Music

Shakira & Karol G’s Breakup Song “TQG” Seems To Shade Piqué Again

“Tell your new babe that I don’t compete for men.”

One record-breaking song about her split from Gerard Piqué wasn’t enough for Shakira. The pop star has released another bop, this time with help from fellow Colombian star Karol G. Their new Spanish-language collaboration, “TQG,” is about bouncing back after a bad breakup, and the lyrics have got many fans side-eyeing their famous exes Piqué and Anuel AA.

Shakira and Piqué’s breakup was the more recent of the two. The couple announced their separation in June after 11 years and two children together. Later, El Periódico reported that Shakira had discovered he was cheating, and he soon began to publicly date a younger woman. Her Bizarrap collaboration, “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” seemed to call the new couple out directly, and it showed the world the ugly side of the split.

Similarly, Karol G was in a high-profile relationship with rapper Anuel AA in 2018, and they got engaged in 2019. However, they broke up in March 2021 amid cheating rumors, per El Mundo. By June 2022, he was married to another woman. (They’ve since split, too, as Billboard reported earlier this month.)

In “TQG,” Shakira and Karol G sing about being left by someone who found a new girlfriend. It’s by no means a heartbreak anthem — their lives just get better afterward, while he’s still liking their social media posts and trying to reconcile. The title comes from the phrase te quedó grande, which essentially means “I’m out of your league” (more literally: “it was big on you” in terms of fit). Shakira previously used it in “Bzrp: Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” singing, “I was out of your league, that’s why you’re with someone just like you.”

“TQG” is another breakup bop, which is fitting considering it comes from Shakira, a self-identified loba (she-wolf), and the bichota (big shot/girlboss) Karol G. The two sing about how they’ve moved on; in fact, they’ve become “triple M”: “much better, much stronger, much lighter.”

Their lyrics further indicate that reconciliation is not on the table. Not only do they not “compete for men,” they want to make sure their exes’ new girlfriends know it. They also sing that they “don’t repeat mistakes.”

Already, the song is an example of how they’ve thrived post-breakup. The “TQG” music video has more than 57 million views at the time of publishing, just a day after its Feb. 24 debut. “When women come together, THE RESULT IS POWERFUL,” Karol G wrote in an Instagram post celebrating its release. Meanwhile, Shakira thanked everyone for its “incredible reception.”

Read the full English translation of the lyrics, below:

Whoever told you another person fills a void is lying to you
It’s like covering a wound with makeup, you don’t see it, but you feel it
You left saying that you got over me and you found yourself a new girlfriend
What she doesn’t know is that you’re still watching all my stories

Babe, what happened? Weren’t you so in love?
What are you doing looking for me, sweetheart? If you know I don’t repeat mistakes
Tell your new babe that I don’t compete for men
And to stop trying, at least I had you looking good

Seeing you with the new girl hurt me
But I’m already focused on myself
What we lived, I forgot
And that’s what has you offended
That even my life got better
You’re not welcome here anymore
I see what your girlfriend threw at me
That doesn’t anger me at all, it makes me laugh, it makes me laugh

I don’t have time for someone who doesn’t contribute, I already changed my direction
Making money like it’s a sport
Filling my account, shows, parking lots, and passport
I’m harder, the reports say
Now you want to come back, it shows, mmm, yes,
Hold on, I’m not an idiot
You forgot that I’m in something else
And that the girlboss was out of your league

Babe, what happened? Weren’t you so in love?
What are you doing looking for me, sweetheart?
If you know I don’t repeat mistakes
Tell your new babe that I don’t compete for men
And to stop trying, at least I had you looking good

You left and I became “triple M”
Much better, much stronger, much lighter
Getting back together with you never, you are bad luck
Because now the blessings rain down on me
And you want to come back, I could already tell
Liking my photos
You, looking outside for food
And me, thinking it was monotony
And now you want to come back, I could already tell
Liking my photos
You look happy with your new life
But if she found out that you’re still looking for me

Babe, what happened? Weren’t you so in love?
What are you doing looking for me, sweetheart?
If you know I don’t repeat mistakes
Tell your new babe that I don’t compete for men
That she doesn’t have a good hand, at least I had you looking good

O-O-Ovy on the drums
My love, it’s that you distanced yourself a lot
And from here, I don’t see you anymore, babe
TQM (I love you a lot) but TQG (I’m out of your league)
Barranquilla, Medallo