"Ego" is a song by Argentine singer Lali from her second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Soy The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source of f ...

'' (2016). The song was written by Tim Larsson and its producers Gavin Jones, Tobias Lundgren and Johan Fransson. Espósito co-wrote the Spanish version of the song with Gustavo Novello, Pablo Akselrad and Luis Burgio. The song was released as the album's third single and as Lali's debut single in the

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and

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. Commercially, the song peaked at number 4 on the ''

Monitor Latino Monitor Latino (stylised monitorLATINO) is a singles chart founded in 2003 which ranks songs on chart based on airplay across radio stations in Latin American countries and Hispanic radio stations in the United States using the Radio Tracking Data ...

'' Argentine National Songs chart and at number 15 on the Argentine Latin Airplay chart. Its music video received the award for Video of the Year at the 2017 MTV Millennial Awards.

Background and composition

"Ego" was originally written by Tim Larsson and its producers Gavin Jones, Tobias Lundgren and Johan Fransson. The Spanish version was in charge of Espósito, Gustavo Novello, Pablo Akselrad and Luis Burgio. In an interview with ''

Billboard Argentina ''Billboard Argentina'' is an Argentine entertainment media brand owned by Sociedad de Editores ABC1. It publishes pieces involving interviews, analysis of industry trends, shows and releases reviews, news, video, opinion, events, style, and the ...

'', the singer stated: "it means a lot to me to be able to talk about other people's ego and oneself's; how does that affect our way of living, how it turns into an attack".

Release

The song was released as the album's third single, being first released to digital download on May 20, 2016 along with the release of the album, and later serviced to contemporary hit radio in December 2016. In March 2017, Lali travelled to

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

and

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in order to promote the single, which eventually became her debut single in those territories.

Critical reception

While reviewing the album ''

'', Santiago Torres from ''

'' described the song as "a ballad with thoughtful, complex and orchestral arrangements" and also praised Espósito's "outstanding vocal performance". Belén Fourment from ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' compared the song the previous promotional single "

Unico is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's manga magazine ' from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. The series follows the titular unicorn as he uses his magi ...

", saying: "they are not directly compatible compositions, but both songs clearly reflect the life moments of a girl who still encourages to write from a more intimate place".

Commercial performance

"Ego" debuted on the ''Monitor Latino'' Argentine songs chart at number 15 and later peaked at number 4. It marked Espósito's second entry and highest-charting song on the chart, after the previous top 5 single, "

". Additionally, the song peaked at number 15 on the Argentina Latin Airplay chart, also provided by Monitor Latino. On March 9, 2017, the song was the 50th more played song of the US Tropical Latin radio format.

Music video

Directed by Juan Ripari, the music video made its premiere on December 14, 2016 at dawning on

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. The video broke the Argentine Vevo Record by achieving over 500 thousands views within a 24-hour span, and won an award at the 2017

MTV Millennial Awards The MTV MIAW Awards (formerly known as the MTV Millennial Awards) are annual Latin American music awards presented by the cable network MTV Latin America to honor the best in Latin music and youth internet culture. Winners receive a statuette of ...

in the category for Video of the Year.

Synopsis

The video was described as "an overcoming story". It was shot in

Villa La Angostura Villa La Angostura (Spanish for ''Town of the Narrowing'') is a town located in the Los Lagos Department in the south of the Argentine province of Neuquén, on the northwest shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake. Nestled in the northern part of the Na ...

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in early November. Espósito can be seen in a forest, running away from arrows that fall from the sky. However, towards the end of the video, she finds a bridge that carries her to some better place. In this way, the singer transforms the pain into learning, added to the metaphor of the change of clothes and the fact of crossing the bridge. The video ends with a message from Lali that says "Although the world agonizes for pride, greed and ego, there's always a bridge to where love, truth and light reign. Crossing it is for the brave sentimental only."

Live performances

Espósito performed her first televised performance of "Ego" on ''

Susana Giménez María Susana Giménez Aubert (born 29 January 1944), known as Susana Giménez (), is an Argentine TV host, actress, model and businesswoman. In 2012, she was considered the biggest celebrity in Argentine television by the media firm that pub ...

''. On June 6, 2017, Espósito performed the song at the 19th Annual Gardel Awards, prior to "

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

" and "

". In '' Clarín.com'', the performance was compared to previous ones by

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and

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, writing: "

ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

surprised everyone with her outstanding figure, her live choreographies and her imprint at the moment of hitting one of the most important stages of the

Corrientes Avenue Avenida Corrientes () is one of the principal thoroughfares of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. Over a central stretch it is popularly known as "The Street that Never Sleeps" (''"La calle que nunca duerme"'') widely considered Buenos Aires ...

. "Ego" is also part of the setlist for her worldwide tour, '' Soy Tour''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Soy''s

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

. ;Recording and management * Recorded at La Urraca, Tónica Estudios and 3música Estudios (

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) * Mixed at Earcandy Studios (

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) and The Hit Factory Criteria (

, Florida) * Published by Gavin Jones Music — administered by UMPG — Warner Chappell Scandinavia, 3musica, Warner/Chappell Publishing * Mastered at Sterling Sound (

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

) ;Personnel * Lali –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, songwriting *Tim Larsson – songwriting,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, engineering *Johan Fransson – songwriting, production,

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, engineering *Tobías Lundgren – songwriting, production, vocal editing, engineering *Gavin Jones – songwriting, production *Pablo Akselrad – songwriting *Luis Burgio – songwriting *Nano Novello – songwriting *Antonella Giunta –

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

*Josefina Silveyra – background vocals *Roberto "Tito" Vázquez – mixing engineering *Chris Gehringer – mastering *Javier Caso – A&R *Pablo Durand – A&R director

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Lali Espósito songs Sony Music singles Pop ballads Torch songs 2010s ballads Songs written by Gustavo Novello Songs written by Tobias Lundgren Songs written by Johan Fransson (songwriter) Songs written by Pablo Akselrad Songs written by Lali Espósito Songs written by Tim Larsson