Bad Gyal

Spanish-Catalan singer Alba Farelo (aka Bad Gyal) uses a blend of trap, reggaetón, and dancehall to write songs about youth and sexuality. She found mainstream success in 2016 when her cover version of Rihanna’s “Work” became an online hit, paving the way for her debut mixtape, Slow Wine. In 2019 she inked a deal with Interscope, resulting in the release of the EP Warm Up in 2021. This was followed by Sound System: The Final Releases later in the year and several 2022 singles including “Real G” (with Quevedo).
Born in 1997 in Vilassar de Mar, Farelo is the eldest of five — her father, Eduard Farelo, was a renowned voice actor who would often overdub popular films in Spanish. Despite what might have been perceived as an advantage, Farelo was keen to carve out her own path, which she did by releasing a homemade video of herself covering Rihanna’s “Work” in 2016; the track used a mixture of Spanish and Catalan and was subsequently titled “Pai.” She was still attending university, with a side job at a call center, when the video went viral; this spurred her on to release a mixtape the same year, titled Slow Wine.
Bad Gyal later signed to Canada/Pure Records, which released the single “Jacaranda” in 2017. The following year, she issued her second mixtape, 2018′s World Wide Angel, which featured a slew of producers including Jam City, DJ Florentino, Dubbel Dutch, and El Guincho. She signed with Interscope the following year, and in 2021 she issued the EP Warm Up, which included the hit “Blin Blin (featuring Juanka).” Sound System: The Final Releases appeared at the end of the year. Numerous singles were released in 2022, including “La prendo,” “Sin carné,” and “Real G” (with Quevedo). ~ Liam Martin