Karol G, first Latina honored by Billboard as Woman of the Year: ‘I was rejected so many times and I missed so many opportunities that I wondered why I wasn’t born a man’

Seventeen years ago Billboard, the creator of the chart system by which hits are measured in the United States and globally, decided to rethink the way in which it recognized the talent of women in the industry. To do so, it created specific awards that, each year, recognize the most outstanding women of the moment in different categories: emerging stars, international stars, icons... and above all the woman of the year, the most outstanding female artist in music. The awards are presented at the beginning of March, coinciding with March 8, International Women’s Day, and in the U.S., Women’s History Month. And this year, for the first time since the awards were founded in 2007, a Latin woman has been named the most important artist of the year: Karol G.

On the night of March 6, the Colombian singer took to the stage of the YouTube Theatre in Los Angeles (California), surrounded by 13 women who played and sang live with her hit Amargura. She was also there to collect her award, tremendously grateful, and delivered a speech entirely in Spanish. The Billboard Woman of the Year award has previously recognized artists such as Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Cardi B, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA last year and Taylor Swift (in 2011 and 2014).

Colombian Carolina Giraldo Navarro, who just turned 33, is one of the biggest stars on the music scene, not only in Latin America and the United States, but also internationally. “I have to start by telling you that for many, many years I felt very disappointed by the fact that I was a woman,” acknowledged Karol G upon receiving her award. “I was rejected so many times along the way and I missed so many opportunities because of that, that I wondered why I wasn’t born a man to exploit all this, that love, that desire and the passion I felt for music,” she said. “[Many] assumed that because I was a woman I couldn’t make it and for a long time I believed that narrative; I believed that it wasn’t for me, because I was [constantly] told I couldn’t make it. And I always think about the amount of people [who have been forced to] leave their dreams behind,” the artist added, known as La Bichota.

That led her to a realization: she needed to change her mentality and, by extension, the music industry. “I wasn’t going to let being a woman be an obstacle or define my capabilities, but rather it was going to be my strength, my motive, my reason,” said Karol G, who received her award from the hands of another successful Colombian, actress Sofía Vergara. How did she go from doubting herself to being named Billboard’s Woman of the Year? “First, I stopped trying to be perfect for everyone, I accepted myself as a person. Actually, what I did was something that took me a long time: to accept myself as a woman, as a person, to stop hiding all the things that for people were a defect and that probably now are all my [best] qualities,” she explained. La Bichota has an upcoming global tour that will take her to 27 shows in Latin America and 18 in Europe; many of the shows are sold out.

“Two, I completely ignored the comments of ‘she owes it to this one’ or ‘it wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for...’ or ‘she made it because she recorded with that one.’ And I stopped looking for justification for a woman’s achievements and successes. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone when you know in your heart what you [have been through] to achieve everything you have to achieve in life,” she said, loud and clear. “And three, I understood that it wasn’t the respect of others that I had to earn: it was respect for myself, to the point where I saw myself and admired the person I had become. Studying, working on my voice, on my physical skills, being clear about what I wanted to communicate, how I wanted to connect with people, improving my lyrics, spending many hours in the studio, really preparing myself to do better... So that when I saw [what I had accomplished], I would say to myself: that’s amazing,” she said. “I look back and I feel very at peace with myself because I followed my heart... I don’t see pain, I see a lot of opportunities created, I see learning, I see a lot of hearts.”

The recent winner of the Grammy for best urban genre album — she was the first woman to win this award —, who also won five microphones at the Billboard Latin Music Awards a few months ago thanks to her album Mañana será bonito, thanked “all the women who work every day, those who pave the way,” and also those who work with her, her team. “Just as I did it, all of you, can do it for sure. Never, never, never give someone else the authority to decide for you, to say that something you are doing is good, is bad, has value, or has no value. No one can put value on you as a person, as a woman or as a professional. The one who works for it, the one who sweats it, is the one who gets it.”

In addition to Karol G, there were other awards, such as Kylie Minogue as global icon, who thanked her mother, as well as Victoria Monét, who won the rising star award. Puerto Rican Young Miko was awarded the Impact Award, which recognizes newcomers in music. Ice Spice, Charli XCX, PinkPantheress, Tems and Maren Morris also received awards. The best group of the year went to Korea’s NewJeans, who are triumphing in k-pop. Brazil’s Luísa Sonza, Italy’s Annalisa and the Philippines’ Sarah Geronimo were considered global icons.

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