The mourning ended and the fury left, but before turning the page we are definitely going to leave a coda with the last reproaches; yes, expressed with softness and elegance. Two women joining forces to settle scores with their ex-partners, both famous. The Colombians Karol G (Medellín, 32 years old) and Shakira (Barranquilla, 46 years old) have launched today the widely publicized TQG, a collaboration that combines music (let us not forget), gossip (intimate scrutiny is already drawing conclusions with the lyrics in hand) and new ways of dealing with feminism (sorority among pop stars). TQG are the initials of I left you big, slogan that Shakira repeated to Gerard Piqué in the Session 53 by Bizarrap, the most streamed song in the world for the last month (released on January 12).
This time the messages are not so explicit about the relationship between the singer and the soccer player, among other things because there are two women distributing blows: Karol G is also dispatched with his ex-partner, Anuel AA, one of the great sellers of reggaeton. “Tell your new baby that I don’t compete for men. / That he stop pulling, that at least I had you pretty”, Shakira sings. In another part of the piece she says: “Go back with you never, you are the bad luck, because now the blessings rain down on me. / And now you want to come back, I already supposed it, giving him like to my photo / You look happy with your new life, but if she knew that you’re still looking for me”. The song’s lyrics paint a bleak picture for them: a plea for a reconciliation that won’t be accepted. “Seeing you with the new one hurt me, but I’m set pa my thing / I forgot what we lived through, that is what has you turned on”, expresses another part of the lyrics, which insists: “Now you want to return, it shows. / Wait for me there, I’m an idiot”. And the topic of infidelity: “You looking for food outside, me saying it was monotonous.” Musically it is a soft and rhythmic reggaeton, far from the pounding pieces of the genre. The two interpreters are passing the baton to offer a sensual and sophisticated perreo. It is a song that will not produce rejection even by the relentless haters of reggaeton.
TQG is included among the 17 songs of Karol G’s new work, tomorrow will be nicethe fourth job since he started his recording career in 2017 with Unstoppable, a trajectory that has made her the most popular reggaeton singer in the world. The collaboration between the two Colombians had been cooking for years. Karol G (real name Carolina Giraldo Navarro) has always been a follower of Shakira and has grown up with her music (14 years separate them). The hard sector of G’s followers spread three years ago that the artist for whom the winds drink sent a song to Shakira to form a duo and the interpreter of she-wolf he didn’t bother to answer. Neither of them has confirmed this episode. Things have changed a lot in recent seasons, with Karol G launched in popularity and prestige.
But Karol G’s path has not been easy in a genre, reggaeton, especially dominated by men. On some occasion she has told the Colombian how her first contacts in the music industry were, when she was barely 18 years old: a senior record executive summoned her to her office and did not stop making sexual advances to her. She left there slamming the door and decided that her crusade, in addition to being musical, would be feminist. In October 2020 she launched Bichota, a song that has become a movement. bug It is the word they use in Puerto Rico to refer to a drug lord. “I turned it around: Bichota, but to define a powerful, sexy and brilliant woman”, he explained. And since then her followers are called bugs. Almost two years after this song Rosalía arrived with Motomami, whose meaning is similar to that of Bichota.
A week ago The New York Times published an extensive report with the singer where it was assumed that a good part of the texts of tomorrow will be nice They reflected the aftermath of the break with reggaeton Anuel AA. “On the record I tell personal things that I had inside. People are going to know a lot about my life from these new songs”, he says in the interview. In addition to Shakira’s participation, there are more collaborations in Karol G’s new work. Among them is that of two Spaniards. Quevedo slips into the album, in one more example of his fast career. The canary puts the counterpoint of his hoarse voice to the sweet tone of G in the ballad But you. The Catalan Bad Gyal, also launched, participates in Karmika, with a third musician on the piece, Sean Paul. gucci cloths It’s one of the most interesting parts of the album, an original ranchera full of reproaches: “I don’t know why you tell me to come back if you were the one who sent everything to hell”.
In your little glasses She bets on pop in a message that abandons the reproach, since she has found consolation: “I didn’t believe in love, but because of you I believe again.” ferrari eyes, together with Justin Quiles and Ángel Dior, it is the most experimental piece, a kind of mess of African rhythms. The rest, a dozen songs, moves in the melodic reggaeton. The album is mainly produced by the efficient Ovy On The Drums (Colombian Daniel Echavarría Oviedo) and Finneas (in pop your little glasses), Billie Eilish’s brother.
As for Shakira, this is the fourth song where she airs the details of her breakup with Piqué: I congratulate you, Monotony, the sessions 53 with Bizarrap and TQG. In addition, he will shortly publish a song with the also Colombian Manuel Turizo that points to a similar theme. A few more pieces on the subject, and Shakira will complete a concept album on Piqué. Not bad for a central defender.
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