Karol G’s historic No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Mañana Será Bonito feels “enormous,” the Colombian star says.
Not only is the album in the top spot of the all-genre albums chart, but it’s Karol G’s first album to reach No. 1 on the chart and the first all-Spanish-language album by a female artist to land at No. 1.
“I feel so very special. More than happiness I feel special,” Karol G tells Billboard, who spoke with her as the news was reported.
“My last album did so well and had all those big hits, like ‘Bichota,’ so the bar was high. But I didn’t want to make music because I felt pressure. I wanted to make the music I wanted to make, and the fact that I’ve hit No. 1 with an album that is so personal is enormous,” she says.
Mañana Será Bonito is also the first Latin album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since 1995. That year, Selena’s posthumously-released, partially-Spanish-language album Dreaming of You topped the chart for one week.
Karol G — who considers Selena one of her idols — reacted with excitement, noting, “I’m sharing something with Selena! That’s amazing. Imagine my year: I met Rihanna, I recorded with Shakira and now I have a No. 1 on the chart like Selena did.”
Karol G and Shakira joined forces for the first time with new single and Mañana album track “TQG,” which dropped on Feb. 24.
“And how cool is it that on International Women’s Month I get to No. 1 and the artist before me at No. 1 was SZA,” Karol G added. “And that ‘TQG’ is No. 1 [on Spotify] and all these songs by women are in the top slots. We’re living such a strong moment. Now, we’re going for more.”
— Reporting by Leila Cobo.