Karol G is expanding her sound into all sorts of unexpected avenues with her latest album Tropicoqueta. On “Papasito,” the singer folds in English lyrics into the fun, crafting a merengue track about a Latina trying to win an American man’s heart.
The video follows the same story. In it, Karol daydreams that she is a Latina vedette head-over-heels in love with an American man, played by Danny Ramirez. “Papasito, ay, que rico tú, I want you and not just for a little,” she sings over merengue beats. Karol’s mother, Martha Navarro, also makes a cameo appearance at the end when Karol wakes up from her dream. In an Instagram post celebrating the video’s release, Karol wrote: “This video visually summarizes the magic, joy, nostalgia, love, color, passion of this album.”
Karol sports a golden two-piece adorned with matching gold beads in an homage to the Latina showgirls who inspired Tropicoqueta. “The visual narrative of Tropicoqueta is inspired by the Latina vedettes from many years ago, who were criticized a lot because they used their bodies to put on a show,” Karol said in an extensive interview with Rolling Stone.
In the same interview, the Colombian singer also shared why she decided to partially write the song in English. “It’s a techno merengue that I wrote in Spanish at first but then I thought why not make it in English? I liked the idea of doing that because when we were on the U.S. tour, I realized that there are so many Latinos whose first language is English,” she said, adding, “I want them to be able to hear themselves in that song.”
This isn’t Karol’s first foray into English-language music. Back in 2021, the Colombian singer teamed up with Tiësto to release the dance-pop hit “Don’t Be Shy,” which was later featured on the DJ’s 2023 album Drive. However, “Papasito” does mark Karol’s first solo track to incorporate the English language — with a little twist that stays true to the singer’s Colombian roots. “Even though it’s in English, it’s not how an American artist would sound,” she told RS. “It has my mega-accent and is simply how Karol G would sound if she made a song in English.”
