Tusa by Karol G and Nicki Minaj

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“Tusa” is a song by Colombian reggaeton singer Karol G and Trinidadian-American rapper Nicki Minaj released in November 2019. The song was extremely successful worldwide. It reached number one in sixteen countries, and became the longest running number one single on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100.

It debuted at number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart and stayed on the chart for 25 weeks. It was Karol G’s second number one on this chart. It reached number 42 on the Rolling Stone US Top 100 Songs chart, and was Karol’s fourth entry on this chart. It was certified 10x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America’s Latin program.

Song information from Wikipedia.

About the Artist

Carolina Giraldo Navarro, who performs as Karol G, is a reggaeton singer and songwriter from Medellin Colombia. When she was fourteen she was on the Colombian version of The X Factor. A few years later she performed at a quinceañera party with J Balvin. She would continue to record and release songs sporadically in the following years, and attended the University of Antioquia to study music. She also sang backup for other artists, including the song “301” with Reykon in 2012. She met with Universal Records, but they didn’t sign her, for fear that a woman wouldn’t be successful in the reggaeton genre. Due to this rejection, she decided to promote herself, with help from her father. She toured colleges, clubs and festivals across Colombia. This publicity gave her the opportunity to collaborate with Nicky Jam in 2013 on the song “Amor de Dos”. In 2014, to try and further her career, she moved to New York, where she took music business administration classes, helping her to learn about the industry. That same year her song “Ricos Besos” became a hit in Colombia. She was signed to Universal Music Latino in 2016.

Her breakthrough hit came in May of 2016 with “Ahora Me Llama”, a collaboration with Puerto Rican trap artist Bad Bunny. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart, and the YouTube video for the song got more than 756 million views. It would also become the lead single for her first album, entitled Unstoppable, which was released in October of 2017 and debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. She would later release the single “Mi Cama” which reached number eight on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. A remix of the song featuring J Balvin and Nicky Jam reached number six on the same chart.

In January 2019 she released the single “Secreto”, a collaboration with Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA, which confirmed the rumor of a romantic relationship between the two. It reached number five on the US Hot Latin Songs chart and number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second album Ocean followed in May of the same year. In July she collaborated with Anuel AA, Daddy Yankee, Ozuna and J Balvin on the song “China”, which debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. It reached number on on both the Latin Digital Songs chart, with 1,000 downloads, and the Latin Streaming Songs chart, with 14.1 million streams. Rolling Stone included it in the list of the 10 Best Latin Music Videos of July.

She won the Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2018.

Biographical information from Wikipedia.

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘Tusa’ – This is one of a couple Colombian slang terms used in this song. It means ‘heartbreak’. Or to translate the definition provided at the beginning of the video: “This is a Colombian expression referring to ‘anger/resentment and sadness over the end of an amorous relationship'”.

‘disque’ – This term is also Colombian slang, meaning ‘supposedly’.

‘pagar mal’ – Translating literally as ‘to pay badly’, this phrase means ‘to do someone wrong’, such as being unjust or unfaithful, the latter likely being the meaning in this context.

‘dura’ – This term has a special meaning in reggaeton. While its literal translation is ‘hard’, in reggaeton lyrics it is used to describe a woman who is ‘all that’. 

‘se le ve’ – meaning ‘she won’t be seen’, this is an example of the passive ‘se’, which tells something that happened or is happening without telling who or what performs the action. It is like using the passive voice in English, for example ‘the books were opened’ (someone opened them, but we don’t know who). Here no specific person or persons is mentioned as doing the seeing. The verb conjugates for whatever item is being acted upon. ‘Se resuelvan las problemas’ (plural), and ‘el amor se ve’ (singular).

‘la dejó en buzón’ – Literally translating as ‘he left her in the mailbox’, this phrase means ‘he let her call go to voicemail’.

‘Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar’ – This is another example of the passive ‘se’. It literally translates to ‘pretending another can be loved’. What it means here is ‘pretending to love her (the other woman)’.

‘funda’ – This term means ‘cover’, ‘case’ or sheath’. It also has the slang meaning of ‘money’, and in Colombia it can man ‘skirt’. ‘Money’ seems like the most likely meaning in this context to me.

‘perreo’ and ‘perrear’ – ‘Perreo’ refers to the style of dance associated with reggaeton. “Perrear’ is the verb meaning to dance to reggaeton.

‘tomar’ – Usually meaning ‘to take’, this verb can also mean ‘to drink’.

‘rumba’ – This term may refer to a variety of music styles. The term was originally used as a synonym for ‘party ‘in Cuba. In the context of this song both meanigs make sense.

‘el amor pa’ la tumba’ – Literally translating as ‘love for the tomb’, this phrase is used in the sense of ‘love dies’.

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Mouse over a term for grammatical information. A chart of the terms and grammatical information can be found here.

Tusa

[Verse 1]
Ya no tiene excusa
Hoy salió con su amiga disque pa’ matar la tusa
Que porque un hombre le pagó mal
Está dura y abusa
Se cansó de ser buena
Ahora es ella quien los usa
Que porque un hombre le pagó mal
Ya no se le ve sentimental
Dice que por otro man no llora, no

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
Le da una depresión tonta
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Pero él la dejó en buzón
¿Será porque con otra está
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?

[Verse 2]
Pero diste todo este llanto por nada
Ahora soy una chica mala
And now you kickin’ and screamin’, a big toddler
Don’t try to get your friends to come holla, holla
Ayo, I used to lay low
I wasn’t in the clubs, I was on my J.O
Until I realized you a epic fail
So don’t tell your guys that I’m still your bae, yo
‘Cause it’s a new day, I’m in a new place
Gettin’ some new D, sittin’ on a new face
‘Cause I know I’m the baddest bitch that you ever really met
You searchin’ for a badder bitch, and you ain’t met her yet
Ayo! Tell ’em to back off
He wanna slack off
Ain’t no more booty calls, you gotta jack off
It’s me and Karol G, we let them rats talk
Don’t run up on us, ’cause they lettin’ the MACs off

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
Le da una depresión tonta
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Pero él la dejó en buzón
¿Será porque con otra está
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?

[Verse 3]
Un shot pa’ la pena profunda
Y seguimo’ gastando la funda
Otro shot pa’ la mente
Pa’ que el recuerdo no la atormente
Ya no le copia nada
Su ex ya no vale nada
Se va pa’ la disco y sólo quiere perrear
Pero se confude cuando empieza a tomar
Ella se cura con rumba
Y el amor pa’ la tumba
To’ los hombre’ le zumban

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
Le da una depresión tonta
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Pero él la dejó en buzón
¿Será porque con otra está
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?

Lyrics with Translation

Songs in any language often leave room for multiple interpretations. Following is my interpretation of the song lyrics.

Tusa
Heartbreak

[Verse 1]
Ya no tiene excusa
She has no excuse anymore
Hoy salió con su amiga disque pa’ matar la tusa
Today she went out with her friend supposedly to kill the heartbreak
Que porque un hombre le pagó mal
Because a man did her wrong
Está dura y abusa
She’s all that and he takes advantage
Se cansó de ser buena
She got tired of being good
Ahora es ella quien los usa
Now she’s using them
Que porque un hombre le pagó mal
Because a man did her wrong
Ya no se le ve sentimental
She won’t be seen being sentimental anymore
Dice que por otro man no llora, no
She says that she won’t cry for another man, no

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
But if they put on the song for her
Le da una depresión tonta
It causes her a silly depression
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Crying she starts calling him
Pero él la dejó en buzón
But he let her call go to voicemail
¿Será porque con otra está
Is it because he’s with someone else?
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?
Pretending that he loves her too?

[Verse 2]
Pero diste todo este llanto por nada
But you gave all these tears for nothing
Ahora soy una chica mala
Now I’m a bad girl
And now you kickin’ and screamin’, a big toddler
Don’t try to get your friends to come holla, holla
Ayo, I used to lay low
I wasn’t in the clubs, I was on my J.O
Until I realized you a epic fail
So don’t tell your guys that I’m still your bae, yo
‘Cause it’s a new day, I’m in a new place
Gettin’ some new D, sittin’ on a new face
‘Cause I know I’m the baddest bitch that you ever really met
You searchin’ for a badder bitch, and you ain’t met her yet
Ayo! Tell ’em to back off
He wanna slack off
Ain’t no more booty calls, you gotta jack off
It’s me and Karol G, we let them rats talk
Don’t run up on us, ’cause they lettin’ the MACs off

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
But if they put on the song for her
Le da una depresión tonta
It causes her a silly depression
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Crying she starts calling him
Pero él la dejó en buzón
But he let her go to voicemail
¿Será porque con otra está
Is it because he’s with someone else?
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?
Pretending that he loves her too?

[Verse 3]
Un shot pa’ la pena profunda
A shot for the deep sorrow
Y seguimo’ gastando la funda
And we continue spending money
Otro shot pa’ la mente
Another shot for the mind
Pa’ que el recuerdo no la atormente
So that the memory doesn’t torment it
Ya no le copia nada
Doesn’t copy anything anymore
Su ex ya no vale nada
Her ex isn’t worth anything anymore
Se va pa’ la disco y sólo quiere perrear
She goes to the club and just wants to dance to reggaeton
Pero se confunde cuando empieza a tomar
But she gets confused when you starts to drink
Ella se cura con rumba
She heals with rumba (music)
Y el amor pa’ la tumba
And love dies
To’ los hombre’ le zumban
All the men try to get close to her

[Chorus]
Pero si le ponen la canción
But if they put on the song for her
Le da una depresión tonta
It causes her a silly depression
Llorando lo comienza a llamar
Crying she starts calling him
Pero él la dejó en buzón
But he let her go to voicemail
¿Será porque con otra está
Is it because he’s with someone else?
Fingiendo que a otra se puede amar?
Pretending that he loves her too?

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