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Karol G has always been inspired by the desire to pursue what’s never been done before. One could say the Colombian superstar doesn’t believe in the concept of impossibility.
When she released her fourth studio album, Mañana Será Bonito, it evolved from being just the latest in a string of successful projects into something more—a mantra that came to define her entire being. The album was accompanied by numerous accolades: it became the first Spanish-language album by a woman to top the Billboard 200 chart, Karol became the first woman to win the Grammy for Best Música Urbana Album, and it fueled what became a landmark tour. This tour was not only the biggest global outing of Karol G’s career, but also the biggest in history for a Latina artist. To this day, the Mañana Será Bonito tour is the highest-grossing—and the first-ever stadium tour—by a Latina recording artist.
Now, thanks to a new documentary—Mañana Fue Bonito (Tomorrow Was Beautiful)—available on Netflix today, Karol’s fans can relive the era that changed everything for the singer, as well as see all that it took to make history and shift the perception of success for Latinas in music.
“The first time that I saw the documentary, the first thing I felt was I really forgot how much effort it took to get here,” Karol G tells Harper’s Bazaar. “Every day you wake up thinking about the future, what’s gonna be your next step, what’s gonna be the next thing to do, and maybe you don’t always have the time to stop a little bit and remember how far you’ve come from the beginning. That was the most beautiful and important thing for me about this documentary—it gave me this different perception of everything that [I’m experiencing] right now. I feel even like more inspired and more motivated for what’s come.”
Creating the documentary hit home for the film’s director, Cristina Costantini, too. Its release comes at a particularly tense time for Latinos in the United States.
“There’s never been a tougher time to be a Latino. It’s a time when Latinos around the world have been told to shut up, to sit down, to self-deport, to give up. Our leaders have told us they can do whatever they want with us, separate our families, make us live in perpetual fear of deportation, send our loved ones to whatever country or prison they like with impunity,” says Costantini. “During this era of great tragedies, it’s an immense privilege to release a film that brings our community hope. To watch a leader like Karol stand in stark contrast to all the hatred and division around us has been a great source of inspiration for me personally. I wanted to bottle that feeling in this film, and share it with an even wider audience.”
Both Karol and Costantini shared vision of being able to show audiences what it’s really like to be women on the road—especially on a tour that many industry gatekeepers initially dismissed as impossible.
“We had this special connection talking about how hard it is for women sometimes to be on the road in different professions,” says the singer. “By the end of filming, there were 22 women [involved]. The cameraperson was a girl and the director was a girl and the producers! We didn’t even ask for that but everything ended up that way. This documentary [exemplifies] empowerment for women.”
Amid all the highs that viewers see Karol G accomplish throughout the film—recording the album, collaborating with Colombian icon Shakira, and her first VMAs performance—the singer is never afraid to get vulnerable either. Karol sheds plenty of tears throughout the nearly two-hour feature, but they’re never seen as moments of weakness. On the contrary, these are the moments in which Karol is fully processing the highs and lows that come with breaking boundaries, especially as a woman. According to the singer, she wanted to show the full spectrum of what it takes to be a boss. She hasn’t deemed herself la bichota for nothing.
“There’s always a question of if it is good or not to show that vulnerability because at the end of the day, you are like a leader,” says Karol. “Some people think to be a leader you always have to be strong and good enough and ready for everything and strong minded—but for me, it’s important to show [that] it’s normal to have those ups and downs in your career and profession. There are different moments in the documentary where you can see I’m super confused and super frustrated but at the end, everything still came to life and was beautiful. It was important to me to be honest and show my fans everyone can feel the same—it’s normal.”
And while the film packs in all the moments that make music documentaries shine—like rare rehearsal footage, high-energy concert performance shots, and peeks into the personal (the singer’s boyfriend and fellow musician Feid appears)—the most intimate moments come courtesy of throwback footage of a young Karol. Throughout the film, the singer credits her family for her love of music and we see them by her side as she fights for the life she wants. For Karol, watching the documentary and now sharing it with the world serves as a powerful reminder: everything she continues to work for is for that younger version of herself.
“When I started my journey of thinking about being a global star and how I was going to make it, I tried to change a lot of things about myself because I was a Latina coming from Colombia,” she says. “I thought, ‘How am I gonna do this? Do I have to sing in English? Should I change the way that I speak, the way I wear clothes and put all this pressure on myself?’ Right now, with social media and the way everything works visually, everyone is trying to create a character that works for the world and I think we need to embrace what makes us unique—our culture, our roots, and where we come from.”
She continues, “It took me a lot of time to realize that and if I maybe if I did it [sooner], I’d be a bit further along—but I think it’s all ended up perfect the way it is. I want people to understand it’s all going to be easier and faster to make your dreams come true when you’re authentic. It’s okay just being ourselves.”
Mañana Fue Bonito (Tomorrow Was Beautiful) is available to watch now on Netflix.
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