Shakira

Shakira

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Essential Albums

  • Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (Expanded Edition)
    Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (Expanded Edition)
    Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (Expanded Edition)

    In 2005, mere months after releasing the blockbuster first instalment of her ambitious Fijación Oral double album, Colombian pop superstar Shakira unleashed Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, dipping back into her English lyrical arsenal for a fresh jolt of buzzing rock ‘n' roll. Both records were meticulously curated from a dizzying batch of 60 songs that included guest producers and performers such as Argentine rock legend Gustavo Cerati, Rick Rubin and Wyclef Jean. To a certain degree, the project aimed to recapture the poetic grittiness of her raging, raven-haired ‘90s work while applying the pop crossover lessons picked up during her incandescent Laundry Service era, four years prior. While Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 oscillated between earnestness and camp, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 aimed to translate Shakira's famed poetic introspections for her growing English-speaking fan base. On groovy pop fantasy “Dreams for Plans”, she yearns for days spent doing everything and nothing with a paramour. For the show tune-esque “Hey You”, she takes a more assertive approach, brassily lusting over a lover via a series of silly, suggestive metaphors. Later, on the orchestrally majestic “Your Embrace,” she again muses about companionship—this time, pondering the void created by an increasingly distant partner. In signature Shakira fashion, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 teems with genre diversity, layering a children's choir over throbbing disco on “Timor” and invoking Gregorian chants for the biblically themed “How Do You Do”. A guest spot from guitar legend Carlos Santana bolsters the sinewy soul ruminations of “Illegal”, while Wyclef Jean's effusive verse on “Hips Don't Lie” helped Shakira secure her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. A Latin Pop melange, the song features samples from salsa great Omar Alfanno and merengue master Luis Días, as well as a rework of Jean's own “Dance Like This”—a booming celebration of pan-Caribbean multiculturalism.

  • Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
    Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
    Fijación Oral, Vol. 1

    When Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 hit stores in 2005, Shakira was on top of the world. She'd gained legions of devoted Latin American fans with a decade of generation-defining anthems on albums Pies Descalzos and Dónde Están Los Ladrones and swung big for the U.S. and European markets with her first English-language record, Laundry Service, at the turn of the millennium. Her gamble paid off, and enormous hits such as “Whenever, Wherever” and “Underneath Your Clothes” made her a household name around the globe. But the deliberate commercial intent behind Laundry Service also created some unease that the stargazing, raven-haired poet of the ‘90s had been usurped by a blonde pop princess for the Y2K generation. In order to placate the whispers in her ranks, and without any intention of conceding her progress toward global domination, Shakira undertook a gargantuan two-part album cheekily dubbed Fijación Oral, or

  • Dónde Están Los Ladrones
    Dónde Están Los Ladrones
    Dónde Están Los Ladrones

    The written word is sacred to Shakira. As a child, she'd watch her father write stories on his cherished typewriter, which she later used to draft her first poems and songs. By 1995, Shakira's breakthrough album, Pies Descalzos, had positioned her as Colombia's next pop phenom and a skilled songwriter armed with dreamy poetry, tongue-twisting wordplay, and literary references. So, as she wrapped a successful tour in support of the album and prepared to begin production on the next, it came as a shocking blow that part of her luggage was stolen at Bogota's El Dorado International Airport, including a satchel containing the lyrics she'd been crafting for months. It was a violation of her art that filled Shakira with fear and rage, and upon entering the studio, theft became a recurring metaphor in the new songs. Stolen glances, lost time, and romantic swindling fueled the emotional urgency of Dónde Están Los Ladrones (1998), while the masterful dance-pop machinations of co-producer Emilio Estefan helped blast Shakira into the global mainstream. Lead single “Ciega, Sordomuda” encapsulated the album's alchemic mix of Latin pop and deeply emotional songwriting. In what has become one of Shakira's most iconic dance-floor fillers, the song melds ‘90s house music with mariachi horns and strings, all while attempting to exorcise a love turned sour from the recesses of her mind. Heartbreak rages like a storm on the hard-rocking “Si Te Vas” and gets mournful on rattling ballad “Sombra de Ti”. Though Dónde Están Los Ladrones is often melancholic, it's also hopeful. “Moscas en la Casa” contemplates newly emptied rooms after a breakup over bouncy bachata, while “Tú” is a sweeping, almost devotional torch song for an all-consuming love. The seeds of introspective poetry planted on previous hits like “Antología” come into full bloom on “Inevitable”, as Shakira nitpicks at her own character flaws and eventually lands on acceptance. If Pies Descalzos assuaged label concerns about how to market Shakira's music, Dónde Están Los Ladrones all but cemented her creative control into posterity. Having her unique vibrato frequently compared to the wails of a goat, the singer put her Lebanese heritage front and centre on “Ojos Así”, marrying her ululating vocals with resonant doumbek percussion. The original song was performed in Spanish and Arabic and became such a global sensation that it was eventually translated into English, proving that no matter the tongue, Shakira's pen will always be mighty.

  • Pies Descalzos
    Pies Descalzos
    Pies Descalzos

    When Shakira released “Dónde Estás Corazón” as part of a 1994 compilation titled Nuestro Rock, it was the beginning of one of Latin pop’s greatest second chances. Having signed to Sony Music Colombia three years prior, at the age of 13, her first two albums Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993) underperformed, leading label execs to lose faith in the ululating, belly-dancing, teenage powerhouse. But trying to package Shakira as a mild-mannered pop balladeer was a mistake from the start—and as the danceable, percussive “Dónde Estás Corazón” gained traction at home and across Latin American pop-rock radio, the artist proved that romantic poetry could also seduce young audiences. Off the song's success, Sony greenlit Shakira's third album, Pies Descalzos or Bare Feet, but the deal came with stipulations of creative control since the burgeoning singer-songwriter was dissatisfied with the cookie-cutter production of her previous records. Inspired by inventive Colombian tropipop group Aterciopleados and rising Canadian pop-rock juggernaut Alanis Morissette, Shakira took a darker, more assertive approach to her songwriting and personal aesthetic. The new crop of songs arrived in 1995, fresh, defiant and loaded with a kaleidoscopic sonic palette that swirled with rock, dancehall, bossa nova and bachata. Opening with “Estoy Aquí”—the album's biggest hit and one of Shakira's most enduring classics —its embrace of ‘90s house music and melodic rock guitars heralded the pop architect's dance-floor reign of the following decades. She sings euphorically about waiting for love and losing her mind in the process, echoing this cheeky impatience again in the longing bachata ballad “Te Necesito.” For “Un Poco de Amor”, she enlisted Magical Beat singer Glasford Howard, with whom she makes a plea for more love in the world. Pies Descalzos also cemented Shakira as one of the great pop poets of her generation, ruminating impressionistically over the lessons learned from a defunct romance on “Antologia”. Later, on “Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos”, she surveys biblical and prehistoric history in a searing critique of social conformity that takes shots at everything from catty family whispers to stifling dress codes. In fact,Pies Descalzos was a literal declaration of emancipation from Shakira, who famously prefers to take the stage barefoot. It also gave her control over her story, confidently leaving rules and shoes behind whenever they didn't fit.

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About Shakira

Before Shakira took the stage alongside Jennifer Lopez at the 2020 Super Bowl, she told Apple Music that the performance was intended “to celebrate Latin culture and the importance of women in the industry”. It was the realisation of a dream that the singer—born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll in Barranquilla, Colombia, in 1977—has worked toward since she started writing songs at eight and released her debut album, Magia, at 14. Following years of success in the Latin music world, she set her sights on conquering the English-language charts, soliciting the help of Gloria Estefan on her 2001 crossover hit, “Whenever, Wherever”, the lead single from her multiplatinum-selling fifth album, Laundry Service. Combining poetic lyrics with tropical rhythms, pop hooks and influences as diverse as folk and electronic music, she quickly became one of the best-selling Latin American artists in history and a worldwide star. Her 2005 team-up with Wyclef Jean on “Hips Don’t Lie” inspired fans to emulate her dance moves, while 2009’s “She Wolf” became a club hit thanks to its sultry beat and ferocious lyrics. She’s since added to her resume with the 2010 World Cup anthem “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, collaborations with Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Pitbull, among others, and the 2016 hit “Chantaje”, with Maluma—all of it confirming she’s truly a global icon whose talents defy boundaries. In 2023, Shakira recaptured the zeitgeist with the acerbic confessionals of “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, alongside superstar producer Bizarrap, which became a global smash and set the stage for her long-awaited comeback album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. Her first all-Spanish LP in decades featured a galaxy of stars: reggaetón queen KAROL G for the scorching perreo “TQG”, banda-sinaloense bosses Fuerza Regida for “El Jefe” and cumbia crooners Grupo Frontera on “(Entre Paréntesis)”.

HOMETOWN
Barranquilla, Colombia
BORN
2 February 1977
GENRE
Pop

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