"TQG" (

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for “Te Quedó Grande”) is a song by Colombian singer-songwriters

Karol G Carolina Giraldo Navarro (born February 14, 1991), known professionally as Karol G, is a Colombian singer. Considered as one of the most influential reggaeton and Urban contemporary music, urban pop artists, she has received awards including a ...

and

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

. It was written by the two said artists, Keityn and Ovy on the Drums, and produced by the latter. The song was released on February 24, 2023, through

Universal Music Latino Universal Music Latin Entertainment, a division of Universal Music Group, is a record company specialized in producing and distributing Latin music in Mexico, the United States, and Puerto Rico. UMLE includes famous Latin music labels such as Uni ...

, as the fifth single from Karol G’s fourth studio album, ''

Mañana Será Bonito ''Mañana Será Bonito'' (Spanish: ''Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful'') is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer Karol G. It was released on February 24, 2023, through Universal Music Latino, being Karol G's last album for the label. Comprising ...

''. The song is also featured on Shakira’s twelfth studio album, ''

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran ''Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran'' (; ) is the twelfth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released on 22 March 2024 through Sony Music Latin. The album marks her first album release in seven years, following ''El Dorado'' (2017 ...

'' (2024).

Background

On February 10, 2023, Giraldo revealed the cover art for ''

'' and revealed the track list, where "TQG" was featured as a solo song. Later on February 14, 2023, Shakira wished Karol G a "happy birthday" message through

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, adding more speculation to a collaboration, as it was something the singer did to Argentine producer

Bizarrap Gonzalo Julián Conde (born August 29, 1998), known professionally as Bizarrap or BZRP, is an Argentine record producer, songwriter and DJ. He specializes in EDM, Latin trap and Latin hip hop. He is known for his BZRP Music Sessions, a series ...

, whom she would collaborate on the song " Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53. That same day, Karol G would reveal in an interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' that Colombian singer

was featured on the song. The song was released as the fifth single alongside the album's release on February 24, 2023.

Composition

"TQG" is an

for the phrase "Te Quedó Grande"; is a

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

track, but it's also considered as a diss. The song's lyrics features "shots" directed at their ex-boyfriends, Puerto Rican artist

Anuel AA Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago (born November 26, 1992), known professionally as Anuel AA, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Often called "The God of Latin trap" by himself and major Latin artists. His music often contains samples and interpola ...

and Spanish footballer

Gerard Pique Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this cas ...

. The song also presents lyrics sung by Shakira about Pique's current girlfriend, Clara Chia. 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 ...

'', Karol G would reveal that she wrote the song in 2022 during an emotionally complex time. She explained that although she had intended to ask Shakira to collaborate, it wasn't intended to happen with "TQG". After listening to Shakira's "

Monotonía "Monotonía" (English: "Monotony") is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira and Puerto Rican singer Ozuna. The song was released on 19 October 2022, through Sony Music Latin as the second single from Shakira's twelfth studio album, ''La ...

", collaboration with

Ozuna Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (; born March 13, 1992), known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican singer, born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother. Five of his studio albums have topped ...

, she decided to send her the song. She added: "listening to that story and where she was at, QGmade a lot of sense. I sent it to her and she loved it." In an later interview with ''Billboard'', Giraldo revealed that the song was written with

Ovy on the Drums Daniel Echavarría Oviedo (born 1991), known professionally as Ovy on the Drums, is a Colombian record producer, songwriter and former footballer. He is a longtime collaborator with reggaeton artist Karol G, alongside working with, Blessd, Mic ...

and Keityn Cruz in a recording session for "

Mamiii "Mamiii" is a song recorded by American singer Becky G and Colombian singer Karol G. It was released by Kemosabe Records, Kemosabe and RCA Records on February 10, 2022, as the third single from Gomez's second Spanish Album#Studio, studio album ' ...

", collaboration with American singer

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, she first gained recognition in 2011 for her cover version, cover versions of popular song ...

. She explained how the song came to be and what it means to her:

Critical reception

Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' commended the ethereal atmosphere that "TQG" has "though frankly it's a bit phoned-in." Ernesto Lechner from ''

'' called the song "underwhelming", stating "her much-anticipated track with Colombian icon Shakira, "TQG," feels underwhelming, especially since it arrives only weeks after the media circus that surrounded Shakira's massive new track with Bizarrap."

Commercial performance

"TQG" debuted at number 7 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart dated March 11, 2023, becoming Karol G's first and Shakira's sixth top-ten entry on the chart. The song charted twenty weeks on the chart, with the first seven staying within the top 40. On the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin music, Latin songs, published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart ranki ...

chart, the song debuted at number one, becoming Karol's sixth and Shakira's thirteenth number one on the chart. On the ''Billboard'' Global 200, the song also debuted at the top spot with 158.4 million streams and 10,000 sales for the week dated March 11, 2023, becoming both Karol G's and Shakira's first number one on that chart. According to the

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

(IFPI), it was the fifteenth best-selling global single of 2023, earning 1.18 billion subscription streams equivalents globally, becoming Shakira's first IFPI year-end single entry and Karol's second following 2022's " Provenza".

Awards and nominations

Music video

The music video for "TQG" was directed by Pedro Artola and was released on Karol G's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on February 24, 2023. The concept of the visual is heavily inspired by the plot of the film ''

The Truman Show ''The Truman Show'' is a 1998 American Psychological film, psychological comedy-drama film written and co-produced by Andrew Niccol, and directed by Peter Weir. The film depicts the story of Truman Burbank (played by Jim Carrey), a man who is un ...

'' (1998).

Live performances

On March 10, 2023, Karol G performed "TQG" for the first time in Puerto Rico for a three-day stadium show promoting the release of ''Mañana Será Bonito''. On July 10, 2023, Karol G performed "TQG" for the ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' morning show. The song was performed once again by Giraldo on August 4, 2024, for the

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

. From August 10, 2023, to July 23, 2024, Karol G embarked on the arena-stadium

Mañana Será Bonito Tour The Mañana Será Bonito Tour was the fourth concert tour by Colombian singer Karol G, launched in-support of her multi-platinum fourth studio album ''Mañana Será Bonito'' (2023) and its mixtape/B-side, '' Bichota Season'' (2023). The show's ...

, where the song was present throughout the set list as the show's opener. On September 12, 2023, during the

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

, Shakira performed the song as part of her medley, as she received the

Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award The Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, is a merit given to Musician, recording artists and music video directors at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), a ceremony that was established in 1984. It is presented by MTV for "outstanding contributi ...

. On February 11, 2025, Shakira embarked on the

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is the seventh ongoing concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, in support of her twelfth studio album, ''Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran'' (2024). The stadium tour commenced on 11 February 2025 at t ...

, set to last through November 16, 2025, where "TQG" is present on the set list.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control Single chart usages for Billboardargentinahot100 Single chart called without song Single chart usages for Canada Single chart usages for Billboardglobal200 Single chart usages for Hungarysingle Single chart called without artist Single chart usages for Ireland4 Single chart usages for Portugal Single chart usages for Switzerland Single chart usages for UK Single chart usages for Billboardhot100 Single chart usages for Billboardlatinsongs Single chart usages for Billboardlatinairplay Single chart usages for Billboardrhythmic 2023 singles 2023 songs Karol G songs Shakira songs Billboard Global 200 number-one singles Billboard Global Excl. U.S. number-one singles Number-one singles in Romania Number-one singles in Spain Song recordings produced by Ovy on the Drums Songs written by Karol G Songs written by Shakira Songs in Spanish Universal Music Latino singles Reggaeton songs