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

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Soy'' (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'' 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

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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'', the singer stated: "it means a lot to me to be able to talk about other people's

ego Ego or EGO may refer to: Social sciences * Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * Egoism, an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality * Egotism, the drive to ...

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

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radio in December 2016. In March 2017, Lali travelled to

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

and

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Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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

Critical reception

While reviewing the album '' Soy'', Santiago Torres from '' Billboard Argentina'' 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 ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' 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 . ''El Pa ...

'' 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. A pilot film for a potential television series was produce ...

", 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, " Soy". 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 Millennial Awards (commonly abbreviated as a MIAW) is an annual program of Latin American music awards, presented by the cable channel MTV Latin America to honor the best of Latin music and the digital world of the millennial generation. T ...

in the category for Video of the Year.

Synopsis

The video was described as "an overcoming story". It was shot in Villa La Angostura,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 The 19th Annual Premios Gardel ceremony were held on June 6, 2017. The TN network broadcast the show live from the Gran Rex Theatre in Buenos Aires. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...

, prior to " Boomerang" and " Soy". In '' Clarín.com'', the performance was compared to previous ones by

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and

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, writing: "

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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. The street is intimately tied to the tango and the porteño sense of identity. Like the parallel avenues Santa Fe, Córdoba, and San Juan, it t ...

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

Soy Tour The Soy Tour was the second headlining concert tour by Argentine singer Lali, in support of her second studio album, ''Soy'' (2016). The tour began on September 8, 2016 in Buenos Aires at the Opera Allianz Theatre and ended on June 17, 2017, in S ...

''.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from ''Soy''s

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

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) * Mixed at Earcandy Studios ( Orlando,

) 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 City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) ;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 t ...

, 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 stati ...

, programming,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, 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 *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