"Antes de Ti" is a song by Chilean Mexican singer-songwriter Mon Laferte released on 2 February 2018 through Universal Music Group as a non-album single. The song was written and produced by Laferte and Manuel Soto. A Japanese version of "Antes de Ti" was released on 4 May 2018 and both versions were released in vinyl format on 23 May 2018. It received a Latin Grammy nomination for Song of the Year.
Background
The song was written and produced by Mon Laferte and Manú Jalil. The song was born during the Amárrame Tour in Chile, during 2017, as a product of an improvisation between the two authors. Laferte took as inspiration for the song the 1973 Japanese film Lady Snowblood. The film tells the story of a hero who seeks her destiny. Laferte explains: "Suddenly a melody like a soundtrack, very cinematic, with violins came to my mind... And the song has a lot of that, of movie music. I visualized it like this". "Antes de Ti" was also inspired by Juan Gabriel, Cecilia and Raphael; Laferte said: "If you ask me personally, I think it is a rather personal search to need someone by your side to be happy, and it's something that I understood many years ago, but I still like this romantic idea of saying 'I was sad until I met you'. Juan Gabriel said it the other way around in his song ‘I was happy until I met you’, I love that emotional blackmail which is beautiful, which is an exaggeration to”.
The song was presented live in the concerts at the Teatro Caupolicán, of the aforementioned Amárrame Tour on 20 June and 21 July 2017, along with another unpublished song "Cuenda Era Flor", the latter being included in the deluxe version of the album La Trenza.
Although «Antes de Ti» was not included in the album La Trenza, only being released as a non-album single, the artist considered its release as the last track of this album.
In May 2018, she published a Japanese version of the song, which comes with a video with the letters in Japanese alphabet and hepburn, fulfilling one of her dreams of singing in that language.
Music video
The music video for "Antes de Ti" was published on 1 February 2019, and was directed by Laferte with Catina Alfredo Altamirano as director of photography. The clip features Japanese aesthetics. As January 2020, the music video has over 100 million views on YouTube.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from "Antes de Ti" liner notes.
Vocals Mon Laferte – lead vocals
Musicians Manuel Soto – glockenspiel, xylophone Santiago Lara – guitar Angel Víquez – trumpet Néstor Varela – trombone José Huerta – saxophone Fermín Fortiz – bass guitar Vinicio Toledo – drums
Production Mon Laferte – production Manuel Soto – production, recording arrangements Eduardo del Águila – mixing, recording Alan Ortiz – recording
Charts
Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for "Antes de Ti"Chart (2018)PeakpositionMexico (Monitor Latino)13 Mexico Airplay (Billboard) 30 Mexico Pop Español Airplay (Billboard) 9Mexico Pop (Monitor Latino)13
Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for "Antes de Ti"Chart (2018)PositionChile (Monitor Latino)94Chile Pop (Monitor Latino)35México Pop (Monitor Latino)35
Release history +Release history and formats for "Antes de Ti" Region Date Format Version Label Various 2 February 2018 Digital download Original Universal Music Mexico Various 4 May 2018 United States 23 May 2018 7" Universal Music Latin Entertainment
References