"La prendo" | 22 | — | — |
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rowspan="4" | TBA|
"Tremendo culón" | 92 | — | — | |||
"..." | 62 | — | — | |||
"Sin carné" | 35 | — | — | |||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
As featured artist
Title | Year | Album |
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"Commotion" (Lowlight featuring Bad Gyal and Demaro Small) |
2017 | Dopamine |
Promotional singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
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SPA |
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"Pai" | 2016 | — | non-album single | |
"Indapanden" | — | |||
"Leiriss" | — | |||
"No pierdo nada" | — | |||
"Nueva York (tot*)" | 2021 | 5 |
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Sound System: The Final Releases |
"Su payita (gramos)" | 18 | |||
"Slim Thick" | 43 | |||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Other charted songs
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
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SPA |
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"Gasto" | 2021 | 99 | Warm Up |
"Iconic" | 91 |
Guest appearances
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
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"Con mis niñas" | 2016 | Khaled Ms Nina |
non-album single |
"Tra" | 2018 | Soto Asa | Down Music |
"Kiyaera" | 2020 | Coupé |
Videography
Music videos
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Director(s) | |
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As lead artist | ||||
"Pai" | 2016 | None | Pol Renom | |
"Indapanden" | ||||
"Leiriss" | Fakeguido | |||
"No pierdo nada" | None | Unknown | ||
"Mercadona" | Pol Renom | |||
"Fiebre" | Unknown | |||
"Jacaranda" | 2017 | Dubbel Dutch | Alexis Gómez | |
"Nicest Cocky" | Paul Marmota | Roger Guàrdia | ||
"Blink" | 2018 | Florentino | Alexis Gómez | |
"Candela" | Dubbel Dutch | Manson | ||
"Por ti" | Florentino | Alexis Gómez | ||
"Internationally" | Jam City Dubbel Dutch |
Bàrbara Farré | ||
"Más raro" | Cadenza | Kirx | ||
"Open the Door" | Govana DJ Papis |
Roger "Ruption" Walker | ||
"Yo sigo iual" | Fakeguido El Guincho |
Cyprien Clément-Delmas | ||
"Unknown Feeling" | 2019 | Fakeguido Qraig Voicemail |
Andrei Warren Alexandra Oepeda |
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"Santa María" | Busy Signal | Unknown | ||
"Hookah" | None | Miguel Ángulo | ||
"Alocao" | Omar Montes | Fabricio Jiménez | ||
"Zorra" | None | Manson | ||
"Tú eres un bom bom (remix)" | 2020 | Kafu Banton | Laura Vifer | |
"Aprendiendo el sexo" | None | Manson | ||
"Blin blin" | 2021 | Juanka | Pawla Casanovas Javier Peralvo |
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"Zorra (remix)" | Rauw Alejandro | |||
"..." | El Guincho | |||
"Judas" | Khea | |||
"44" | Rema | |||
"Bobo" | Mariah Angeliq María Becerra |
Iohana Sagaro | ||
"Esta noche" | Lalo Ebratt | Andrés Gómez | ||
"Flow 2000" | None | Bad Gyal | ||
"Slim Thick" | Ismael OkBye | |||
"Flow 2000 (remix)" | 2022 | Beny Jr | Javier Peralvo | |
"La prendo" | None | Luca Dobry | ||
"Tremendo culón" | ||||
"Sin carné" | Manson | |||
As featured artist | ||||
"Commotion" | 2017 | Lowlight Demaro Small |
Laura Martínova |
Television
Year | Title | Role | |
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2019 | La hora musa | Performer | |
2020 | Gaudir | Co-protagonist | |
2021 | Maestros de la costura | Guest appearance | |
Drag Race España | Guest judge |
Tours
Headlining
- Slow Wine Tour (2017)
- International Bad Gyal Sound System (2019–2021)
- La Joia Tour (2022)