Gatúbela

Album: Mañana Será Bonito (2022)
Charted: 37
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Gatúbela" is a sensual track where a feisty Karol G describes what she'd like to do to her lover between the sheets. The song title translates to "Catwoman," whom Karol G refers to in the first verse.

    Ya estoy elevada, me siento gatúbela
    (I’m already elevated, I feel like Catwoman)


    Karol G is unapologetic about devouring her lover in bed. She compares herself to Batman's morally ambiguous love interest.
  • Puerto Rican artist Maldy joins Karol G on the track. In his verse, he outlines how the fiery Colombian singer turns him on. Formerly one half of the Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Plan B, Maldy and his cousin Chencho Corleone released three hit studio albums between 2002 and 2014.
  • Sin Maldy no hay perreo
    Yo la apreté en la disco como nadie la apretó
    (Without Maldy there's no perreo
    I dance with her in the club, as no one has done before)


    Ovy On The Drums' production fuses old-school reggaeton and intense perreo beats. A Dominican dance similar to twerking that generally accompanies reggaeton, the Perreo finds the man facing the back of the woman.
  • When Karol G's team reached out to Maldy about collaborating, he was in the middle of a move from Orlando to Puerto Rico, so the timing wasn't the best. However, the Puerto Rican artist couldn't turn down the opportunity, and the next day he went to the studio in Miami and sang his verse.

    One of the song's composers, Justin Quiles, joined him in the studio. "Karol's team actually gave me the entire song with my verse already written," Maldy told Billboard. "What I did was add very few touches to interpret it with my essence."
  • Two Florida-based producers, Dick Alfredo Caballero Rodríguez (who records as Alfr3d Beats) and Jack D. Hernandez (Ocean Vibes), brought legal action against Karol G, claiming 'Gatúbela' copied a beat they had posted on YouTube before the song was released. In February 2026, they voluntarily dropped the lawsuit and issued a public apology to Karol G, admitting they were wrong to accuse her of plagiarism.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Mike Campbell

Mike CampbellSongwriter Interviews

Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?