Qué Más Pues? Lyrics in English by J Balvin, María Becerra
Empalagando comes from the verb empalagar, which describes the feeling of being overwhelmed by something that is excessively sweet, like a rich dessert. It's a fantastic word that doesn't have a perfect one-word translation in English.
In "Qué Más Pues?", María Becerra uses it metaphorically to shut down J Balvin. When she sings, "me estás empalagando y eso que no es golosina" (you're cloying me, and you're not even candy), she's cleverly saying his attention is so excessive and unwelcome that it's sickening.
Ever had an ex text you out of nowhere trying to act like nothing went wrong? That is the entire vibe of "Qué Más Pues?" Colombian superstar J Balvin kicks things off playing the smooth-talking ex. He slides into María Becerra's messages with a casual greeting popular across Colombia: "¿Qué más pues? ¿Cómo te ha ido?" ["What's up then? How have you been?"]. He asks if she is single or married, complains that his busy fame made him lose track of her, and showers her with compliments—even rhyming that her Nike sneakers look "nice". He thinks he can just ask for her location ("Dame el PIN, yo te caigo de inmediato" ["Give me your location PIN, I'll drop by right away"]) and pick up where they left off.
María Becerra is not falling for it. She snaps back using his real first name: "Ay, José, no me insista'" ["Oh, José, don't insist"]. She laughs off his dizzying games, teasing that he circles around so much he looks like a motorcyclist ("pareces motociclista"). When he pushes to clear the air, she calls him out on being conceited and completely unreliable: "Yo a ti te llamé en agosto, apareciste en enero" ["I called you in August, you showed up in January"]. While he was off vacationing in Boston, someone else took his place. Now her compass points in a new direction, leaving Balvin's smooth talk completely shut down.
