Guayabo is a fascinating word, especially in Colombian slang, where it refers to a deep feeling of sadness, longing, or heartbreak, often accompanied by a physical hangover after a night of drinking to forget.
In this song, Manuel Turizo uses it to perfectly capture the ache of missing a past love, singing "Qué guayabo me da" (What heartbreak/hangover it gives me). It's a unique and evocative term that goes beyond a simple translation, making it memorable and rich with cultural context.
Feeling that ‘guayabo’
In Colombian slang, guayabo is the mix of a pounding hangover and an aching heart, and that is exactly where Manuel Turizo finds himself. He wakes up to another sunrise, clutching the bottle his ex loved, picturing how the night should have ended. Even with lights on, everything looks dim because she is gone. He flips between memories of soaring through the clouds with her and the harsh drop back to reality. Jealous thoughts sneak in, and every call or kiss he imagines becomes a lifeline that might pull him out of the gloom.
Yet the song is not just about sorrow. It is also a late-night dare: “If I look for you, will you play along?” Turizo flirts with the idea of rekindling the romance, promising to stay the moment she gives one more kiss. The chorus circles back to that stubborn guayabo, capturing the push-and-pull between letting go and tying his heart to her hair forever. Packed with yearning, intoxication, and hope, “Guayabo” turns the common breakup hangover into a hypnotic reggaeton confession.
Manuel Turizo was studying to be a veterinarian in Montería, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, when a song he and his older brother Julián put out themselves in 2016 took over Latin radio. "Una Lady Como Tú" sets Julián's ukulele against Manuel's low baritone, and its video has since passed two billion views on YouTube. He was sixteen then, born in Montería in April 2000 into a family of musicians.
His debut album ADN (2019) reached number eight on Billboard's Top Latin Albums with Ozuna, Nicky Jam, Anuel AA and Sech along for the ride, and "Sola" gave him his first Latin Airplay number one. Dopamina followed in 2021, then 2000 in 2023, the album built around "La Bachata": number six on the Billboard Global 200, number one in Spain, and fifteen weeks atop the Argentina Hot 100. He has recorded with Marshmello ("El Merengue") and Shakira ("Copa Vacía"), and his fifth album Apambichao, released in April 2026, goes back to Colombian merengue and vallenato with Maluma on the title track.