"Chula" is a song by Mexican band

Grupo Firme Grupo Firme is a regional Mexican band based in Tijuana, Baja California, that specializes in Sinaloan music. Formed in 2014, they have received nominations for a variety of awards that include Latin Grammy, Premios Juventud and Premio Lo Nuest ...

and American singer

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

, released through Music VIP Entertainment on August 15, 2024. It was written by Lovato, Eduin Caz, Luis Mexia, Manuel Orozco, Warren "Oak" Felder, Oscar Linnander, Pablo Preciado, and Sean Douglas, while Felder, Linnander, and Sheeno handled its production. Before its official announcement, both acts premiered the song at a concert in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, as part of the group's La Última Peda concert tour. "Chula" is a

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

track, which marked a departure from Lovato's

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-infused sound.

Background

At the end of July 2024, after being asked for new music, American singer

teased the release of a song on social media with a video that she captioned, "Say you're ready but I bet you not", quoting the lyrics of the then-upcoming song. In response to the video, the

regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

band

wrote three emojis in the comments, hinting at a possible collaboration. ''

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'' asked the group's leader Eduin Caz about a feature between the two acts, and he said, "Demi Lovato is an artist whom we've admired since we were kids". "We would watch her on television", he continued, and showed his admiration for the artist. He concluded by saying, "Luckily the collaboration happened and the song is really good". On August 2, 2024, at the

stop to the La Última Peda Tour, a concert tour by Grupo Firme, Lovato appeared by surprise to perform a new song with the frontman of the group, Caz. Titled "Chula", it marked the first collaboration between the two acts, and the third single by Lovato with a Latin artist, following her 2017 single "

Échame la Culpa "Échame la Culpa" (; ) is a song by Puerto Rican singer and songwriter Luis Fonsi and American singer Demi Lovato. Fonsi co-wrote the song with Alejandro Rengifo and its producers Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo. It was released through U ...

" with Puerto Rican singer

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for his soulful and dance oriented songs, most notably 2017's "Despacito". Fonsi received his first Latin ...

and her 2023 " Penhasco2" with Brazilian singer-songwriter

Luísa Sonza Luísa Gerloff Sonza (; ; born 18 July 1998) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence in 2016 after posting cover songs on her YouTube channel. After signing with Universal Music Group in 2017, she released her debut album, ''P ...

. While they were singing the song, screens announced its release date for August 15, 2024. A post shared on Grupo Firme's

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account showed Lovato and Caz doing a soundcheck before the surprise performance. On August 24, 2024, Lovato performed the song for the second time at the Festival Hera HSBC in Mexico.

Recording and composition

After Lovato expressed interest in recording a bilingual song, she met the group, distributor mates, in a studio in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. "Chula" was written by Lovato, Caz, Luis Mexia, Manuel Orozco, Warren "Oak" Felder, Oscar Linnander, Pablo Preciado, and Sean Douglas, while Felder, Linnander, and Sheeno handled its production. A

track with elements of Mexican and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, it marked Lovato's return to pop music following her previous two

albums, '' Holy Fvck'' (2022) and '' Revamped'' (2023). "Chula" also was a departure from Grupo Firme's usual musical style. In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' Tomás Mier, the Spanish and Native American descent singer said, "That's what I love about singing in Spanish: It goes back to my literal roots".

Reception

"Chula" received positive reviews upon its release. Describing it as a "electrifying duo", Johan Sebastián Gómez Rojas from

RCN Radio RCN Radio (''Radio Cadena Nacional'', "National Radio Network") is one of the main radio networks in Colombia. Founded in 1949 with the integration of ''Radio Pacífico'' (Cali), ''La Voz de Medellín'' and ''Emisora Nueva Granada'' (Bogotá). C ...

said that "Chula" marked a milestone in Grupo Firme's career, and said that they made a "irresistible fusion of styles and cultures". While adding the song to its list of New Music Picks,

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

predicted that "it will definitely light up the dance floors". '' La Prensa'' dubbed "Chula" as a "contagious song that invites the public to dance", and praised Lovato's powerful vocals.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Demi Lovato 2024 singles 2024 songs Demi Lovato songs Spanglish songs Songs written by Demi Lovato Songs written by Oak Felder