When four triple threats come together to create an unstoppable force in the music industry, one thing is clear: we must be talking about Bella Dose.
Debuting in 2017, the Miami-based bilingual girl group known as Bella Dose have amassed an incredible following, delivering high quality lyricism, choreography, and harmonies at every turn. They made a major splash in 2021 with their song, “Si Me Llamas,” which had TikTok in a chokehold thanks to its catchy chorus and enticing production. The members – Thais, Melany, Brianna, and Jennifer – are all as likable as they are talented, so it makes sense as to why almost everything they do becomes viral.
Recently, Bella Dose had another breakout moment with the help of a legendary Latin artist. In mid-January, their famous dance rotation on TikTok went viral after Shakira recreated their choreography to her new song, “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Shakira’s Bella Dose-inspired video has received 218.3M views and 21.6M likes on TikTok alone, and the numbers are still continuing to rapidly grow.
In more exciting Bella Dose news, the ladies have released a brand new song, “Mírame,” which is also deserving of its own viral TikTok trend. The track is a badass, upbeat banger that does a great job at encapsulating why people have fallen in love with Bella Dose since the beginning of their careers. For those currently enduring a bad breakup, this song couldn’t be the more perfect choice to have playing on repeat.
Pop Crave chatted with Bella Dose about their latest single, “Mírame,” having Shakira recreate their famous dance choreography, and which member of the group would survive the longest in a zombie apocalypse. Keep reading for the full interview!
Hi Bella Dose, thank you so much for chatting with me today! I wanted to start off by asking a fun question. So, for those who don’t know you guys yet, how would you describe Bella Dose in five words?
Thais: Ooh, okay!
Melany: Fun…
Thais: Versatile…
Brianna: Diverse…
Thais: Classy…
Brianna: Sexy!
Your new song, “Mírame,” is such an iconic banger! I’ve been streaming it literally this entire past week. How would you describe the concept of the song and what it personally means to you?
Melany: This song is about when you’re leaving a relationship. You left a relationship, and this person that you were with thought that you were gonna be nothing without them, that you needed them and needed this person to be someone. But you’re showing this person that without them, you can be whatever the f you want, and you are literally even better without them. You don’t need them at all. You’re thriving!
Thais: Period [laughs]!
I’ve been watching some interviews of you guys, and I know that you’re all very hands on with creating and writing the music. What’s one of your favorite lyrics you’ve helped write, either from “Mírame” or a past track?
Brianna: There’s so many lyrics that I feel are kinda crazy, because we’re very much bold when we come to our lyrics. For me, I would say: Dile a tu novia que le mando un beso [Tell your girlfriend that I send her a kiss]. I think that one’s pretty iconic if I will say so myself.
Melany: I have another personal favorite. It’s from “Bite”: Had to steal my man / Knew you were always a fan.
Thais: Mine is Don’t call when we famous from “Bite” as well.
Jennifer: And mine is definitely from “Si Me Llamas” as well. I love Yo no quiero un beso / Lo que quiero son pesos [I don’t want a kiss / What I want are pesos].
The music video for “Mírame” is such a serve, and the outfits are so cute! How fun was it getting to film that music video, and what was it like getting to watch the final cut of that music video for the first time?
Brianna: Oh my God! Well, even down to the outfits, we did have them custom made for us, so that was even a really cool process for us. We got to choose what we wanted, and it fit our bodies how we wanted. That was a really cool part, and it was a little detail that probably not a lot of people know: they’re all custom made. That was really cool for us. And our beautiful, beautiful editor – his name is Kenzo [Le] – he’s amazing, and literally we had, like, two corrections. We were like, “You’re perfect!”
Jennifer: No, he’s amazing! Watching it back, we were like, “Wow, this is better than what we imagined!” He is incredible.
Melany: It’s always so exciting. And honestly, filming it was so much fun too with getting on the horses.
Thais: For them, it was fun! For me, my horse almost ran. I had to be holding on for dear life!
Brianna: I used to have two horses, so it was a little familiar for me. I love horses, so it was really cool. Thais, on the other hand…
They’re big animals, so it’s a little stressful!
Brianna: But they’re so loving! They’re so loving! Mine decided to sit down and lay down as I was on top, so I was under the horse. I was under the horse at some point. I’m not lying!
You guys initially formed all the way back in 2017 with the help of a music executive, Vicky Curiel, who also happens to be Brianna’s mom. I think that’s so cool. How quickly was the process of you guys coming together and realizing that the four of you were the group that was meant to be?
Melany: So, we had a six month process right before we debuted. In July of 2017 was when we all came together, and that’s when we started recording together, making sure that we sounded good together on music, making sure that our chemistry was great, making sure that we danced well together, that we looked good together, and honestly, it was a very fun process. We just always had these bonding experiences. We stayed in one room. We had six rooms in the house, but we chose to stay in one room because we’re gonna go on tour together one day. We had two bunk beds, so we’re like, “We’re gonna have to learn to respect each other’s space and stuff,” but we never had a problem. We literally don’t argue at all. We literally bicker over dumb stuff like, “Oh my God, you have my shirt on?” “Yeah, I have your shirt on! And what about it?” So, it’s really amazing seeing how far we’ve come in these five years. It’s just always an awesome time with these girls. I love them.
Brianna: And not a story that a lot of people do know, mentioning my mom and everything, it’s crazy ‘cause I was the last one to be chosen in the group. I wasn’t supposed to be in the group. I was writing the music with them, I was helping them with their harmonies, and I was filling in as a fourth girl, but I wasn’t really technically supposed to be in it because I was 14 at the time. It was kinda like, “Eh, I don’t know. She’s young,” or whatever. But the girls, I guess we became such a close friendship bond that they were like, “Okay, Vicky, I know she’s your daughter and all, but we really want her.” That’s how it really happened. It’s funny ‘cause I feel like people would think the opposite, that I was the first one in the group, but it really isn’t. Even with favoritism in that type of sense, I think I’m the one she’s hardest on [laughs].
Bella Dose has had so much success over the past few years with tons of viral moments. I wanted to ask, what was the first moment where you realized that you had truly made it big?
Thais: “Electric Love.” We did a cover to “Electric Love” and it got, like, a million views in an hour or something like that. We were freaking out because we actually didn’t like that video. We were like, “It sucks! Are you sure we should post it?”
Brianna: We showed it to our producer and he’s like, “That’s awesome! What are you talking about?” [laughs].
Thais: We’re like, “Ugh, alright. We’ll just post it.”
Melany: “Let’s just post it, I guess.” To this day, 18 million people saw it.
How would you say you’ve grown musically since your debut?
Jennifer: We’ve grown a lot, especially harmonizing with each other. I feel like now, it’s a lot easier when we do a cappella. One girl will hit a note, and we already know where to go. Definitely during the five years, that’s been something that has grown within us. Even us writing, too. Everything musically when it comes to writing music, harmonies, singing. All of us have improved, too, in our voices.
Brianna: Now, we randomly harmonize. We won’t even plan it. We’ll just start singing a song, and then each girl will know where to go. It’s fun.
Melany: For sure. I think even our sound has evolved so much. When we first started as a group, we sounded younger because we were younger. Our sound was definitely a lot younger, and as time went on, we’ve matured more in our music and even the concepts that we use now. We love to fuse Latin sounds with American sounds because we are Latin American women. Fusing the two together, we definitely found that it was a Bella Dose sound. We love to incorporate Latin in our music.
I can’t forget to bring up the legendary Shakira mention! Your guys’ dance rotation is truly such a TikTok staple now.
Brianna: Yes! If you even go back to our first couple videos, it was something we’ve always done since 2019. We’ve always done that since the beginning of our TikTok, because we just really wanted to showcase each girl and give each other the limelight for that second. We didn’t like the normal four-four. It just didn’t feel right to us. This felt more comfortable.
How long did it take for you guys to fully process that Shakira had made that video with your dance?
Melany: Well, we were in the Dominican Republic. We were in the capital and literally on the first day of our media tour out there. We were in the car, and I see that somebody mentioned us in a comment, so I thought it was a fan that tagged us in a video. I go to look at the video, and I see Shakira standing there with two girls next to her. It hadn’t loaded because of the signal, but I’m like, “Wait, it looks like she’s about to do the dance rotation…” But then I look at the caption and it says, “@belladose.” I said, “Guys… Guys… She tagged us in her video!” It was crazy. I was like, “She’s not gonna post it on Instagram,” and then she posted it on Instagram.
Brianna: That was pretty insane. We started screaming outside the window, “Shakira posted us! Shakira posted us!” People probably thought we were insane.
Thais: We actually were vlogging, so we caught everything on camera!
Brianna: Yes! The vlog will be out soon. I’m actually editing it on my flight to LA.
The choreography of every video is so good! What is the process like of coming up with choreography for a song, and what’s one of your favorite dances you guys have done together?
Brianna: I would say for me, I definitely think this was our first time really choreographing our own pieces, even our performances: “Si Me Llamas.” When we did that one, it was really, really cool for us ‘cause we tapped into our choreographer, Bella Dose. We were like, “Okay, what do we wanna show people? How do we wanna perform?” That was something that we started doing, and then we had our amazing choreographer come in. His name is Julian [Turner]. He collaborates a lot with us and listens to us. I think that’s really cool that we have a lot of creative control on certain things. He wants us to feel comfortable in what we do. I think that’s beautiful how he lets us do that.
Thais: And we definitely have to thank Julian so much, because he has taught us a lot with how to gel and how to choreograph, even. It’s been really cool and a fun process with him.
Jennifer: He was there from the first day I went to LA. He was there the next morning. He’s spent five years training us, eight hour rehearsals, working us out, so a lot of huge thanks to Julian too.
TikTok truly wouldn’t be the same without Bella Dose. How crazy is it to be part of an era where an app can have so much impact on upcoming artists and their music careers? Is it exciting to kind of know that music artists like yourselves now have more opportunities than ever before thanks to the power of social media?
Thais: Yeah, social media is so important nowadays, especially for people who want to showcase their talent and want to showcase their music as well. It’s an amazing new form, new day and age technology to just put yourself out there, and it’s amazing to see artists that are so talented. I see artists every day, and I’m like, “Wow, she should be huge!” It’s crazy how much talent there is in the world, and it’s amazing that an app can showcase that to all across the world.
Brianna: One thing that’s starting to get hard for us, honestly, is to be consistent with it now. Now, we’re on the road, we’re flying here to there. Literally, we just flew four days to Miami, and then now, tomorrow, we leave to LA, and then next up we’re going to New York. Honestly, we’re kinda like, “Okay, how do we do this all?”
Melany: We honestly have to learn how to live with the content. We like to set a time where we just do content, but we’re like, “We gotta do it on the road!”
Brianna: You might catch us in the airport doing TikToks! I don’t know.
Which member of Bella Dose do you think would do the best at surviving in a zombie apocalypse?
Thais: Ooh, that’s interesting! I would say Melany!
Jennifer: I would say maybe Bri [laughs].
Brianna: Me?! I would say Jenni. We all have a different choice [laughs]. I think we can all agree it’s definitely not Thais! I think we could tell you who would die first [everyone laughs and points at Thais]. I think I could survive if I really wanted to, but I’m not gonna lie. In those types of situations, I’d be like, “Alright, I don’t wanna have to go through this. Just kill me now! Kill me off!” I mean, I’m very strong. I’m very much a strong person.
Melany: It’s true. I think I could probably hack my way into a communications thing and find my way to some land.
Brianna: Melany’s very smart. She would find the [safe] location. Honestly, I think we all need each other to survive.
Melany: But we’d all have different jobs!
Jennifer: We’ll use Thais as the distraction [laughs]. But she won’t die! We’ll get you! Don’t worry!
Brianna: Thais is the bait [laughs]! Jenni’s the stamina. Jenni will be the one to run and get us out of there.
Jennifer: I’ll grab Thais [laughs]!
Brianna: I’ll be the one that will kill off the things.
Melany: And I’ll be the one silently working in the back on a plan!
Brianna: Melany’s the getaway driver as well!
I feel that, Thais. I’m probably dying on day one [laughs].
Thais: Oh, I would run and I would hide until I can’t hide no more!
Brianna: Oh, she would leave us! She would leave us! I’ll tell you that! She would leave us [laughs]!
What can you tell fans about what they can look forward to from Bella Dose in 2023?
Melany: A lot!
Jennifer: A lot!
Thais: So much music! So much music! We’re so excited. We have so many visuals that we created. We have a whole album and every single visual to match the song.
Melany: Performances!
Brianna: Tour, maybe? Festivals, maybe? [laughs and hides face].
Bella Dose’s new song, “Mírame,” is out now.
