"Culpables" (English: "Guilty") is a song by Colombian singer Karol G and Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA. It was digitally released on September 14, 2018, and was included as the tenth single in Karol G's album Ocean (2019). A Latin trap song, "Culpables" revolves around a love affair between two persons, each of whom has already had a partner. A black-and-white music video was released on September 5 on YouTube, and became one of the singers' most-viewed music videos on the platform. The song has been described by Billboard as one of the best songs in the genre by a female singer, and was nominated for the Collaboration of the Year category at the Premios Tu Música Urbano.
The tenth single of Karol G’s album Ocean (2019), “Culpables” is her duet with Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA.[2] They co-wrote the Latin trap song with Daniel Echavarria Oviedo, Chris Jedi, Luiz E. Ortiz Rivera and Juan G. Rivera Vazquez.[3] The producers were Chris Jedi and Gaby Music.[4] Following the release of “Ahora Me Llama” in 2017, Karol G wanted to do a remix of it and looked for someone to help her.[5] Anuel AA was one of the candidates, but it was impossible due to his imprisonment; she worked with another artist for the remix. After his release in July 2018, Anuel AA desired to do a remix of her “Pineapple”, but she rejected as “it was too late” and suggested making a new song.[5] He composed the song, then entitled “Infieles”, and sent the initial result to Karol G, who suggested the title “Culpables” instead.[5] The lyrics are about a love affair between two persons despite each already having a partner.[3]
“Culpables” was made available for digital download on September 14, 2018.[6] Jessica Roiz of Billboard described Karol G as having “dipped her toes” in the Latin trap genre, and called it one of the best songs in the genre by a female singer.[7] The song received a nomination for the Collaboration of the Year category at the 2019 Premios Tu Música Urbano.[8] "Culpables" was one of the songs performed by the duo in the 2019 Culpables Tour, which took place in a number of countries of Latin America.[9] In the 2021 Bichota Tour, Karol G sang the song alongside Anuel AA, becoming their first joint appearance following separation.[10]
An accompanying black-and-white music video was directed by José Emilio Sagaró. It was shot in August,[11] and was uploaded on YouTube on September 5.[12] It was during the filming that the singers met in person for the first time; they would begin a romantic relationship, which was announced in November and lasted until 2021.[10][11] Within the first five days of its release, the music video had been viewed for two million times.[12] In 2022, it received a total of one billion viewers, becoming the fourth-most-viewed music video of both singers at the time.[13] The singers were interviewed by Billboard and spoke briefly of the music video; Karol G said that Sagaró “managed a very clean image of both of us”, while Anuel AA showed fondness for it does not portray him as the “bad guy”.[5]
