Shakira

Shakira

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Essential Albums

  • 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 exorcize 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 center 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 do-overs. 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 realization 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).”

FROM
Barranquilla, Colombia
BORN
February 2, 1977
GENRE
Pop

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