The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival kicked off this past weekend from April 10th-12th. This year has brought many renowned artists such as Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber to headline the show. For many Latino’s, this year was significant for them because of Karol G. headlining on Sunday.
Carolina Giraldo Navarro, more well known as Karol G., is one of Colombia’s biggest and most influential reggaeton and urban pop artists. Starting off her music career as a young girl in her hometown of Medellin, Colombia, Karol G. has had the passion for music and performing ever since youth. In her teenage years, she appeared in the Colombian spinoff of “The X-Factor.”
Karol has always pursued her passion over everything else, moving to New York City in 2014 for the purpose of learning more about the music industry and also signing to Universal Latino.
Karol G. has gone on to win a Grammy, a Latin Grammy, and five Billboard Music Awards to name a few. Going from performing in theaters to selling out massive stadiums here in North America, she has certainly come a long way.
Headlining Coachella is a massive accomplishment for any artist, and the achievement is only emphasized by Karol G. being the first Latina to ever do so.
Karol G. has previously performed at Coachella in 2022, but not as a headliner. Still, she was on the Main Stage, which is still significant.
Many people were concerned in the beginning, as she took almost half an hour to come on stage, which many criticized. Despite this, it was claimed that there was a medical emergency in the crowd and that parts of the production had not been finished yet. These would make delays understandable. But, even with those mishaps, it would be worth it in the end.
The set started off with a powerful animated video in which she talked about female empowerment. She then sang one of her hit songs off her new album, “LATINA FOREVA,” a perfect way to start off this show dedicated to Latina’s all over the world. She then went on to sing hits from her recent album as well as past albums such as “Un Gatito Me Llamo,” “Oki Doki,” and “Tá OK (Remix).”
The first special guest of the night was Mariah Angeliq, whom Karol G. has made two songs with. They both sang their song “EL MAKINON.”
After this she sang “S91,” and “Papasito.” Her second guest of the night was Becky G., who would perform “MAMIII.” The two have performed many times together live, even back in 2022 on this very same stage.
Towards the end of her performance of “GATÚBELA,” Karol G. along with her dancers busted some moves to the Daddy Yankee song “Rompe Rompe.”
One of the most special surprises of the night was when she brought out Greg Gonzalez from CAS to perform an unreleased song dedicated to a person no longer with us. Karol G. said this song would likely never be released.
Another surprise was when she brought out reggaeton legend Wisin. She stated she wanted to pay homage to those who helped this genre become as big as it is now, and those who ultimately helped her lead to success. Wisin performed “Pam Pam,” and “Rakata.”
After this special performance she sang other hits, “Ivonny Bonita,” “TQG,” “Amargura,” and “Tusa.” She then did a cover of “Mi Tierra” by Gloria Stefan to celebrate her Latin Heritage.
While she was singing “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido,” she had to abruptly tell her band to stop. She then explained to the crowd that, due to her starting the show late, she was running out of time. That, with the 12 A.M. curfew put on the Main Stage at Coachella, she unfortunately had to cut this song short.
To end off the show, she started with singing “Provenza” as a callback to when she first debuted the song in 2022 at Coachella. Karol G. then performed the Tiësto remix of “Provenza” for the final. On social media, it was said to be one of the most beautiful parts of the show. The show ended with pyrotechnics and very bright and colorful lights.
Overall this performance was one of the best headlining acts and all the effort put into the show by staff and the artist herself really paid off to honor Latino culture.
