Karol G wore a cowhide bikini top and pants for her performance at the 2024 MTV VMAs

Believe it or not, Karol used to put together her own looks for the awards show — but she’s come a long way since then. Later that night, the reggaeton artist performed at the ceremony for the second year in a row, walking into a set designed to look like a beach bar.

She performed her hit song “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” in a beige bikini top with torn brown fabric dangling over her torso. To match her wild performance, Karol wore low-cut cow leather pants and underlined the wild theme with a pair of pointy yellow crocodile leather pumps. A brown suede belt with silver eyelets completed her look.

Karol is vying for her second Video Music Award, this time for her hit “Mi Ex Tenía Razón,” after winning her first Moon Person for Best Collaboration last year.

Karol’s latest album, 2023’s Mañana is a beautiful placequickly became one of her most popular works. The title, which translates as Tomorrow will be nicealludes to her own personal journey of grief and expansion processing. “It means that it doesn’t matter what happens today, because everything will be fine,” she said Harper’s Bazaar in an interview last year, shortly after the project’s release. “Sometimes we go through difficult things and we just punch the air and ask ourselves, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ The idea of ​​the title is to embrace the moment.”

The singer is obviously making the most of her moment. Mañana is a beautiful place earned her a Grammy— her first album — and made her the first woman to win the award for Best Música Urbana Album at the ceremony. If the VMAs are any indicator, there are many more awards waiting for her.

Maya Ernest is an editor who covers everything from the latest fashion news to features exploring personal style, social media trends and conscious consumerism.