00:00 When I saw my grandmother at a concert of mine, I said, "I can be calm."
00:04 If she accepts it, if she's looking at me with those eyes of illusion
00:08 and understands me and knows it's me, everything is fine.
00:11 Hi, I'm Batyal and this is Billboard News.
00:13 Alba Farelo. Batyal, welcome to Billboard.
00:18 # You want to be in bed, you want to, I look at myself and I tell you.
00:22 # I have a high heel, you're jealous,
00:24 # even though you're the first.
00:26 # Cool, cool, cool, cool.
00:29 # You look like you're in bed, you're having a hard time. #
00:31 How do you divide yourself, Alba, and Batyal?
00:34 In terms of fashion, personality, everything,
00:39 or do you see them as the same?
00:41 In terms of fashion and my way of expressing myself,
00:44 I feel there's not much difference.
00:46 In the end, if I go to an informal dinner with my friends,
00:49 I end up dressing a bit like that too, maybe not so...
00:53 But it's like my style, I feel it goes beyond my profession
00:58 and my character, let's say.
01:00 But in terms of my life and personality,
01:02 people often get the wrong idea of how I should be,
01:05 personally, because of my music, my style,
01:08 my way of dancing, of expressing myself.
01:10 Actually, I consider myself a calm person,
01:14 obviously, I love the party, I love music,
01:16 I love to party, that's not a lie,
01:19 but I do have a different side, I like being calm,
01:22 I like being with my family, I like my routine,
01:24 because I feel it's good for me, it gives me mental health,
01:27 and it helps me to carry on the lifestyle
01:30 of a more hectic life, and in the spotlight, and all that.
01:33 Let's talk about "Yoya".
01:35 "Yoya" is the name of your new album,
01:37 your first album, which, to be honest,
01:40 surprised me when I found out it was the first album by Badgal.
01:46 I feel like you've been saying, "I'm ready, now I'm going to release an album."
01:53 I felt like it was the moment when I had more experience
01:57 in songwriting, in the studio, in choosing
02:01 both the producers and all the material that was made,
02:04 what's more worthwhile, what's less,
02:06 where do I want to direct, the sounds,
02:08 what kind of beat do I want to use today, why do I like this,
02:10 why do I like that, I feel like, as you get older,
02:13 you gain experience and you get to know yourself a little better.
02:16 I've always wanted to be able to put together where I come from
02:21 and the music that I've always liked and that has inspired me,
02:24 which is dancehall, reggaeton,
02:25 I've always loved Caribbean music,
02:28 and obviously, the music from the US,
02:30 hip-hop, R&B, has influenced me.
02:32 The first song we met with was Rihanna's cover
02:37 of "Bye Bye Bye".
02:38 Bye bye bye bye bye
02:40 Your name is Rihanna, bye bye bye bye
02:43 I watched the video again and she's so cute.
02:45 -I'm a different person. -Yes, and no, right?
02:47 -At the same time... -You're younger.
02:49 Yes, and well, a lot of things have changed.
02:53 At that moment, I was living a different life.
02:56 At that moment, I was trying to study fashion in the morning
03:00 and I had to bring my food prepared...
03:02 -Permit. -Yes, because I had to eat
03:05 next to the next job I had in the afternoon
03:08 and on the weekends, I started to give a little show in bars.
03:13 It was a very limbo moment.
03:15 I was leaving behind the decisions I had made
03:17 when I wasn't looking at the music
03:19 and I was getting into being an artist.
03:22 What was the moment for you when you decided to say,
03:26 "I'm going with the music"?
03:27 I think it was a moment when I wasn't so mature
03:31 to do that reading, but if I look at it in perspective,
03:34 I think it was a moment that outdid me
03:35 because I was doing three lives at the same time.
03:38 I was studying in the morning,
03:40 in the afternoon I had a job,
03:41 I remember that at that moment I was working at a call center
03:44 selling leasing plans to companies.
03:46 Oh my God, you were the one who called and said,
03:48 "Hello, I'm here, I'll talk to you later."
03:50 I was the one who was abandoned all the time.
03:53 And you hung up on the phone all the time.
03:56 Besides, I was the worst.
03:57 I was the worst.
03:58 In fact, I was fired from that job
04:02 because I was bad, I was bad.
04:04 And my mother told me, "Don't worry, Alba,
04:08 you don't have to work anymore,
04:09 you don't have to look for another job,
04:11 now you can only do your shows."
04:13 They were small shows, but I was already starting to get paid
04:16 to pay my rent of 600 dollars, 600 euros,
04:20 I mean, it was a humble thing, but I had plenty.
04:24 Your mom is very cool.
04:25 I have some super cool parents,
04:28 an incredible family,
04:30 we are quite brothers and...
04:32 -How many? -Five.
04:34 Five, including you.
04:35 Yes, I'm the oldest.
04:37 And they all go to the shows.
04:38 Well, when there are important shows, yes.
04:40 They come to support me, and not just my closest family,
04:43 my uncles, my cousins, we are a lot.
04:45 When I saw my grandmother, my father's mother,
04:48 at a concert of mine, I said, "I can be calm."
04:51 If she accepts it,
04:53 if she is looking at me with those eyes of illusion
04:55 and understands me and knows that it's me,
04:57 then everything is fine.
04:58 Because there is always that thing of,
05:00 "Wow, it's my grandmother, you know?"
05:02 I don't know if she will find it funny to hear things,
05:05 but she is proud and she has always told me,
05:07 "Honey, I love you so much."
05:10 "You will always be my little girl."
05:12 "I love what you are doing, I have seen you here, I have seen you there."
05:15 "But for her, I will always be her little girl."
05:17 What I want to see is your grandmother standing in front of the show.
05:21 Oh, that's...
05:22 That's worth gold.
05:23 The first time she didn't call you and didn't say,
05:26 "Honey, I love you, but you have to take your skirt down a little bit."
05:29 No, I was surprised by that.
05:32 She accepted me just like that, she loved it,
05:34 and I said, "Wow, that's great. I'm so lucky."
05:37 Well, let's talk about that a little bit,
05:38 because in "Joya" I feel that you have an album
05:43 that has a whole journey.
05:46 I think that when many people think of Bad Girl,
05:48 they think of these songs that are quite sexy and sexual
05:53 and very explicit,
05:55 but here you have a great gain.
05:57 # I'm a shit, I'm not worth anything,
06:00 # and everyone knows that. #
06:03 I had the opportunity to work with several producers
06:05 and each one gave me a vibe.
06:07 And I feel that it represents a little bit
06:10 all the moods in which I could be when I made that album.
06:14 There are moments when you feel, "I want to eat the world,
06:17 tonight I'll break everything."
06:19 And there are other moments that are more intimate songs,
06:22 that talk more about processes, emotions.
06:24 In the end, I think it's cool to have a scanner of myself.
06:27 # The chain shone in madness,
06:30 # it smelled like cows smoking a cigar. #
06:32 Let's talk first about "Chulo 2".
06:34 How did that song with Toquisha and Young Nico come about?
06:38 It was actually super organic, because I released the song alone,
06:43 and I started to see that Toquisha kept uploading stories,
06:46 and I had always loved Toquisha.
06:48 In fact, I had already tried to make a song with her
06:50 and I couldn't.
06:51 And in one of those, I saw that she uploaded a story,
06:54 and I said, "Let's do the remix."
06:56 And she said, "Perfect, Deura, it's done."
06:58 -And then... -Was it for DMs on Instagram?
07:00 -Yes, for DMs. -They didn't have WhatsApp yet?
07:03 -Not even WhatsApp, yes. -OK.
07:04 And after that, it was the Latin AMAs in Las Vegas,
07:08 and I met Nico there, I met her personally.
07:10 We also had mutual friends,
07:12 and they always told me, "Nico, I want to meet you,
07:14 Nico loves you."
07:16 And when I met her, she said,
07:17 "I have Chulo in my head all day, I can't stop,
07:20 I keep thinking about him."
07:22 And I said, "Let's do the remix, the three of us."
07:26 And that's how the Latin AMAs ended.
07:29 Nico joined us, it was all fast.
07:31 He came to Barcelona in the middle of his tour to make the video.
07:35 And I'm really grateful for that,
07:37 because I feel that sometimes things have to happen,
07:40 people do their part,
07:42 and with artists like that,
07:44 who are in a moment like mine,
07:47 or even better, so busy,
07:49 or who have a lot of commitments,
07:51 and I know that this life is hard,
07:53 because it requires a lot of energy and effort,
07:55 well, that they did all that to be in the song,
08:00 and that it happened in such an organic, easy way.
08:03 And the night we made the video,
08:04 it felt like they were my friends from my town, you know?
08:08 I spent the New Year's Eve in the Dominican Republic with Tokisha.
08:11 -No, really? -We're friends now.
08:12 -What did they do? -You don't want to know.
08:15 (Music)
08:19 I've always been clear that I'm going to do what I want to do.
08:22 And as I open up to new markets,
08:24 it's something that comes back to me,
08:26 that a certain audience that finds it harder to accept that,
08:29 that they don't like it so much.
08:31 But look, if something has made me reaffirm my personality
08:35 and keep being myself, always,
08:37 I've realized that in three, four years,
08:40 how much the industry has changed.
08:41 Women didn't want to say anything about all that before.
08:44 And now, absolutely everyone says, "We have to get her out there."
08:48 Because it's what people want to hear,
08:51 it's what people connect with right now.
08:53 Very objectively, you're a very beautiful woman.
08:56 Has being a woman been a positive part of your career?
09:00 And has there been a negative part of your career?
09:03 Women, we're beautiful.
09:06 I feel like we have many more advantages than disadvantages.
09:10 In the world, the physical appearance and beauty
09:13 are very important.
09:14 I'm lucky to be beautiful,
09:17 or to dress well, to get dressed well.
09:21 But, obviously, it also has its parts.
09:24 But I feel like, in general, I've earned my respect,
09:27 and I hardly find myself in situations
09:30 where I have to work with men who don't know the lines.
09:33 I feel like I've earned my position well,
09:34 and people respect me a lot.
09:36 (Music)
09:42 Let's talk about Raúl's show in Puerto Rico,
09:45 which was a huge success because he wanted to perrear,
09:48 and you said no thanks in the middle of the show.
09:51 Now, it was a show where he perreared with everyone.
09:53 Before, with Ivy Queen,
09:56 she was there, he sat on her, etc.
09:58 So, it wasn't like he said, "Ah, but yeah."
10:01 Exactly.
10:02 But you still said, "No, thank you, Raúl." Why?
10:07 Look, I don't know if the fact that I said no
10:09 made it all bigger,
10:11 because it's true what you say, that I wasn't there in particular.
10:14 Everyone was there perrear.
10:16 And, well, why?
10:18 To start, I think it's a bit of a cultural clash.
10:21 Normally, if I'm going to act with a man,
10:25 I do some rehearsal, you're going to come in here,
10:27 I'll go there, like that.
10:29 And if the man wants, "I want to hug you,"
10:31 then, when we say goodbye,
10:34 or, "I want to give you a ride," all those things are discussed.
10:37 But not there, it was like flowing.
10:40 So, I was quite surprised.
10:42 That, on the one hand.
10:43 On the other hand, I've never perrearred with a man on stage.
10:47 Hey, in a while, it might be...
10:48 -Don't tell me. -No, I don't think so.
10:51 A new frontier for "Bad Girl."
10:53 It'll happen, it'll happen someday.
10:55 It's fine, but we have to organize it a bit better, you know?
10:58 I don't like controversy,
11:00 but I don't know how I do it,
11:01 because people always have something to say or comment on.
11:05 And I feel that Raúl is also in a moment
11:07 where he has a similar situation,
11:10 so that any movement he makes,
11:11 especially, I'm talking about what's happening in my country,
11:14 because he's been a person in my country, super...
11:17 -Yes. -So, I feel that he was also
11:19 in a moment where he was talking about me,
11:21 any movement he makes, bam, bam, and my reaction
11:26 to that situation, which was at the moment,
11:28 was that, no.
11:29 He was approaching me and my reaction was...
11:31 It was my natural reaction, I mean,
11:35 but I talked to him and he said,
11:38 "It's all good, right? You didn't feel uncomfortable or anything?"
11:41 And I said, "No, it's fine, it's all good."
11:43 I just don't want to make things up,
11:46 because we're not friends,
11:48 and maybe I know that when this kind of thing happens,
11:52 it brings a lot of controversy, you know?
11:55 With all that controversy, and I wanted to save it,
11:57 because right now, I don't feel like it.
12:00 So, nothing, between him and me, it's cool.
12:02 # Don't get close, pussy.
12:04 # Get ready, pussy.
12:07 # In your life, you'll try it. #
12:09 To be honest, your music is provocative.
12:11 -Yes, yes. -The image is provocative.
12:14 It's going to cause a reaction.
12:16 Uh-huh.
12:17 So, I imagine that when you started making your music,
12:20 did you know that or did you not think it would be so much?
12:24 I would say it's much more normalized.
12:26 I listened to a lot of reggaeton and dancehall,
12:29 which is Jamaican music, which talks...
12:31 shit all the time, I mean, it's the most explicit all the time.
12:34 In Spain, the mentality of young people now is super open-minded.
12:37 Accepting that kind of lyrics, not judging it,
12:40 also as another kind of feminism.
12:43 If I want to wear something short, I wear something short.
12:45 If I want to dance like this, I dance like this because I like it,
12:48 not because I want to.
12:48 I want to get all the men in this room,
12:51 or I want their attention.
12:52 Now, let's talk about your collabs.
12:54 Why "Ñengo Flow"?
12:55 That was like a dream.
12:57 It's one of my favorite reggaeton players.
12:59 When I was starting, I listened to it to the fullest,
13:03 and I didn't think I could have a song with him.
13:05 I was here in Miami, at his house, recording.
13:08 They treated him super well.
13:10 As a person, I thought he was a super cool guy.
13:12 I feel that what he has done is also his identity.
13:17 I feel that our two identities fit well there.
13:20 -What do I see? -Yes.
13:21 -Real head? -Yes.
13:23 Also a very fresh artist,
13:25 very new when we recorded this song,
13:28 from my country, well, from the Canaries,
13:30 which is really another universe.
13:32 An artist that I found super interesting when it came out.
13:35 I love his voice.
13:36 I feel that he has a lot of seal, a lot of personality.
13:39 That voice is very unique.
13:40 And I really wanted to work with him.
13:42 All the people I have
13:43 were people I really wanted to collaborate with.
13:46 And in that part, I feel very happy.
13:47 It's like a message for myself,
13:50 "Wow, what a beautiful moment in your career,
13:52 that you can finally collaborate with the artists you listen to."
13:55 Mike Towers, Anita, Tokisha, Young Migos.
13:58 They are all people that I consume their music
14:01 and it has been very cool to meet them,
14:05 to record with them and to say,
14:07 "How nice that they like what I do too."
14:10 -Alba, thank you very much. -Thank you.
14:12 It's been a pleasure.
14:13 -I wish you good luck with "Joya". -Thank you.
14:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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