THE COLLABORATORS
“TUSA” Karol G & Nicki Minaj “SHAKIRA: BZRP MUSIC SESSIONS, VOL. 53”
Bizarrap &
Shakira
“TQG” Karol G & Shakira
Keityn did not plan on creating music the day this collaboration was born; in fact, he visited Karol G’s producer, Ovy on the Drums, to play video games and order chicken wings. Yet the hit-maker could not get a violin melody out of his head and asked Keityn to help him write lyrics. “I swear, in less than half an hour, we had ‘Tusa,’ from the pre-chorus to the chorus,” Keityn says. “It flowed too well. The muse was in the house that day. The song was kept in the studio for more than a year, but we knew it was a big hit.” Upon release, it made history as the first title by two women in a lead role to debut atop Hot Latin Songs since the chart’s inception in 1986.
Following his work with Shakira on “Te Felicito” and “Monotonía,” Keityn was invited to her former house in Barcelona to co-write this empowered dance-pop track, on which she cleverly disses her ex and throws a jab at his new girlfriend. Shakira had first teamed with superproducer Bizarrap, known for his ever-present cap and glasses and intimate studio sessions on YouTube. “The process of this song was a little more complex because Shakira is a woman who likes to give her full attention to each part of the song,” says Keityn. “It took many days changing and removing parts of the lyrics.” The personal, hard-hitting track debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Shakira’s highest placement since “Beautiful Liar” with Beyoncé hit No. 3 in 2007.
Karol G and Shakira’s sultry “TQG” was a part of Karol’s historic album, Mañana Será Bonito, which became the first No. 1 all-Spanish-language album by a woman on the Billboard 200. Written in Los Angeles in January 2022, Keityn recalls, “Karol invited me because she was doing something in L.A., and she asked me if I wanted to hang out and make music with her and Ovy on the Drums for a couple of days.” He admits he had the intro of the song in his head for days before connecting with Karol, but that it didn’t really flow until he hit the studio with Ovy. Following its February release, “TQG” reached No. 1 on Hot Latin Songs, where it remained for five weeks.