"Gata Only" is a song by Chilean singers FloyyMenor and Cris MJ. The solo version by FloyyMenor was released as a single on December 21, 2023, through UnitedMasters, but it was removed days later. The duet version featuring Cris MJ was subsequently released on February 2, 2024, serving as the lead single from FloyyMenor's debut EP, El Comienzo. A remix of the song, featuring Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and Brazilian singer Anitta, but omitting Álvarez, was released on June 7, 2024.
FloyyMenor wrote the song between live performances in his home country, Chile, while reflecting on a past relationship. Cris MJ contributed an additional verse for the duet version, with production handled by Big Cvyu. "Gata Only" is a reggaeton track characterized by upbeat rhythms and lyrics about pursuing a woman.
Shortly after the collaboration's release, Álvarez announced plans to delete the duet version and replace it with the solo version due to negative feedback from users. However, these plans were abandoned after fans convinced him otherwise. The song subsequently went viral in both singers' home country, re-entering the Chile Songs chart at number one. Its popularity, driven by TikTok, led its music video to surpass 470 million views by November 2024.
"Gata Only" became a global success, topping charts in 20 countries across Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East, while reaching the top 10 in over 30 countries. It peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking FloyyMenor's first chart entry and Cris MJ's second. The song also reached number four on the Billboard Global 200 and claimed the top spot on charts in Bolivia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Peru, and Switzerland. It placed in the top 10 in countries such as Argentina, Austria, Italy, Mexico, and Portugal.
The song earned certifications in United Kingdom (Silver), United States (double platinum), France (diamond), Italy (triple platinum), Belgium (platinum), and Spain (quadruple platinum). By August 2024, it had amassed over 1 billion streams on Spotify, becoming the first song by a Chilean artist to achieve this.
Background and writing
Galleguillos, who is from Vicuña, Chile, rose to local prominence in his home country prior to releasing "Gata Only", with one of his hit singles being "Pa la Europa".[1][2] He wrote "Gata Only" around early 2023 in between live performances in a different region in Chile, while missing someone they were in a relationship with.[3][4] Although he wrote it at that time, he did not release the song immediately because his musical style was different and he did not find an appropriate time to release it.[5] He waited until he aged 18 years old and would later release the song in December 2023 through UnitedMasters, where it would then receive the attention of Cris MJ, when he reached out to Galleguillos and told him that he acknowledged the song and wanted to be part of it, originally proposing a remix version of it.[6]
Produced by Big Cvyu, "Gata Only" is an upbeat reggaeton song that lyrically talks about going after an attractive woman and "kidnapping" her, just to stay with her forever.[7] In the title, the word "Gata" is in Spanish for "cat" but is used in the Latin urban genre to refer to women; its inclusion of "Only" in the title means that the woman both singers are singing about is unique.[8] Gerardo Mejia, who is the Latin A&R lead of UnitedMasters, stated that the lyrics "talk about TikTok, about likes, [and] about following" and that he thinks that "[Galleguillos] hit something that resonates with the kids".[9] The song's refrain went viral;[10] it includes "Mami, te siento lejo', dime dónde estás / Te quiero chingar, te voy a raptar", which translates to "Baby, I feel you far, tell me where you are / I want to fuck you, I'm going to kidnap you".[11]
Release and reception
The solo version of "Gata Only" was released on 21 December 2023, through UnitedMasters, but was removed days later for the release of its remix version with Álvarez.[9] The official duet version and its accompanying music video were released on 2 February 2024, serving as the lead single from the former's debut EP El Comienzo.[12] Upon release, the song received a mixed reception from users, who pointed out that Álvarez's part had too much reverb or thought the use of artificial intelligence was involved.[13] That same day, Álvarez took to Instagram that the duet would be deleted and replaced with a version sung by Galleguillos only, adding that his fans are "in charge". After being convinced by his fans, the duet stayed on platforms.[14]
Music video
An accompanying music video starring both singers was released on 2 February 2024.[10] It begins with Álvarez driving a car to a house and Galleguillos, who is also seen in the car, sending a message to a woman. Throughout the video, both singers and several women are seen in various scenes, near a swimming pool, inside a house, and driving a car. In May 2024, it amassed over 135 million views,[1] and would also be the number-one trending music video worldwide on YouTube, as well as in Chile.[10]The music video ended the year with over 510 million views by December 2024, holding the crown for the most viewed music video of 2024 until being surpassed by Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.”
Critical reception
"Gata Only" was received well by several publications, who named it as one of the songs of the summer and of 2024 in mid-year lists.[15] It was named as the number one global song of the summer on the social platform TikTok, while it was named as the tenth global song by Billboard.[16][17] It was named as the 46th best song of 2024 in a mid-year list by Rolling Stone, who called it "one of the summer’s most inescapable club bangers",[18] while it was named the 19th best song of the year overall, with an author from the publication acknowledging the song's virality and global impact.[19]
The song also earned two nominations at the 2024 MTV MIAW Awards, a ceremony that celebrates the most popular music, digital, and social trends across Latin America. The track was recognized in the categories of Viral Anthem, highlighting its massive popularity and cultural impact across social media platforms, and Supreme Perreo, celebrating its infectious beat and influence on dance culture.[24][25] The song won the award of Global 200 Latin Song of the Year at the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards, while it was nominated for Hot Latin Song of the Year and its Vocal Collaboration award.[26][27]
In the United States, "Gata Only" debuted at number eight on the BillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 chart on the issue dated 23 March 2024.[31] It eventually debuted at number 98 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 5.1 million official streams, becoming Álvarez's second entry and Galleguillos' first entry on the chart.[32] It would peak at number 27 in its fifth week on the chart with 14.1 million US streams, despite receiving no radio in its early weeks.[33] On the Hot Latin Songs chart, "Gata Only" reached its peak position of number one on the chart in its seventh week.[34][13] It became the first Chilean song since 1999 to reach the chart's top 10, the first number-one song by a Chilean artist since 1990 and the first Chilean song to remain atop the chart for 14 consecutive weeks.[35] On other Latin music charts, it peaked atop the Latin Digital Song Sales[36] and the Latin Streaming Songs chart.[37] It received a Double platinum certification by the RIAA for selling two million units in the country.[38]
In Canada's Canadian Hot 100 "Gata Only" debuted at 41, and nine weeks later would reach its peak of 31 despite also receiving no radio. It charted a total of twenty weeks in the country before going recurrent. In Mexico, "Gata Only" debuted at 25, shooting to number 7 in its second week and eventually reaching its peak of number 2. It would spend seventeen weeks in the top 5 and twenty-five consecutive weeks in the top 10. In other countries in North America, "Gata Only" charted in Costa Rica (3),[39] El Salvador (7),[40] Guatemala (12),[40] Nicaragua (3),[41] Panama (3),[42] Puerto Rico's Urbano chart (13),[43] the Dominican Republic's Urbano chart (18),[44] Honduras (14),[45] and Central America (5).[46]
Europe
In Europe, Gata only peaked at number one for 11 weeks in Switzerland.[47] and 10 weeks in Luxembourg,[48] as well as peaking atop France,[49]Greece, and Netherlands. In the United Kingdom, "Gata Only” debuted at 76 and peaked at 58, charting eighteen total weeks in the country and being the only Latin song to enter the chart in 2024.[50] It later received a Silver certification for selling 200.000 units in the U.K. In Spain, the song debuted at 72 and rose to 17 in its second week before peaking at number 3 in its ninth week.[51] It would receive a quadruple-platinum certification for selling 240.000 units in the country. In Italy, both the original and remix versions of the song separately peaked at number 5, and the song was certified triple platinum for selling 300.000 units in the country, along with a Diamond certification in France (333.333) and a platinum certification in Belgium (40.000).
In other countries in Europe, Gata Only charted in Portugal (2), Germany (4), Belgium (6), Austria (6), Estonia (7), Latvia (7), Slovakia (8), Lithuania (11), Romania (3), Hungary (18), Czechia (26), Sweden (27), Ukraine (33), Norway (40), Ireland (46), and Poland (62). It additionally peaked atop the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes Russia, Moldova, and Belarus among its European members.
South America
In both singers' native country Chile, "Gata Only" debuted at number 22 and reached its chart's eighth position on the issue dated 27 January 2024, before disappearing from the chart for two weeks following its removal from streaming services.[52] It later re-entered the chart at a peak of number one, spending 9 weeks at the top.[53]
In Argentina's Argentina Hot 100 Gata Only debuted at 76, shooting to number 8 in its third week and eventually peaking at number 3, spending seventeen weeks in the top 10 [54] Gata Only peaked at number 1 in Bolivia for three weeks and in Peru for a single week.[55][56] In Ecuador, the song peaked at number 2, being blocked from the top spot by Feid's "LUNA" for ten consecutive weeks.[57] In other South American countries, it charted in Colombia (7),[58] Paraguay (9), and Uruguay (1), as well as the unified Latin America chart (5).
Africa and Asia
Gata Only peaked at number 5 on the official MENA chart, which tracks consumption from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. It additionally peaked at number 3 on the regional North Africa chart. In the United Arab Emirates, Gata Only debuted at number 12 and peaked at number 5, spending thirteen weeks in the top 10 and nineteen total weeks on the chart.[59] The song peaked at number 12 in Saudi Arabia and number 19 in India, where it charted twenty-five weeks.[60]
On streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, Gata Only made appearances on daily charts for countries including Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Israel, and Singapore among others.[61] As of September 2024, the song has 4 million plays on Anghami, which is the largest streaming service in the Arabic speaking world.[62] In other countries of the region, Gata Only charted in Turkey (1), Morocco (2), Lebanon (6), and Kazakhstan (10), as well as the Commonwealth of Independent States which includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan among its Asian members.
Global
"Gata Only" debuted at number 149 on the Billboard Global 200 on the issue dated 24 February 2024.[63] In its ninth week, the song would reach the sixth position on the chart, which became both singers' first top 10 single,[64] later peaking at number four.[65] It also appeared at number 174 on the Billboard Global Excl. US chart a week earlier.[66] It would reach its peak on the chart at number three in its 12th week,[67] before descending and remaining at number four on the issues dated 11 May and 18 May 2024.[68][69] It would descend to number five in its 15th week on the chart.[70]
On Luminate's 2024 mid-year music report, "Gata Only" was ranked as the fifth most-streamed song globally by overall on-demand audio streaming volume, achieving 982 million on-demand subscription streams between January 1 and July 1, 2024, across music platforms.[71] Additionally, it is the only Latin song that appeared within the list's top 10.[72]
In September, Billboard announced "Gata Only" as the 10th most consumed song globally during the summer of 2024, across sales and on-demand streaming figures.[17] The song ranked high despite being released early in February, and Billboard's harsh filtering of free streams which benefits western artists, all showing testament to its longevity and global reach. The song was also crowned the number one song of the summer globally on the social media platform TikTok, accumulating over 15 million videos within the period.[16] The platform named it "the biggest Latin track in the world this year" due to its groundbreaking success and viral impact across every corner of the globe.
On December 2nd, Spotify Wrapped announced Gata Only as the fourth most streamed song of 2024, trailing only behind Billie Eillish’s "Birds of a Feather", Benson Boone’s "Beautiful Things", and Sabrina Carpenter’s "Espresso". Gata Only was the only latin song in the top 10, amassing over 1.3 billion streams by December. It ranked high in countless regional year-end charts such as Switzerland (2), France (5), Spain (6), Italy (7), Portugal (8), Germany (11), Belgium (11), Algeria (4), and more.
Streaming figures
"Gata Only" first appeared on the Spotify global chart on February 10,[73] eventually entering the top 10 of the platform's chart 1 month later with 3,909,830 streams.[74] It would reach a peak of number two on the chart, with 8,628,580 streams in a single day.[75] "Gata Only" would amass over 859 million streams as of July 2024, dismissing "Una Noche en Medellín" to become the most-streamed song by a Chilean artist on Spotify.[76] On August 9, it became the fastest Latin song in the platform to surpass 1 billion streams, dethroning "Quevedo: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52", and the 10th fastest song overall, accomplishing this within 190 days.[77] Additionally, it became the first song by a Chilean artist to attain 1 billion streams, as well as the third song released in 2024 to achieve this after Benson Boone's "Beautiful Things" and Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso".[78]
The song spent 22 consecutive weeks as the most streamed Latin song on weekly Spotify spanning from March to August, dethroning Xavi’s[disambiguation needed] "La Diabla" [79] to then be dethroned by Karol G’s "Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido" [80] On the weekly global chart, the song peaked with 54,990,825 streams during its 11th week. In total the song spent 13 weeks doing above 40 million streams, 20 weeks doing above 30 million streams, and 31 weeks doing above 20 million streams.[61]
The song reached number one on the Spotify charts designated for Argentina, Chile, Italy, France, Peru, Ecuador, Switzerland, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Luxembourg.[81] Additionally, the song reached top 10 in daily Spotify charts for Mexico, Spain, Germany, Colombia, Netherlands, Guatemala, Belgium, Portugal, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Austria, Romania, Hungary, Morocco, Venezuela, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Lithuania, Bulgaria, and Estonia. In total, it charted in 60 of the 72 countries with available Spotify charts, making appearances in the top 200 for Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Egypt, Canada, Singapore, Poland, Sweden, Greece, Norway, Czechia, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Israel, Ukraine, Latvia, and Belarus.[61]
The song was met with similar success on the streaming platform YouTube, where its music video peaked with 16,865,584 views in a single week, and 4,036,608 views in a single day.[82][83] Gata Only’s music video garnered 510 million views by December 2024, becoming the most viewed video of 2024 after dethroning Una Foto Remix. Additionally, the song had collected 1 billion total streams across YouTube music by December 2024, which combines User-Generated Content and other audios of the song with the music video itself.
A remix version of "Gata Only" with Puerto Rican singer Ozuna and Brazilian singer Anitta was released on 7 June 2024, although Cris MJ is absent.
Background and release
Following the worldwide success of "Gata Only", Galleguillos would enlist Ozuna and Anitta to be part of its remix version, stating that their contributions make it "all bigger and more special", while Ozuna himself admired both Galleguillos and Álvarez's impact in the Latin urban genre.[84] Cris MJ would be absent from the remix, though it was confirmed by Jorge Álvarez, who is his father, but was also speculated that a music video with all four artists would be released soon.[85]
The remix was released on 7 June 2024, through UnitedMasters.[86] It also received mixed reception from users, stating that the song did not need a remix version or that "without [Álvarez], it is not 'Gata Only'".[87] Further, it did not receive similar commercial success as its original version. The remix peaked at number 11 in Peru, while it debuted at number 64 in Spain.[88][89]
Other versions and usage
Chilean band La Caravana Mágica, from Pichilemu, released a cover version of "Gata Only" in May 2024, which infuses multiple musical genres such as cumbia, flamenco, reggae and Hawaiian.[90][91] in the same month, Brazilian rapper MC Nova Era uploaded a cover of the song in Portuguese, which has since received over 339 thousand views on YouTube.[92] Their version peaked at number 57 in Paraguay's monthly chart for July.[93] In August 2024, a video of American rapper Travis Scott dancing to the song went viral on social platform TikTok.[94][95]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 16. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 18. týden 2024 in the date selector. Retrieved 7 May 2024.