La joia

La joia
Studio album by Bad Gyal
Released	26 January 2024 (2024-01-26)
Genre	Reggaeton dancehall house Afrobeats [1]
Length	41:30
Language	Spanish
Label	Universal Latino Interscope
Producer	Merca Bae SHB Jeremy Ayala Caleb Calloway Nely "el Arma Secreta" Scott Storch Illa el Guincho Gabriel do Borel LNK Dany Wolf Mag Jasper Harris Lil Geniuz Nuviala Scar Fakeguido Taiko Sky Rompiendo
Bad Gyal chronology
Sound System: The Final Releases (2021) La joia (2024)
Singles from La joia
"Sexy" Released: 14 July 2022 "Sin carné" Released: 6 October 2022 "Real G" Released: 2 December 2022 "Chulo pt. 2" Released: 21 June 2023 "Mi lova" Released: 7 July 2023 "Give Me" Released: 15 December 2023 "Bota niña" Released: 12 January 2024 "Perdió este culo" Released: 26 January 2024

La joia ^{[lower-alpha 1]} ( Catalan for 'The Jewel') is the debut studio album by Spanish singer-songwriter Bad Gyal. It was released on 26 January 2024 through Universal Music Latino and Interscope Records. ^[2] The album was produced by a wide array of producers such as Merca Bae, Caleb Calloway, Nely "el Arma Secreta", Scott Storch, el Guincho, Mag, Jasper Harris, Nuviala, Fakeguido, Taiko, and Sky Rompiendo, among others. It features collaborations with Myke Towers, Anitta, Tommy Lee Sparta, Ñengo Flow, Tokischa, Young Miko, Morad, and Quevedo. ^[3]

After releasing several mixtapes and extended plays (EPs), La joia is Bad Gyal's fifth release overall. It is supported by eight singles: "Sexy", "Sin carné", "Real G", "Chulo pt. 2", "Mi lova", "Give Me", "Bota niña", and "Perdió este culo"; all of them were released between July 2022 and January 2024. The album peaked at number one in Spain, being her highest charting album in the country.

Background

Prior to La joia, Bad Gyal released the three-song EP Sound System: The Final Releases on 9 December 2021. ^[4] In early 2022, she travelled to Miami to work with different producers for what would become her debut album. She recorded with producers she had worked in previous singles such as Scott Storch ("Zorra" and "Slim Thick"), Supa Dups ("Nueva York (tot*)"), and Nely "el Arma Secreta" ("Judas"). ^[5]

In February 2023, she gave concerts in Barcelona and Madrid at the Palau Sant Jordi and the WiZink Center, respectively. ^[6] During said concerts, she revealed the name of the album as a "gift for the fans" and shared a potential tracklist, which included possible collaborations with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole and Puerto Rican rapper Ñengo Flow, these collaborations ended up being the non-album single "Enamórate" with the former and the album track "Bad Boy" with the latter. ^[7] In an interview with V , she commented that "what my fans can expect this year is my debut album that will have songs that'll make them move. It'll have a lot of different genres, and it'll be a mix of styles and experiments [that] I always like to do." ^[8]

In November 2023, the album was announced to be released on January of the following year through a teaser video uploaded to Bad Gyal's YouTube channel. ^[9] Later in the year, on 13 December, she announced via her Instagram account, the album's official release date, tracklist, cover, and featured artists. ^[2]

Promotion

On 22 May 2022, Bad Gyal embarked on a tour titled La Joia Tour, which started with a concert at the Auditori Atrium in Viladecans, Spain. ^[10] The tour included concerts in several cities in Spain and the United States, as well as different countries of Latin America such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, as a part of the Primavera Sound music festival. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

At the Latin American Music Awards of 2023, celebrated on 20 April 2023 in Las Vegas, she performed "Chulo", making her first musical appearance at an international awards show. ^[14] Through 2023, she continued performing concerts, later announcing several concerts through Spain, the United States, and Latin America, as a part of La Joia 24 Karats Tour, a continuation of her previous tour. ^[9]

Singles

The single "Sexy" was released on 14 July 2022. ^[15] It was followed by "Sin carné", released on 6 October 2022. ^[16] Both songs entered the songs chart in Spain peaking at numbers 62 and 35, respectively. ^[17] "Sin carné" was certified gold in Spain. ^[18] A music video for this song was directed by Manson, who had previously directed the videos for "Candela", "Zorra", and "Aprendiendo el sexo"; and produced by Canada. ^[19] "Real G", a collaboration with rapper Quevedo, was first teased during a concert in Mexico City and released on 2 December 2022. ^[20] It peaked at number 12 in Spain and was certified platinum in the country. ^{[17] [21] [22] [19] [23]} The music video for the song was directed by Javier Peralvo and produced by Belledenuit. ^[24]

On 10 February 2023, "Chulo" was released. ^{[25] [26]} It peaked at number 16 in Spain, and was certified 3× platinum in that country. ^{[17] [27]} A remix for the song, titled "Chulo pt. 2", was released on 21 June 2023 featuring rappers Tokischa and Young Miko. ^[28] Its music video was directed by Artasans and features the three artists in a limousine "having a wild girls' night out" in Barcelona. ^[28] The remix was commercially successful in both the United States and Latin America. It peaked within the top ten in several countries, including Chile, Peru, and Nicaragua. ^{[29] [30] [31]} It also peaked at number 33 and 89 at the Hot Latin Songs and Global 200 charts, respectively, being her highest-charting single in both charts since "Karmika", a collaboration with Karol G and Sean Paul. ^{[32] [33]} Additionally, the remix was certified platinum in the United States and gold in Mexico, being Bad Gyal's first single to be certified in any of the two countries. ^{[34] [35]} "Mi lova", a collaboration with rapper Myke Towers, was released on 7 July 2023. ^[36] The single peaked at number 21 in Spain and was certified platinum in the country. ^{[17] [37]} "Give Me" was released on 15 December 2023 and peaked at number 49 in Spain. ^[17]

"Bota niña", a collaboration with singer Anitta, was released on 12 January 2024 and peaked at number 86 in Spain. ^[17] The last single of the album, "Perdió este culo", was released along with the album on 26 January 2024. A music video was released for the song, directed by Félix Bollaín and starring Spanish actor Martiño Rivas. ^[38] "Perdió este culo" peaked at number 15 in Spain. ^[17]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Jenesaispop	[39]
Mondo Sonoro	6/10 [40]
Mor.bo	8/10 [41]
The Observer	[42]
La Vanguardia	[43]

Writing for Jenesaispop , Jordi Bardaji gave La joia four out of five stars, listing "Perdió este culo", "Mi lova", "Give Me", and "Chulo pt. 2" as highlights. He wrote that in the album, Bad Gyal "stays absolutely true to herself, little by little tightening the nuts, taking a step forward without anyone noticing." ^[39] In a review for Mondo Sonoro , Pablo Tocino gave the album a score of six out of ten and described it as "concoction with better packaging than content, and with some moments of brilliance that in the end make it worth diving into many generic moments" and stated that it is a "good summary of her career in recent years." ^[40] In a mixed review, Kitty Empire from The Observer gave the album three out of five stars, calling it "one frisky Latin banger after another". ^[42] In a negative review for La Vanguardia , Esteban Linés gave the album two out of five stars and described it as "linear and repetitive", stating that Bad Gyal's proposal "swings between different sensory inputs, starting with the visual, then the textual and with the strictly musical input not always in a preeminent place." ^[43]

Commercial performance

La joia debuted at number two at the Spanish Albums chart, being her highest charting album in the list, surpassing the 2021 EP Warm Up , which peaked at number five. ^[44] Upon the release of the album, five tracks entered the Spain Song Chart: "Perdió este culo" at 15, "Bad Boy" at 51, "Skit" at 66, "Así soy" at 78, and "La que no se mueva" at 90. ^[45]

After three weeks at number two and one at number three at the Spanish Albums chart, the album finally achieved the top position in its fifth week, being Bad Gyal's first number one album in her home country. ^[44] The album was also certified gold in Spain and the United States.

Track listing

La joia track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Alba Farelo Merca Bae Fakeguido	Merca Bae	1:09
2.	"Mi lova" (featuring Myke Towers)	Farelo Michael Towers Jeremy Ayala Caleb Calloway Andrea de Castro Alejandro Ramírez Jorge Pizarro	Merca Bae SHB Ayala Calloway	3:39
3.	"Give Me"	Farelo Nely "el Arma Secreta" Scott Storch	Nely Storch Illa	2:45
4.	"Bota niña" (featuring Anitta)	Farelo Larissa de Macedo Gabriel do Borel LNK Danny Wolf Fagu Pablo Díaz-Reixa	El Guincho Do Borel LNK Wolf	3:29
5.	"La que no se mueva" (featuring Tommy Lee Sparta)	Farelo Mag	Mag	3:27
6.	"Perdió este culo"	Farelo Mag	Mag	2:39
7.	"Sin carné"	Farelo Díaz-Reixa Jasper Harris	El Guincho Harris	1:57
8.	"Bad Boy" (featuring Ñengo Flow)	Farelo Edwin Vázquez Lil Geniuz	Lil Geniuz	3:25
9.	"Skit"	Merca Bae SHB Fakeguido	Merca Bae	1:32
10.	"Chulo pt. 2" (featuring Tokischa and Young Miko)	Farelo Tokischa Peralta María Ramírez de Arellano Marco Borrero Mag Mauro Ramírez	Mag Mauro [a]	3:38
11.	"Así soy" (featuring Morad)	Farelo Morad El Khattouti SHB Nuviala Scar	SHB Nuviala Scar	3:14
12.	"Sexy"	Farelo Fakeguido	Fakeguido Sohaib Temssamani [a] Nuviala [a]	2:39
13.	"Pop pop"	Farelo Storch Josias de la Cruz	Nely Illa Storch	2:13
14.	"Real G" (featuring Quevedo)	Farelo Pedro Domínguez Ramírez	Taiko Sky Rompiendo Merca Bae	3:11
15.	"Otra vez más"	Farelo Ramírez	Sky	2:33
Total length:				41:30

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Vocals

• Bad Gyal – vocals (all tracks)
• Myke Towers – vocals (track 2)
• Anitta – vocals (track 4)
• Tommy Lee Sparta – vocals (track 5)
• Ñengo Flow – vocals (tracks 8, 9)
• Tokischa – vocals (track 10)
• Young Miko – vocals (track 10)
• Morad – vocals (track 11)
• Quevedo – vocals (track 14)

Technical

• Earcandy – mixing (tracks 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 13)
• Mike Fuller – mastering (tracks 1, 3, 4, 9, 13)
• Mag – mixing (tracks 5, 6)
• Colin Leonard – mastering (tracks 5, 6, 10)
• Jaycen Joshua – mixing, mastering (tracks 7, 11, 12)
• El Guincho – recording (track 7)
• Brian Hernández – mixing, mastering (track 14)
• Jorge Alamo – recording (track 14)
• Xavier Martínez – engineering (track 14)
• Alejandro Adrián Silva Mateos – engineering (track 14)
• Sergio Vicente – mixing assistance (track 14)
• Esteban Higuita Estrada – mixing, mastering (track 15)

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for La joia

Chart (2024)	Peak position
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [44]	1

Certifications

Certifications for La joia

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [46]	Gold	20,000‡
United States (RIAA) [47]	Gold (Latin)	30,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release formats for La joia

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Various	26 January 2024	Digital download streaming	Universal Latino Interscope	[48]
Spain	23 February 2024	CD
	15 March 2024	LP

Notes

1. In Catalan, it is pronounced [ləˈʒɔjə] (Central, Balearic) or [laˈdʒɔja] (Valencian). In Spanish, it is pronounced [laˈxoʝa] .

References

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13. Reyes, Soledad (13 November 2022). "Fanáticos de Bad Gyal desafiaron el aguacero a puro perreo en Primavera Sound" [Fans of Bad Gyal faced heavy rains with perreo at Primavera Sound]. ADN Radio Chile (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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47. "American album certifications – Bad Gyal – La joia". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 24 February 2024.
48. La joia release formats:
    • LP: "Bad Gyal – La joia (LP)". badgyal.universalmusiconline.es. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
    • CD: "Bad Gyal – La joia (CD)". badgyal.universalmusiconline.es. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
    • Digital download: "Bad Gyal – La joia (digital download)". shop.badgyalmusic.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
    • Streaming: "Bad Gyal – La joia (streaming)". Apple Music . Retrieved 29 January 2024.