Tusa (song)

"Tusa" is a song by Colombian reggaeton singer Karol G and Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj. The song was released on November 7, 2019 by Republic Records, Universal Music Latino and Universal Music Group, as the lead single from her third studio album ''KG0516''. The song was written by Karol G, Minaj, Keityn, and Ovy on the Drums, and was produced by the latter.

"Tusa" peaked at number 42 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also became the first song by two lead female artists to debut at number one on the US Hot Latin Songs chart. As well, the song debuted at number 56 on the ''Rolling Stone'' Top 100, later peaking at number 41. The song peaked at number one in various Spanish-speaking countries and is the longest-running number-one single on the Argentina Hot 100, having spent 25 weeks at number one on the chart.

"Tusa" was nominated for two Latin Grammy Awards in the categories Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song was certified in multiple countries, going onto become the highest certified song in Mexico by AMPROFON and the 9th highest certified song by the Latin RIAA, according to the database.

Background

"Tusa" is the first collaboration between Karol G and Minaj. On 6 November 2019, Karol G shared the artwork for the single on her social media, as well as snippets of the official music video. In an interview with ''Billboard'', she told them how the collaboration came about:

"Tusa" is Colombian slang for the mixture of heartache and desire for revenge felt by a person when their partner breaks up with them.

While at a Pollstar conference Minaj spoke on her part on Tusa. Minaj said "She had sent me another song, and she really loved it, and I tried to write to it but I couldn't, and instead of brushing her off, finally was like 'You know what, I love you, but I don't like this song. Could you send me something else?' And she sent me Tusa."

Composition

"Tusa" is a reggaeton song that is three minutes and 20 seconds in length. It was written by the two artists alongside Keityn and Ovy on the Drums, with production being handled by the latter. Lyrically, Karol G's verses tell the story of a woman who struggles to forget her former boyfriend, while Minaj's rap tells the man that the woman has moved on with her life.

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Tusa" debuted at number one on the Hot Latin Songs, becoming the first song by two lead female artists to debut atop the chart, and also the first song by a female act in a lead role to chart at number one since 2016, when Shakira's "Chantaje" featuring Maluma reached the top. It became Minaj's sixth entry on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and her second top 10, following 2017's "Krippy Kush" remix with Farruko, Bad Bunny, 21 Savage and Rvssian.

On the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the song debuted at number 78, and later peaked at number 42. "Tusa" also debuted at 56 and later peaked at number 41 on the ''Rolling Stone'' US Top 100 Songs chart on the week ending 30 January 2020, with 67,200 sales plus track-equivalent streams. The song peaked at number one in numerous other countries. The song is the longest-running number one single on the Argentina Hot 100, spending 25 weeks on the top of the chart.

In 2021, the single became the second-highest certified song in Mexico ( AMPROFON) after "Con Calma", and the second-highest certified song by a female collaboration by the Latin division of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), after "Mayores".

The song became the longest running number one single on the Argentina Hot 100, spending 25 consecutive weeks atop the charts. The song passed one billion streams on Spotify.

Music video

An official music video for "Tusa" was released through Karol G's YouTube channel on 7 November 2019. It was filmed in Los Angeles and directed by American music video director Mike Ho. As of March 6th 2022 the music video has been viewed over 1.3 billion times on streaming platform YouTube.

Live performances

On 8 December 2019, Karol G premiered "Tusa" at Pixel 4's Motion Sense Concert Series. Karol G performed the song on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' on 10 January 2020.

Awards and nominations

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

* List of ''Billboard'' number-one Latin songs of 2020
*RIAA certification

References

{{Nicki Minaj songs

2019 songs
2019 singles
Argentina Hot 100 number-one singles
Karol G songs
Nicki Minaj songs
Number-one singles in Spain
Spanish-language songs
Songs written by Karol G
Songs written by Nicki Minaj
Song recordings produced by Ovy on the Drums
Songs about heartache