Shakira – Shakira

Shakira. Shakira. What else can I say? Whether it’s her exotic physicality, stunning choreography or musical eccentricity, everyone wants a piece of Shakira. In her tenth release, she gives back to everyone a little something.

For the club heads, “Dare (La La La)” is an instant party starter. I played the track this morning and my two-year-old Dan is already hooked on it. We put it on repeat all the way to daycare and Dao (my five-year-old) asked me, “Why does he say Lego?.” I explained, “I think he said leggo.” According to Urban Dictionary, leggo is “The most unintelligent way to say ‘Let’s Go.’”

For the country heads, she pulls off the hillbilly vibe in “Medicine” with the help from Blake Shelton. Their vocals blended strangely well together. She has something for the rockers (“Spotlight”), ska shakers (“Nunca Me Acuerdo de Olvidarte”) and ballad lovers (“That Way”) as well. The album is surely all over the place, but Shakira could weave them together with her uniqueness.

What is Shakira’s uniqueness that make her an international pop phenomenon with a musical career that is still going strong for 25 years? Again, everyone has something different for Shakira. Beside her visual, something about her singing that is bizarre yet irresistible. In “Empire” for example, the way she moans at the end of each bar seduces me. Who can resist the temptation with weird lyrics like, “Shake off all of your sins and give them to me”? Better yet, the chorus that goes, “And the stars make love to the universe / You’re my wildfire every single night,” before she screams from the pussy, “And you touch me… And I’m like… and I’m like… and I’m like… Ooh… ooh…” Now that’s some fucking orgastic pleasure.