Carolina Giraldo Navarro (born 14 February 1991), known professionally as Karol G, is a Colombian singer, songwriter and actress. Considered one of the most influential reggaeton and Latin trap artists, she received several awards including five Latin Grammy Awards and four Billboard Music Awards, with nominations for two Grammy Awards. She was recognized with the Rulebreaker Award at the Billboard Women in Music, with the Spirit of Hope Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards and her works broke five Guinness World Records.
Born and raised in Medellín, Giraldo launched her career as a teenager, appearing on the Colombian spinoff of The X Factor. She moved to New York City in 2014 to learn more about the music industry and signed to Universal Music Latino. Her collaboration with Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, "Ahora Me Llama" became her breakthrough hit, and was the lead single for her debut album Unstoppable, released in 2017. Other popular tracks from the record include the female-empowerment anthem "A Ella", "Casi Nada", "Hello" (featuring Ozuna) and "Muñeco de Lego". In late 2018, her duet "Secreto" became a hit in Latin America, as she and Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA publicly confirmed their relationship via the music video. Also in 2018, she would collaborate with Argentine singer Tini on their song "Princesa". The same year she won the Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
In July 2019, she released "China" in collaboration with Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Ozuna and J Balvin, which became her first music video with over one billion views on YouTube. In May 2019, she released the album Ocean, which served as a stylistic departure from Unstoppable, incorporating a more relaxed and less "pop" sound in her music, while also incorporating reggaetón influences. Popular singles from the album include the title track (released as a duet with Jessie Reyez), as well as "Pineapple", "Punto G" and "Mi Cama", the latter reaching the top 25 of the U.S. Hot Latin Songs chart. Later that year, her song "Tusa" (with Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj) charted internationally, and was certified 28× Latin platinum by the RIAA, staying on the Hot Latin Songs chart for 25 weeks. In 2020, Karol G received four nominations at the Latin Grammy Awards. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic of that year, and into early 2021, Karol would release several successful new songs, including some of her most popular ("Ay, Dios Mío!", "Bichota" And "Location"), in the lead-up to her third album, KG0516, which was released in spring of that year, topping the U.S. Latin albums chart.
In early 2023, Karol G achieved her highest-charting single on the mainstream U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with the song "TQG", a collaboration with fellow Colombian singer Shakira, reaching the No. 7 position. Following the success of "TQG", Karol G released her much-anticipated fourth album, Mañana Será Bonito, in the spring of 2023; the record was immediately recognized as the first-ever Spanish-language album (by a female artist) to debut at No. 1 on the (primarily English-language) U.S. Billboard 200.