Carolina Giraldo

Carolina Giraldo Navarro, known professionally as Karol G, is a Colombian reggaeton and urban pop singer and songwriter. Born on February 14, 1991, in Medellín, Colombia, as the youngest of three siblings, she began her musical career as a teenager by appearing on the talent show El Factor X. She uploaded song covers to YouTube in hopes of being discovered, eventually securing her first record deal with Flamingo Records and Diamond Music and adopting her stage name. Early in her career, she performed alongside artists like J Balvin and opened for Don Omar in Cartagena.

Giraldo pursued music studies at the University of Antioquia while working as a backup singer. After Universal Records turned her down in Miami, believing female performers could not succeed in reggaeton, she and her father independently toured across Colombia to build her audience. Seeking further career growth, she moved to New York in 2014, where taking music business administration classes reinvigorated her passion. That year, her single "Ricos Besos" became a domestic hit, leading to a record contract with Universal Music Latino in 2016.

In 2017, Giraldo served as a judge on the show Pequeños Gigantes USA. Her major breakthrough arrived later that year with the hit single "Ahora Me Llama" alongside Bad Bunny, which preceded her debut album, Unstoppable. Released in October 2017, the album reached number two on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. Over the next year, she released additional successful tracks, including "Mi Cama" and "Culpables," the latter featuring artist Anuel AA.

In 2019, Giraldo released her second album, Ocean, presenting a more relaxed musical direction. That same year, she achieved global success with the collaborative single "China" and the Nicki Minaj feature "Tusa." During 2020, she released prominent singles like "Ay, Dios Mío!", "Bichota", and "Location", leading to her third studio album, KG0516, which topped the US Latin albums chart in early 2021.

Giraldo achieved historic chart milestones with her 2023 album, Mañana Será Bonito, which became the first Spanish-language album by a female artist to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart. The project featured "TQG," a collaboration with Shakira that became her highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100. Later in 2023, she signed with Interscope Records and released the mixtape Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season). In 2024, she released the merengue single "Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido" and collaborated on the multi-artist track "+57."

Giraldo's achievements have earned her extensive industry recognition. She became the first female artist to win Best Urban Music Album at the Latin Grammys and Best Música Urbana Album at the Grammy Awards. Her career honors include eight Latin Grammys, a Grammy Award, five Billboard Music Awards, and eleven Guinness World Records. Additionally, Billboard recognized her with the Spirit of Hope Award, the Rulebreaker Award, and named her the 2024 Woman of the Year.