Colombian superstar Karol G opens up about becoming the first woman to have a Spanish language album, 'Mañana Será Bonito' reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, her thoughts on doing a global stadium tour, her relationship with Feid, wanting to start a record label, giving back to her community and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00 The energy that people are throwing, it's all directed to me.
00:03 And I'm like a drum, like...
00:05 Hey, what's up? I'm Karol G and you're watching Billboard.
00:14 It had never happened to me.
00:27 Yes, it's true.
00:29 You don't know that we were celebrating.
00:31 We celebrated it a lot as a team.
00:32 But for me it's crazy to think that my album
00:34 was the first album in Spanish to be number one.
00:37 To think that Karol G is the first Latina artist
00:40 to do a global stadium tour is crazy.
00:44 I started in 2006
00:49 and I realized that this month we celebrated four years of Tuse.
00:52 I said...
00:56 But if I think about my first songs, it's been 15 or 16 years.
01:00 Imagine being 15 and thinking, "When is my moment?"
01:06 Someone told me, "Karol, are you going to do a stadium tour?"
01:12 I said, "Beyoncé is doing a stadium tour.
01:14 Taylor Swift is doing a stadium tour.
01:16 Do you really want to do a stadium tour? Are you ready?"
01:18 And I said, "No, I'm not ready today.
01:21 But I'm going to be ready because it depends on me
01:23 and on my commitment."
01:24 ♪ Papi, nos perdemos, no paramos ♪
01:27 ♪ Y lo prendemos pa' la seca el gore ♪
01:30 And my team planned the tour for 2025.
01:34 We did the concert in Puerto Rico in March.
01:37 And at that moment,
01:39 which was exactly 11 days after the album was released,
01:42 people knew about the whole album.
01:44 I mean, when I say "I go with the flow,"
01:46 in the first show I didn't have the whole album set up.
01:50 There were three dates.
01:50 In the second one I had four more songs.
01:53 And in the third show I did the whole album.
01:55 That's when I sat down and said,
01:57 "I'm not interested in the numbers,
01:59 I'm not interested in the risk, I'm not interested in anything.
02:02 I want to do this tour and I want to do it globally."
02:04 I want to be honest, because in terms of my personal relationships,
02:14 I've learned a lot along the way.
02:16 And I feel that people idealize celebrities' relationships a lot.
02:22 And they're normal relationships,
02:24 like any person who's recording or taking pictures or whatever.
02:29 Not all relationships end up with bad things,
02:31 or in bad terms, or infidelity.
02:34 It's hard to have a relationship and want to keep it private
02:37 when we're public figures, we go out on the streets, people see us.
02:41 But as far as I can, I think it's something that...
02:43 There are things that I want to start keeping more for myself,
02:47 because I think it's a way of taking care of them.
02:49 ♪ But I believe in you again ♪
02:50 ♪
02:52 ♪ With you in my life ♪
02:55 So it's a blessing for me to have someone who understands
02:57 that sometimes I don't have much time,
02:59 or sometimes I'm busy with an interview and I can't answer a call,
03:02 or sometimes I have a whole day where I don't even pick up the phone
03:05 and I can't answer, and instead of saying, "What were you doing?"
03:09 they understand perfectly what I was doing.
03:12 And that definitely makes a relationship that I have,
03:16 no matter what I do, last longer, or be more relaxed,
03:21 or be special, more special.
03:23 ♪
03:25 I live on the plane, and I call and say, "Maná,
03:31 what do I have to do to start a foundation?
03:35 Because I want to help, but I want to help people feel."
03:41 I want to do something where we change people's lives.
03:45 I want it to be directed to women,
03:47 because as a woman, I know what it's cost me,
03:49 the work I've had to do to get where I am.
03:52 And I also think that if we change a woman's life,
03:57 we're changing the whole family.
03:59 For me, it's super important, the women in prison.
04:03 So many beautiful stories,
04:05 that you realize that they're so forgotten,
04:07 and that we all make mistakes.
04:09 I understand, because I'm judged a lot for that.
04:11 They say, "Yes, but those mistakes, mistakes are mistakes."
04:14 You make mistakes here and there,
04:16 and you have the opportunity to change and be a better person.
04:18 They also have the foundation.
04:19 What's it called? Con Cora.
04:21 Because we're doing it with Cora.
04:23 I don't want to do anything without Cora, as I said.
04:26 Cancel that project. Now, everything is with Cora.
04:28 The head of this business, of this company, is Jessica.
04:31 I feel very proud to have a person from my family
04:36 managing this project.
04:37 Jessica is the one who's at 360.
04:40 There's nothing, no decision is made,
04:42 nothing is discussed, and she's not there.
04:44 It's Jessica.
04:45 What people sing, and the energy they're sending,
04:53 it's all directed to me.
04:54 It all comes to me.
04:56 I'm like a drum, like...
04:58 Recharging, filling, filling, filling.
05:02 Sometimes, I know people... I cry a lot.
05:06 And, as a person, I feel like I have fire inside.
05:10 I'm very daring, I like to experiment things,
05:15 I like to express myself without thinking,
05:18 "How do I say this?"
05:19 I used to be afraid of doing those things,
05:22 and now I feel very free.
05:24 I feel like we all have that double personality,
05:28 so to speak.
05:29 I think it's great to have music for someone
05:37 who doesn't dare to say it, but listens to the song
05:39 and likes it, and identifies with it.
05:42 And this is "Bichota Season".
05:43 "Bichota Season" is like 45 minutes of the show.
05:51 45 minutes where we're dancing,
05:53 where people are up, where I'm there,
05:55 doing bichoteos.
05:56 It's like a different power.
06:00 And...
06:01 What I've told you, that I want to see as a woman,
06:04 what I can do the most, is real.
06:08 In all aspects of my life,
06:10 life has shown me so many things that I thought
06:14 would be so hard to do,
06:15 that right now I want to think about the craziest things
06:18 and see if I can do it.
06:20 And I said, "I want Karol G to be her own label,
06:24 I want her to do Bichota Records."
06:26 And I said, "I want to do Bichota Records,"
06:29 because I thought it was a super bichota movement.
06:31 If you ask me what my dream is,
06:39 Karol, what would be your dream?
06:41 That your name is recognized worldwide.
06:44 That would be amazing.
06:45 Because I think that's the best thing.
06:49 That your name is recognized in any part of the world.
06:54 I hope it happens to me, if not, I'll come back and say it again.
06:56 I'm very grateful because life gave me more.
06:59 I've always dreamed big,
07:00 but there are things that I've said,
07:03 "Enough."
07:04 It was not like I couldn't believe it would happen to me
07:07 and make the work plan the way I thought it would happen to me,
07:10 and it happened.
07:11 And then it happened. It wasn't that hard.
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