Karol G On Why She Decided To Partner With Mexico’s First Maestra Tequilera On The Tropitour

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 18: Karol G performs during her Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour at MetLife Stadium on September 18, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)

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Karol G has no shortage of ways to make a stadium gasp. There are the fireworks, the flame bursts and the giant macaw she climbs during the set. But the most deliberate choice on the stage at MetLife Stadium last week was quieter, and it had less to do with what she built than with who she let onto it. Karol G opened up to Forbes about her decisions behind the scenes, including the details that make the jaw-dropping TropiTour so notorious.

Opening with her hits “LATINA FOREVER” and “Un Gatito Me Llamó”, the tour started off with high energy. Midway through the show, a platform rose from beneath the stage carrying a mariachi ensemble made up entirely of women, all hand picked by Karol G, in sombreros with trumpets and guitars in hand. They played mariachi renditions of some of Karol G’s most beloved songs, while the stage lit up in green and red, resembling the Mexican flag. She then invited the audience to sing the song’s ending a cappella and moved into “MAMIII,” the 2022 hit she made with Becky G, as the singer joined her on stage for the final time.

Becky G had earlier performed an opening set, lighting up the crowd with hits like “Shower” and newer songs like “Chula” that had the audience equally excited. To commemorate Becky G’s final night on tour, Karol G handed her a massive bouquet, along with verbally giving her flowers, praising her performance and friendship.

The same ethos of supporting women throughout the tour, shows up evidently in the hospitality side. Where many other artists tend to cycle the same alcohol brands as sponsors throughout stadium tours, Karol G chose a different route.

200 Copas by Casa Dragones, the official tequila of the tour and the result of Karol G’s partnership with the brand, has an ongoing presence at the shows through an exclusive VIP lounge and other experiences around them. The name echoes a song in her set, and the idea behind both is the same. “200 Copas by Casa Dragones is all about celebrating the moments we share with the people we love, and that’s really what this tour is about too,” Karol G said.

“Being able to share that with my fans, to raise a glass together, celebrate the moment, and create new memories every night makes it even more special”

The brand’s story carries its own version of the tour’s theme. Casa Dragones was co-founded by Bertha González Nieves, its CEO, who became the first woman certified as a Maestra Tequilera by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila, an organization recognized by the Tequila Regulatory Council. Forbes has identified her as one of the 50 most powerful women in Mexico. In a show that keeps handing space to women who hold real authority in their fields, a tequila built by the first woman to earn that title fits the pattern rather than interrupting it.

Fans have supplied the rest of the hype. The tour’s signature Chellita Sunrise drink has taken over TikTok, and it’s reusable cup has become a status symbol for people who attended a show. A cup that keeps circulating online after the lights come up is the kind of extension a sponsor can rarely manufacture, and it works here because the product sits inside the experience rather than beside it. It also matches Karol G’s own reasoning for the partnership. “I wanted to bring it on the road with me because it’s the tequila I choose to celebrate with in my own life,” she told Forbes exclusively.

Taken together, the pieces line up. Karol G came back to MetLife three years after becoming the first Latina artist to headline a solo show there, so it makes sense she would prioritize collaboration with tequila made by a woman who was the first to earn her title. None of it competes with the fireworks. It just gives them something to be about. “Now, being able to share that with my fans to raise a glass together, celebrate the moment, and create new memories every night makes it even more special,” Karol G said.

Karol G is no stranger to being the first in her field, as the tour follows Karol G making history as the first Latina to headline coachella. The Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour, which opened July 24 at Soldier Field in Chicago, grew from 39 dates to 63 after more than 2 million tickets sold in four days. At that size, every slot on the bill is a choice. Venezuelan singer Elena Rose opened Thursday’s show as part of a rotating lineup that also includes, for 10 dates, Becky G, who took the opening slot Friday.

Thursday’s biggest headline came from another corner of the lineup. Late in the set, producer Tainy took over a makeshift DJ table while Judeline and Rusowsky joined Karol G for “Bby Wow,” the first time all four performed it live. The song has spent 20 days atop Spotify’s global chart and sits in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Fireworks kept pace, and the stadium briefly became a nightclub.

Friday had its own surprises, and its own send-off. Becky G opened the night with a set of her own, the last of a run as special guest that began July 29 in Toronto and followed her appearances alongside Karol G at both weekends of Coachella. Early in Karol G’s set, she asked the crowd for a loud welcome, and Peso Pluma rose from a platform dressed head to toe in black to perform “QLONA,” their 2023 collaboration.

What these tour dates at MetLife showed is that Karol G is incredibly deliberate about who stands beside her, from a mariachi of women she chose herself to Becky G’s flowers to a tequila built by the first Maestra Tequilera, and that choice may be what fans remember longest.