Colombian singer Shakira is also known as the Queen of Latin Music. She’s credited because the pioneer who prolonged the worldwide attain of Latin music singers. Since her breakup with ex Gerald Piqué in June 2022, Shakira has change into an ever-stronger artist, releasing a number of hits, together with “Monotonía” and her history-making diss monitor “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Shakira has additionally acquired a lot of accolades and is nominated for a number of Latin Grammy Awards this yr.
There’s no denying that 2023 turned the yr of Shakira. Through this assortment of tales, we’re honoring Shakira’s present success, the place she began, and the affect she continues to have on the Latine group.
Shakira has change into unshakable. More than 30 years into her music profession, the Colombian pop icon stays on high of the world. Though she has gone by some difficult moments in her life, together with a really public breakup with ex Gerard Piqué, Shakira has channeled these difficulties into her largest hits but.
“Women now not cry, ladies receives a commission,” she sings in Spanish in “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” With seven nominations at this yr’s Latin Grammy Awards, together with a historic three nods within the track of the yr class, the queen of Latin music is not letting her crown slip.
“Her success prior to now yr is a testomony to her longevity, her continued evolution as an artist, and the unwavering dedication from her followers,” Jesús Triviño Alarcón, Tidal’s senior director of business relations and world Latin, tells POPSUGAR.
Shakira’s affect on the globalization of Latin music is indelible. She conquered Latin America together with her rockera album “Pies Descalzos” in 1995 and proved her expertise wasn’t restricted to 1 style with 1998’s “Dónde Están los Ladrones?” Shakira then crossed over in 2001 together with her first English-language album, “Laundry Service.” Instead of relying solely on English to make her mark, she introduced over her newfound world viewers to understand her music and artistry in Spanish with 2005’s “Fijación Oral, Vol. 1.”
Fellow Colombian Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content material officer of Latin-Español, has documented Shakira’s successes because the starting, together with in her 2021 e-book “Decoding ‘Despacito’: An Oral History of Latin Music.”
“I believe her huge successes replicate what Shakira can do when she is totally centered on her music and her initiatives,” Cobo says. “It’s a frame of mind she had not been in for a decade, and her success is a mirrored image of what can occur when she is 100% dedicated to the music.”
Despite being on a roll, together with co-headlining the Super Bowl halftime present in 2020 with Jennifer Lopez, Shakira admitted to Cobo at Billboard Latin Music Week final month that her profession skilled a little bit of a lull whereas she lived in Barcelona. She relocated there in 2013 with Piqué to lift their sons, Milan and Sasha. Shakira nonetheless landed huge hits throughout that point, together with “Can’t Remember to Forget You” with Rihanna and “Chantaje” with Maluma. But she revealed that she felt “alone” and “unmotivated” throughout that interval.
“She says she had different priorities, her associate and her youngsters, and she or he was residing in Barcelona, which isn’t a music hub,” Cobo says. “It was troublesome for her to go away her youngsters and tackle the demanding process of being a music star.”
In April 2022, Shakira seemingly hinted to one thing going awry in her relationship with Piqué within the breakup track “Te Felicito,” which put her again on the highest of the charts. Sadly, that June, allegations of infidelity within the track seemed to be true when Shakira and Piqué introduced their separation. She used her music as a degree of processing and therapeutic from the heartbreak within the susceptible bachata ballad “Monotonía” with Ozuna. The emotional monitor rocketed to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.
2023 proved to be the yr of the Shakira renaissance when she determined to tug no punches in her follow-up singles. In January, she teamed up with Argentine producer Bizarrap for the kiss-off anthem “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Shakira lyrically ripped her ex to shreds and in addition appeared to name out Clara Chia Marti, the lady Piqué allegedly cheated on her with. Thanks to following the recommendation of her son Milan to document with Bizarrap, Shakira pushed her sound to new locations and hit No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“Shakira has been surprisingly candid in her strategy to her music at the moment,” Cobo explains. “Many artists converse in metaphors; she’s been very direct in her messaging. What’s fascinating is that these very private conditions have resonated with so many individuals.”
While closing out this epic saga of songs, Shakira shared the highlight with one other Latina, Colombian celebrity Karol G. The two ladies teamed up for the knockout collaboration “TQG,” wherein they sing about how life was significantly better with out their exes round (Piqué in Shakira’s case, and Anuel AA in Karol G’s case). Shakira notched a second high 10 hit on the Hot 100 chart this yr with Karol G when the track peaked at No. 7. Their mixed star energy additionally complemented a historic second in Karol G’s profession. In March, she turned the primary girl to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with an all-Spanish album when “Mañana Será Bonito” reached the summit.
“Even when [Shakira] recorded her elements, I used to be all the time on set as a result of I did not need to miss any second . . . I remembered her complete profession . . . And I believed, ‘She’s a legend, and she or he’s right here with me,'” Karol G informed POPSUGAR in February of working with Shakira. Shakira, who has gained a number of Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, would possibly add extra to her assortment. Ahead of the Latin Grammys on Nov. 16, she has made historical past as the primary artist to have three songs nominated for a similar track of the yr award.
She is up for “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” “TQG,” and “Acróstico,” which options her sons singing together with her. Having relocated to Miami with them, Shakira is constant to crank out the hits, together with the corrido “El Jefe” with Mexican-American group Fuerza Regida and the sultry “Copa Vacía” with Colombian heartthrob Manuel Turizo.
“I’m very enthusiastic about her upcoming album,” Cobo says. “It can be an enormous launch, and I believe it might additionally high the Billboard 200. I’m additionally thrilled at the truth that she’s recorded all in Spanish prior to now yr. That is a big enhance for Latin music.”
Image Source: Getty/Astrid Stawiarz/Illustration by Aly Lim