Tú

The song Tú, by Shakira, is presented as a ballad where the artist gives herself completely to the one she loves, offering all that she possesses. This musical piece, released in 1998 as the second single from her album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?, was written by Shakira herself, who also collaborated on the composition with Dillon O'Brian and on the production with Lester Méndez. The main melody, in fact, had been originally conceived by O'Brian for a project that ultimately did not see the light of day.

The creation process of ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?, the album to which Tú belongs, took place at Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida. Following the success of her previous work, Pies Descalzos (1995), Shakira began working with producer Emilio Estefan, who saw great potential in her for the Latin market in the United States. Although Shakira sought to maintain creative control over her music, it was agreed that Estefan would be her manager and executive producer, while she would have the final say on the material and arrangements. The pursuit of perfection led Shakira to work intensely, creating several demos of each track until she felt the song deeply moved her. For the album's recording, equipment was used that included vintage amplifiers and a forty-year-old German microphone, aiming for a distinctive sound. The production of ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? took nine months, a longer period than her previous works, with greater involvement of people in the project. Tú, as part of this album, is distinguished by its ballad sound with guitar touches. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Latin Songs and Latin Pop Airplay charts in the United States, and topped the charts in countries such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama.