By: Margot Dragos
Emanuela Troianiello, a Brooklyn College (BC) senior and music technology major, was featured in CUNY’s first- ever Super Bowl commercial, which aired on Sunday, Feb. 8, on Telemundo 47.
The ad highlighted her passion for singing and songwriting as well as BC’s Music Technology program. It also featured her original song, “Tu Favorita,” which played throughout the commercial.
“I made the song a year ago when I went to Miami on vacation and […] released it this year,” Troianiello told The Vanguard.
“CUNY reached out to me for the ad, and they also liked the song, so they included it since I was talking about my musical journey while being in Brooklyn College.”
She filmed the commercial in English and Spanish, and the Spanish version became the Super Bowl ad. It aired shortly before and after the halftime show featuring Bad Bunny, who made history as the first Super Bowl headliner to perform entirely in Spanish.
“Tu Favorita” was released under Troianiello’s stage name, Yo Única, which blends her New York and Spanish identities.
“I thought of it because I wanted a name that kind of was American and Spanish,” said Troianiello. “Because Yo, we got it from ‘yo,’ like, very New York, […] me living here, and Única, which I think is a cool word.”
The commercial showed Troianiello walking on BC’s East Quad and taking classes in music technology. She also discusses her experience being a music technology major and how the program supported her as an artist.
“I love how we always give feedback to each other’s music and nobody ever judges,” said Troianiello. “We’re all here to support each other, which is great. And it’s great to make, you know, connections with these students every semester.”
Troianiello’s musical journey started long before her time at BC. Originally from Italy, she has been singing since childhood.
“I’ve been in choir since I was five years old,” said Troianiello. “And my mom always used to play me music growing up, and I used to sing along, and she was like, wait– you’re kind of good.”
Her experience at BC encouraged her to continue pursuing music and allowed her to continue to grow as a singer and songwriter.
“At the beginning of college, I was like, maybe I should do something more realistic with my life and not pursue music,” Troianiello told The Vanguard. “But I still kept going, and I feel like I’ve grown in these past few years.”
The music video for “Tu Favorita” will be out in the coming weeks, and Troianiello will be performing at Hunter College on Feb. 24. After she graduates this spring, Troianiello plans to continue pursuing music.
“[…] I just love the entertainment industry,” said Troianiello. “Even if it’s acting or commercials or modeling, I don’t care. But music, it’s always going to be the main thing that I’m focused on.”
Students can listen to Tu Favorita by Yo Única on Spotify and follow @younicamusic on Instagram.