BRAZILIAN ARTIST GIULIA BE RELEASES “2 PALABRAS”, AN ALL-SPANISH SENSUAL TRACK ABOUT ROMANCE

Music

Feb 22, 2022 @ 1:00 pm By Shirley Reynozo

Telling a tale of melancholic love but impossible to fulfill, GIULIA BE presents a new single, “2 PALABRAS”, in the Spanish language that exudes sensuality and romance through gripping scenes that feature several versions of the songstress in action. Making her debut as cover girl for Galore Magazine, GIULIA BE broke the news about the track “2 PALABRAS” and its accompanying video clip firsthand herself, from a party thrown in Miami for the unveiling of the magazine cover on February 22nd. The single hits streaming platforms at the stroke of midnight on Friday, February 25, and introduces audiences to a video clip – that will be released at noon – that both surprises and captivates.

“This is my first Spanish release this year, one of many yet to come! It was really important to me to do something unexpected in this video, to find a way to reveal a new facet of myself as a storyteller here to surprise everybody (including myself). As I wrote the lyrics to “2 PALABRAS” in the third person, I felt the need to create and introduce a third character into the clip: one who could express the challenge facing the impassioned person who lost his grip on the one he loved, and who could bring out both the sensuality and melancholy inherent in the track’s melody. ALICE from “CLOSER” always was one of my favorite movie characters, because of her depth and the way NATALIE PORTMAN managed to light her personality up on the screen. Finding inspiration in one of the most striking scenes in the film, I created the plot of a stripper and a businessman who had once been in love, and now as a consequence are facing a troublesom outcome to deal with. It has been an incredible experience of vulnerability and growth for me to take more and more risks in the world of Latin music, so I really hope you like the result,” says GIULIA.

Mixing in references to the classic “CLOSER – PERTO DEMAIS” (2004), the theme centers around a desire awoken that is mistaken for love, in the game of seduction that entwines the two characters. Here at Galore we had the pleasure of interviewing GIULIA BE about her new single “2 PALABRAS”, her upcoming EP, her work with Latin composers.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Tell us about your new single “2 PALABRAS,” what is the story behind the song? Did you write it on your own?

I wrote 2 PALABRAS in 2020 over a zoom session! The pandemic had just hit and I was home, bored out of my mind, and rewatching Gossip Girl for the millionth time. It was the first episode of season 2, in which there’s that really famous “chuck+blair” scene where she tells him “3 words, 8 letters, say it and I’m yours” as her attempt to heal their turbulent love story. As soon as she said it I thought: “Wow, that could sound really cool in Spanish”. 9 times out of 10 I will begin writing a song from the lyrical concept, and immediately when that idea stuck, i sat on the piano and knew I had the chorus. Two hours later I hopped on a zoom session with “GALE”, an amazing Puerto-Rican singer and songwriter, where we finished writing the verses by pulling from both our personal experiences with romantic misfortune and subsequently finalized a demo with vocals I recorded on my phone. Like many of my (still) unreleased songs, “2 PALABRAS” lived for two years inside of a WhatsApp chat I had with myself until the end of last year, when I was coming back from a trip and had the idea for the bridge I always felt was missing from the demo. It’s really amazing to see it come to life after all this time with new meaning and energy, it feels like a full circle.

Can you talk a bit about the EP you will release this year; is it a mix of English, Spanish and Portuguese?

Songwriting is definitely my biggest passion, and I love being able to write interchangeably between English, Spanish or Portuguese, since every language brings out a different side of me as an artist. For this moment in my career though, I really wanted to challenge myself with a fully spanish EP.

I fell in love with all the possibilities in storytelling that the language offers and became obsessed with finding a sound that felt authentic to both my vision and the musical scene. I’ve been writing (arguably too many) songs in Spanish for the past two years, and am beyond excited to finally be able to share these stories with the world in such an important project for me. That however, doesn’t mean that there won’t be more music in Portuguese and English still released this year! Because there will

Who are some of your favorite Lusophone artists?

TIM MAIA, SEU JORGE, RITA LEE, MARILIA MENDONÇA, BACO EXU DO BLUES, CAETANO VELOSO, DJAVAN, JORGE BENJOR, EMICIDA, MARISA MONTE

Who are some of your favorite Hispanophone artists?

SHAKIRA, ROSALIA, KALI UCHIS, ALEJANDRO SANZ, BAD BUNNY, CAMILO, OZUNA, NATHY PELUSO, RESIDENTE, MON LAFERTE

What Latin composers have you worked with? What was it like to crossover into the Latin market? Did you already speak Spanish or were you inspired by the music?

I’ve been lucky to have met and written with many amazing producers, songwriters, and other artists in the Latin space. I love writing with powerful women like my friends Cris Chil, Gale, or Nicole Zignago, since it always feels more comfortable and authentic to me when the studio is filled with other female writers. I’ve also worked with insanely talented producers like Sky Rompiendo, Ovy on The Drums, Jean Rodriguez, Jon Leone, and Johnny Julca that became not only musical collaborators but also amazing friends!

For most of my life I’ve written in Portuguese and English, but during sophomore year of high school I moved to Miami, which was where I really learned Spanish! I’m extremely grateful to have been influenced by many friends with diverse Latin backgrounds that introduced me to a whole new world of music to listen to and a language to fall in love with! Now, a few years and a career later, it’s a crazy blessing for me to be creating exciting stories in the studio with artists I used to play on the radio on my way to class.

Can you tell us more about your unreleased single “FBI”?

“FBI” will be my first Portuguese release of 2022! I wrote this song last year with my brother, and it started as an inside joke. I think being a woman with a strong intuition can sometimes feel like you’re an FBI agent when it comes to uncovering male bullshit. We have a sixth sense and seldom let ourselves be fooled… until the day somebody pulls it off. The song was written from a personal experience I went through of having a feeling there was another girl in my ex’s life and then the process of seeing all my hunches prove true after we broke up.

By the time I wrote “FBI,” I was so over the situation already that I guess the song was my own funny way to deal with having been fooled. The track has disco influences from funky groovy Brazilian music from the 70’s and sets up the perfect mood to dance while screaming sarcastic one-liners from the top of your lungs.

How does it feel knowing you are one of the top 10 female singers most watched on Youtube Portugal?

I’ve always had an extremely strong connection with Portugal and my Portuguese fan base! It makes me insanely happy and fulfilled to know that my music is touching people from the other side of the world and that many are recognising themselves in my art. It’s beautiful how open they are to listening and appreciating Brazilian music and it feels very special to receive love from a country that I love so much! I’m so excited for the concerts I’m playing there this year.

You reached 2 billion plays on streaming platforms with only 2 years of career and you are the only Brazilian artist to have been nominated to Latin Grammy’s “Best New Artist” in 2021. To what do you attribute your success?

It’s very hard to attribute any success to only one thing, since I believe it is a combination of a lot of hard work, courage, timing, and surrounding yourself with people that believe in and support you along the journey, the latter being the most important one, for me. When I heard about the best new artist nomination I was quite literally speechless. It’s a dream coming true to be able to represent my country and tell my story, to write my heart out and feel it being heard. a number as big as 2 billion feels even bigger when you realize that it happened through shared vulnerability. It makes me feel so close to the audience when I realize that they’re relating to lyrics about my personal life, since that’s where the real magic happens for me. I’m always trying to find new angles and new ways to express whatever I need to get out of my chest, and nothing makes me happier than seeing not only that I’m not alone in my feelings and frustrations but also that I’m able to inspire people while healing my own wounds.

A lot of people were surprised that during your speech in the Latin Grammys you spoke in English, and I feel like that is something that happens very often within the Brazilian music scene, once artists become famous outside they tend to stop doing things in Portuguese. In what ways do you think you as an artist can continue honoring the Brazilian music scene even as you grow to a more international audience?

The industry has changed so much these past few years with the arrival of the streaming giants and digital madness, particularly during these past two years and the pandemic. I see many barriers being broken as the world heads into a more multicultural mindset and opens its ears to international sounds. In my case, I try to make sure that even though I might be singing in a different language, I still have the same voice as a writer — so it always feels like the same artist, no matter what. I’m preparing a full project in Portuguese, and I don’t intend to ever stop writing in the language. To be honest, I don’t think I could have stopped if I tried! It’s a part of me… that’s the way I grew up and how I started to be recognised as an artist.

I owe my Brazilian fans everything, and I haven’t felt anything but supported by them in all of my pursuits. Switching between languages also helps me develop as a songwriter… Due to different challenges each one presents, I can find commonality and draw inspiration from distinct places. At the end of the day I think that as long as I can compose and sing, and as long as there’s still somebody to listen to, I want to keep making music and evolving as an artist in all three languages.

If you could plan your own festival, who would you love to perform with?

It would be a dream to plan a full female singer-songwriter festival with artists from many different places in the world! I’d love to perform with artists like Kali Uchis, Jessie Reyez (we wrote a song together the other day, so who knows ;), Nathy Peluso, Angèle, ANAVITÓRIA, Rosalía, Duda Beat, Mon Laferte, Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish and also legends like Fiona Apple, Marisa Monte, Avril Lavigne… I mean, just hypothetically thinking about it for this answer is getting me so excited with the possibilities! hahaha.