American Idol’s Scotty McCreery celebrates his Latin heritage teaming with GUSI for “Why She Gotta Be Like That” Latin Remix
Triple Tigers recording artist Scotty McCreery surprised fans today with the new digital track, “Why She Gotta Be Like That” featuring Colombian singer/songwriter GUSI. The North Carolina native discovered the Latin sensation on social media performing his song “Why You Gotta Be Like That” and was struck with the idea for a duet between the two featuring both Spanish and English verses.
The video for ‘Why She Gotta Be Like That,” featuring both Scotty and GUSI and directed by Jeff Ray, debuted Thursday (May 4) on CMT, CMT Music, and CMT.com. The Austin, Texas-based filmmaker has directed several of the American Idol season 10 winner’s videos including “Five More Minutes,” “This is It,’ “In Between,” “Damn Strait,” and “It Matters to Her.”
“I’ve always thought it would be fun to bring the Latin part of my heritage into some of my music,” said Scotty, who is a quarter Puerto Rican. “I met GUSI after hearing him perform ‘Why You Gotta Be Like That’ on Instagram. It is always flattering to have someone cover one of your songs, and he’s so talented so I asked him if he would want to bring some Latin flavor to the track. He brought so much to it. It was so much fun to do a new take on this song as a duet with GUSI, so we decided to call this version ‘Why She Gotta Be Like That.’”
Scotty’s grandfather met his wife Paquita while based in Puerto Rico during military service
The country singer’s paternal grandfather Bill met his future wife Paquita while based in Puerto Rico during his U.S. military service. Years after their marriage, the family moved to New England, and then to North Carolina. Fans may remember watching Paquita play on Celebrity Family Feud with Scotty in 2018.
Written by McCreery, James McNair and Jordan Schmidt, with additional lyrics and Spanish translation by GUSI, the new version puts a Latin spin on the original track “Why You Gotta Be Like That,” found on Scotty’s Same Truck: The Deluxe Album, which was produced by Frank Rogers, Derek Wells and Aaron Eshuis.
“I am very grateful to Scotty and his team for inviting me to participate in this song,” said GUSI. “For me it gives me pride to collaborate with him, since I admire his music a lot. Additionally I have grown up listening to country music and recording this song with this great performer was more than I imagined.”
Scotty is featured in new docu-short for CMT Stages
The fastest rising song of his career, Scotty’s current single “It Matters to Her” is top 10-and-climbing as he gears up to join the Brooks & Dunn REBOOT Tour through the summer, with additional headlining shows sprinkled throughout. He wrote the song with Rhett Akins and Lee Thomas Miller.
Additionally, Scotty is featured in the latest episode of “CMT Stages,” which premiered Wednesday (May 3) on CMT’s YouTube and Facebook. The program traces his life and career history from beginning to now through photos, video, and his own in-depth commentary. The North Carolina native gives several acoustic performance in the show, including “Southern Belle,” a song he hasn’t sung live since 2016.
McCreery is also one of the artists featured in the new “American Currents: State of the Music” exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, on display through Feb. 4, 2024.
