Karol G: the girl from Medellín is now the woman of the year

Carolina Giraldo Navarro has her birthday in Mexico this February 14.

The 33 will say goodbye to what has so far been her best year in the entertainment industry.

The Colombian has been the first Latin woman to reach number one globally with an album in Spanish. Among her achievements is her participation in Netflix's

Griselda Blanco

. She has become the first woman to win the Grammy in the category of Best urban music album and has broken a record by being the female artist with the most performances at the Azteca Stadium;

In a matter of minutes Karol G sold out the tickets for four of her presentations in the most important stadiums in the country, not just the Coloso de Santa Úrsula.

In 1996, when she was five years old, the performer of

Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful

was already showing her passion for singing.

With drums and a small family audience, they encouraged her to continue with the lyrics “what am I going to do, what am I going to do, what am I going to do if Eva María is gone,” the artist intoned while improvised music accompanied her singing and the enthusiastic hip movements.

“Even at family wakes they would make me sing, I would liven up all the parties, always,” says Karol G in an interview on the Colombian nighttime variety show

Yo, José Gabriel

.

Thanks to the encouragement of her father, Guillermo Giraldo, who is also a musician, she was able to debut in the early years of her childhood.

Due to his insistence, the woman from Antioquia also made her first public appearance on the

reality show Factor XS

, an adaptation of the American

The X Factor

in which Colombian children competed to be the country's next talent.

She was 14 years old when she participated and was a few programs away from reaching the final;

However, this flash of fame on television did not mean the takeoff of her career, although it did lead her to stand on stage, in the middle of thousands of attendees, and she got a record contract with Flamingo Récords in Colombia and Diamond Music. In Puerto Rico.

Karol G in a presentation in Miami, in June 2016.Alexander Tamargo (Getty Images)

Shortly after, Karol G stood next to the emblematic Colombian presenter Jorge Barón in

The Show of the Stars

to make his debut on stage with broadcast on national television, “he had had the opportunity to sing in several parts but not with such an audience.” extremely big,” declares Karol G with an emotion that is transmitted through the screen while her team of dancers and backup singers wait for the signal to begin the act.

He performs

Por ti

, one of his first songs, and Daddy Yankee's hit

Noche de Burial

in a tone that is not his own.

People chant excitedly while on stage his team cheers with a “left, right!”

non-stop.

The presenter gives him a kiss for “good luck”, the omen for Bichota's success, although he was late in arriving.

In 2010 he was still singing in the living room of his house, with a background reminiscent of any middle-class home in Latin America, a bulbous TV, helium balloons that no longer fly and a wooden door adorned by a litmus star, La Bichota She decided to record herself in the hope that someone famous would recognize her talent and launch her into fame.

“As they say, the stories tell, Justin Bieber was seen singing in a YouTube video, [he was discovered] by Usher, the great singer.

And from there came his first contract and his career began.

I wanted to try by all means, I tried recording videos on YouTube but the truth is, nothing came of it,” declared the singer in

Yo, José Gabriel

, where she also confessed that her dream was to do a duet with Rihanna.

Karol G studied university in the musical hotbed of Antioquia for five years before forgetting her passion, but the lack of opportunities made her doubt her dream.

She opened for Don Omar, she did backing vocals for Reykon for two years and then, she decided that she wanted to leave music for good and moved to the United States, where she learned English.

However, an advertisement for a music course from the business side that she saw every day on the way to school made her remember her ambition and she returned to Colombia to continue her career.

He met Rihanna during the 2023 Super Bowl and although they have not collaborated together so far, they took photos and talked for more than an hour on the day of the event.

Until now, The girl from Medellín, as Karol G is also known, has collaborated with talents such as Nicky Minaj, Daddy Yankee, Dj Tiësto, Shakira, Bad Bunny, Maluma, Romeo Santos, Kali Uchis, Peso Pluma, Sean Paul, Carla Morrison or Anuel AA (his ex-partner), .

Her success came when she released

301

with Reykon in 2012, the first time she would be heard nationally.

More than ten years later, Karol G fills stadiums and venues of all kinds.

Her virtual queues to see her, wherever they may be, have made her one of the most popular singers today.

The Coloso de Santa Úrsula can accommodate more than 80,000 people and has three dates in it, fans will be able to see La Bichota on February 10 in Mexico City, in addition to the dates that have just passed, February 8 and 9 .

In Monterrey it will be presented on February 16 and 17 at the Mobil Super stadium and on February 24 in Jalisco, at the 3 de Marzo UAG stadium.

Karol G with Taylor Swift, on February 4 at the Grammy Awards ceremony.John Shearer (Getty Images)

Just in 2023 she had reached the sales record on her United States tour, the highest-grossing

tour

of all time by a Latin artist.

In 2022 she herself had broken that mark.

Levi's Stadium in San Francisco gave him the record for the Latin show with the highest grossing, tickets sold and attendance;

while the Rose Bowl in Pasadena gave him the merit of having the first Latin show with two completely sold-out performances with more than 120,000 attendees during one weekend.

According to Ocesa, Mexico is the country where Karol G is heard the most.

This year she is waiting for the award as Woman of the Year 2024 by Billboard, which she will receive on March 6, to join a list of powerful women who have it, among them, Madonna, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez or Cardi B In addition, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Santo Domingo, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and her native Colombia are waiting for her, where she also sold out the tickets for her only concerts on April 5 and 6 at the stadium. El Campin.

Subscribe here

to the EL PAÍS México newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in this country