Bad Gyal Wants To Make The Best Club Bangers Possible

The music industry is in its “eras” era. Every artist feels like they need to start and finish an album cycle neatly, and after Taylor Swift’s three-year tour celebrating her distinct moments, the pressure is only higher. Bad Gyal doesn’t feel any of the pressure around redefining herself or creating a radically new vision — she only feels the pressure to get bigger and better. As she tells NYLON, “I f*ck with the artists that work like that and I admire them a lot, but it's not my case. I'm more like a vibe, more like a party girl. Let's have fun with the music.”

In case you’re not aware, she’s been having fun with music-making for roughly a decade in the public eye. Growing up in Barcelona, she was influenced by dancehall hits on TV (think “Turn Me On” by Alison Hinds and Kevin Lyttle and Sean Paul’s Trinity) and, as any late-’90s baby, used YouTube and later Spotify to harness her interests in Caribbean music. After all, her industry break came from YouTube; her Catalan cover of “Work” by Rihanna and Drake shattered genre and nationality lines, which is a through line in her body of work. Her first studio sessions were inspired by reggaeton, dembow, old-school dancehall, and trap music, as she says: “I was at the studio and I tried to jump over a speaker-knocker, trap beat, and I did really good.” At 19 years old, she had already found her niche.

Her music — which includes two mixtapes, and now, two studio albums — is unapologetically horny, fun, and most importantly, ready for the club: “I just have the skill to make f*cking club bangers. That's my identity since the beginning.” Her style choices from the jump have leaned into the early 2010s trashy club aesthetic — not in a referential way, but as a daily practice of life. When we spoke on the phone, she had her Louis Vuitton Murakami bag next to her ashtray and a pair of Isabel Marant Bekett wedge sneakers on. She loves to buy vintage neon Hervé Léger bandage dresses and pair them with studded Miami-bottle-girl heels. Maximalism is afraid of Bad Gyal.

But for all the love of sex, fashion, and sleaze, her second studio album out today, Más Cara, is an elevation for the 28-year-old. The debut single “Da Me” arrived with a Torso Solutions-directed video, the same creative forces behind Mugler’s infamous runway shows with a back-flipping Bella Hadid, and heightened styling. Flashy Pleaser heels and perfectly “just-f*cked” hair alongside the high-fashion shoot showed everyone where she wants to go with this record: Yes, to the club, but in VIP with a bottle of Dom Perignon in one hand. Don’t worry, though: With or without visuals, each song from Más Cara slaps harder than the next. She’s a national treasure in Spain, where she’ll be playing arenas and headlining Primavera Sound this year, but look out for more news when she comes stateside to bring her brashy, trashy, and dance-all-night vibe to a stage near you. NYLON tapped in with Bad Gyal from Barcelona to talk about leveling up, staying in her lane, her dream collaborator, and what brand’s store she’d empty out if she was a billionaire.

What were your intentions with this project? What did you want to say that you didn't say on your first album?

I feel like every artist has their own path. It’s obvious I came from something that wasn't planned. There wasn't a huge team behind me, there wasn't a record label. It was just me trying. I wasn't expecting to get to the point that I am today. I never thought I would be an artist; I've always had a sensibility for fashion, photography, and music. If you watch the first music videos or listen to the first album, you can see it was free. When you start under those circumstances, you cannot make the videos or work with the most known people or get the fanciest results, but it always had my flavor and my taste. I'm happy I started from that point, and now I have resources so that I can speak in a richer language to my audience and create more elevated, aesthetically beautiful creativity.

Maybe people look at it and see the change happen fast, but for me, it's been 10 years. I've been experiencing this journey little by little. Now I can work with the best people in Spain, and then I can work with the best people internationally. It makes me really, really, really happy. When you grow as an artist, you want to be better, so the pressure is real. Maybe you overthink it more than when you were just having fun at the beginning, and everything was like, "Oh, you're so cool. You're so fresh. You're so new." But when the project gets bigger and you get bigger as an artist, you feel like there's more expectations. But on the creative side, I just find positivity, honestly.

Even through the leveling up, there's still the Bad Gyal essence. What do you hope fans will take away from the new project?

Honestly, I just hope they enjoy it. My formula is always doing what I like to do and working with the people I f*ck with and doing the music I f*ck with. I hate doing a song I wouldn't listen to. That's something that sometimes happens. When you’re doing studio sessions for 10 years, there's a lot of hours, there's a lot of ideas. Sometimes, you end up with an idea you wouldn't consume. I want to enjoy the music I create and I want the fans to enjoy it too. My music is not pretentious about spreading a message or having a concept. I f*ck with the artists that work like that and I admire them a lot, but it's not my case. I'm more like a vibe, more like a party girl. Let's have fun with the music. I just want them to enjoy it. I want to keep playing in all the f*cking clubs.

We need music to get us on our feet and dance to. And it's a skill.

Some people have the skill to do a work of investigation with an amazing concept that’s intellectual and has a lot of meaning. Other people, we just have the skill to make f*cking club bangers. That's my identity since the beginning. Lately, the trend is doing songs for the club. Pop artists want to get into the clubs or have a more diverse offering. But I know what I'm good at, and that's what I enjoy doing because I feel like it's myself. It would be hard for me to find another formula.

I love the fashion you've been wearing. You're leaning into that early 2010s club vibe.

[snaps fingers] You get it perfectly. I'm a shoe addict though, I have to say.

Who are some of your favorite designers?

I shop mostly vintage. I'm not the type to go to the stores and buy the last collection. That's not my vibe. I'm so lucky that a lot of brands like to work with me, so I can use the clothes whenever I feel like I need them, but I buy a lot of vintage. Favorite designers… I can speak through this era of what I'm trying to project with Bad Gyal. I love Givenchy, Marc Jacobs. For shoes, I love Giuseppe Zanotti, Sergio Rossi. I like the first Kanye Yeezy collection. That's the vibe I'm trying to bring for 2025, and now this next year with this new album. My personal archive is much more atemporal [timeless]. I shop a lot of shoes from Jimmy Choo, Rene Caovilla, Louboutin. I have a lot of vintage Versace, Roberto Cavalli, and Hervé Léger.

I love the Pleaser shoes in the “Fuma” video.

To me, the heel makes half of the look. A part of that is being almost naked. That's my formula. I cannot lie. I love a lot of La Perla lingerie that I can wear as well outside with my True Religion jeans and my Marant sneakers. That's my day to day. This fake fur and the [Louis Vuitton] Murakami is my day to day. For now, I like to spend money on vintage because it's a good investment, but if I was a billionaire, I would go to the Alaïa or Schiaparelli store and leave it empty. For my personal and practical style, I don't pick any designer. I mix stuff.

You're doing some shows in Spain, including headlining Primavera Sound, and then some shows in the U.S. Tell me the energy you want to bring to the stage this year.

I was motivated by doing something different. I cannot reveal that much, but the stage that we're working on is different than anything I've done. Matiere Noire designs a lot of the structures for the runway shows in Paris — I always go to the Courrèges shows; I love Courrèges. It's chic and French and it wouldn't feel like my vibe, but I love it. I make it my own, and I love the designer [Nicolas de Felice]. He understands me so well. So Matiere Noire always does the installations at their shows, and I’m super happy to work with them. They developed a crazy idea.

I want it to feel club, but at the same time, I want to have moments where it can feel intimate. It will feel fancy, but not that tacky — because me and my outfits, we are tacky enough. It’ll balance between different vibes and work through the show and the different BPMs. I will be working with the same choreographer, Malou [Linders], that I had for the “Da Me” music video. She knows how to make women's bodies look sexy and strong, but structural and elevated as well. I'm super happy with the team, and the fans are going to love it.

I'm definitely going to see you when you come to New York.

I love performing in New York. I love New York.

I saw you play the Luar afterparty at Rockefeller Center.

That was iconic. That wasn't even what I'm used to. That was the DJ and me trying to make it work. It was really magical, like, “Wow, I performed at the Rockefeller Center.” The energy was crazy. Sometimes when I go outside my country, I don't know what to expect from the audience, especially if it's not my own show, but the energy there was like… B*tch, I was shaking ass and this girl was spraying her champagne and spreading it on my butt. At some point, I noticed it and had to stop singing because I was like, “She’s crazy. She's throwing champagne on my butt. I feel like I'm that f*cking b*tch.”

That's New York for you, baby.

I know that because anytime I go, I do a sold-out show. It's not a stadium or a super big venue, but every year it's bigger. The energy speaks for itself and the people see me, like, “You are that b*tch.” They shake ass when they listen to my music. They act crazy. And I love that.

You've worked with a lot of amazing female artists like Tokischa, Karol G, and Young Miko. Who is your bucket-list dream collaborator?

I could drop a name that would be a dream, dream, dream, unrealistic collab, but I think I prefer to drop a name that would be more realistic, and a girl that’s more close to my era and what I'm doing right now. I love Aya Nakamura. I love her. I've been trying to get to her for a while. When I see a female artist that is giving the energy that she's herself, I fall in love instantly. That's what I feel with her. She's 100% her. I’m a fan of her music. I listen to her a lot.

She's so beautiful.

She’s so hot, so beautiful. Body tea, face tea, outfits are tea, wigs are tea, attitude tea, everything. I have a weakness for bad b*tches. Sorry. I respect the “correct” pop girls, but I'm weak for the bad b*tches. I admire them.