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Shakira Biography
Review The Artist (69)
Source: http://www.shakira.com/
BORN: February 2, 1977
Shakira, the graceful one, has been sneaking up on you-the Grammys, the MTV Video Awards, those Pepsi spots. She's a child prodigy who wrote her first song at age eight, a blond-locked Colombian who speaks three languages and loves only in Spanish. She's a perfectionist who spends hours in the studio; she needs to be close to nature but her passion is the crackle of electric guitars. She is in the blush of youth, but she's far older than her 24 years. As her countryman, Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote, "Shakira's music has a personal stamp that doesn't look like anyone else's and no one can sing or dance like her, at whatever age, with such an innocent sensuality, one that seems to be of her own invention."
The swift ascent of Shakira's star is the stuff of Latin American legend. At the age of 13, she signed her first recording contract with Sony Music Colombia and released her first album Magia. (Magic). After graduating from secondary school, Shakira decided to dedicate her life to the music, recording Peligro ("Danger") and Pies Descalzos, ("Barefeet") in the years that followed, which broke her in Latin America , Brazil (over one million sales) and Spain.
Her next album, ?Dónde Están Los Ladrones? produced by Shakira and executive produced by Emilio Estefan, established her as the major force behind Latin pop-rock, going multi-platinum in the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Central America, Mexico and platinum in Spain. Then came a Grammy and two Latin Grammys, the key TV appearances, the brave new world of Shakira, the star. Shakira is a walking, living, breathing, singing contradiction. "I was born and raised in Colombia, but I listened to bands like Led Zeppelin, the Cure, the Police, the Beatles and Nirvana," said Shakira. "I was so in love with that rock sound but at the same time because my father is of l00% Lebanese descent, I am devoted to Arabic tastes and sounds. Somehow I'm a fusion of all of those passions and my music is a fusion of elements that I can make coexist in the same place, in one song."
It's the songs that make her new album, LAUNDRY SERVICE, her first with English-language tunes, the kind of breakthrough work that will turn the pop world on its head. From the tango-inflected "Objection (Tango)," to the Middle Eastern flavor of "Eyes Like Yours," to the lyrical innovations of "Underneath Your Clothes", to the richness of the melodies of "The One," to the pop-rock of "Whenever Wherever," Shakira will stand in the ranks of the best singer-songwriters in any language.
"I think I am celebrating life more than ever," said Shakira. "I had a slightly narrow vision of love. Now I am feeling unguarded, and it feels great. I feel washed clean of the way I looked at things in the past, which is why I am calling the album LAUNDRY SERVICE."
The most extraordinary thing about LAUNDRY SERVICE is the way she was able to translate her Latin American sensibility into a new language. The idea to do songs in English first came up during Shakira's partnership with Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Gloria initiated the process by translating "Ojos Así," a song that appeared on Shakira's last album, Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where are the Thieves?). "I wanted to have her involved in this somehow because she was one of the people that really believed that I could make a record in English," said Shakira.
But nurturing the belief that she could write songs in English was a strong challenge. "The first song I wrote by myself for this record was "Objection," remembered Shakira. "I prayed and asked God to send me a good song today, and I remember I started writing the song a couple of hours after. I wrote the music and lyrics at the same time, and when that happens it's really magical to me." When she completed "Objection," she knew that she could write ten more, so she packed up her loved ones and set up portable studios in rural Uruguay. Taking in the primordial energy of natural surroundings, Shakira came up with a crop of new songs more introspective, more passionate than any she had written before. "I had to find a way to express my ideas and my feelings, my day to day stories in English. So I bought a couple of rhyming dictionaries, read poetry, and authors like Leonard Cohen and Walt Whitman," she said.
"I would feel love in Spanish but I would think about how to express that love in English. Afterwards that became such a natural process, and if you check the subject of my songs, most of them talk about my own experiences and feelings and what I was actually going through in my life," said Shakira. "Is impossible not to write about love.. It's the great mystery of life. It makes me ask myself new questions every day."
Shakira is one of the poetic songwriters of her generation and considered the best female lyricist in Latin America: On the ballad "Underneath Your Clothes," she claims as territory a man she likens to "a song written by the hands of God"; on the blues-rocker "Fool" her "tears make a sea of desert." But she is still as quirky around the edges as she's always been-on "Ready for the Good Times" she remembers close encounters with roaches; on "Poem to a Horse" she scolds a friend dulled by "hydroponic pot," and on "The One," she rewards her true love by shaving her legs and learning how to cook.
"I try to represent only myself, but there are many women that identify with me," said Shakira. "I am definitely not a woman who washes her husband's clothes every day. I hope I don't sound like a feminist leader saying these things. I just try to be honest the way I write."
There's no doubt that Shakira has maintained her creative integrity with her new project. But perhaps more importantly, LAUNDRY SERVICE is a record that reflects her deep love for the basics of rock production. "I felt that I needed to make an organic record with real players in the studio playing live music and doing it like they made records 30 years ago, in the old times," said Shakira. "We used an engineer named Terry Manning, who's worked with ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Lenny Kravitz. He's somebody from the old school. I was determined not to depend on too many electronic sounds, and he definitely understood that."
On LAUNDRY SERVICE there is a very strong dedication to old-fashioned rock riffs, to the soulful, bluesy singing styles of a Bonnie Raitt, even the mournful, wailing guitars of Aerosmith. But Shakira can't help being herself, and that means that "Whenever Wherever," will bounce along with some help from Andean pan flutes and Brazilian drums, and "Eyes Like Yours" bursts from your CD player with navel-baring, belly-dancing furor. And for those longing for Shakira in her original language, four new tracks in Spanish are included. "The world has become so small and music is so eclectic now, and our taste is so broad that that's almost predictable that all this crossover from one culture to another was going to happen," she said, then paused for a second, making sure everyone knew she had her priorities straight. "But I know that rock and roll is never going to die."
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Would you please submit the latest Shakira biography to me? Thank You.
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Review about Shakira
sex with shakira | Reviewer: dulce leche mama | 9/15/09
i want to bang shakira HARD!?!?!? i dream about it. i eat and think about it. sometimes in the shower... ok ok always in the shower i think about it. lol. seriously she is hot shit. my bro ho thinks about it ... my neighbor thinks about it.... and together they think about it in the shower... wait. that sounds weird. individual showers.... no dirty minds over working here....ok. i want to bang shakira.
She Wolf Review | Reviewer: 666 | 8/8/09
That's quite a sexy video I must say. It almost has me howling! I can imagine looking out of a window at the city lights with a glass of champagne in the light of the full moon (tsk, tsk!)! It's very smooth, classy, and has an interesting modern rhythm to it. I speculate that it will capture a lot of market share in the music industry (as long as you can maintain your profit margins and prevent people from downloading it for free). Hopefully you do not have a "hairy fit" about my critique here!
Shakira | Reviewer: Shakira | 3/10/09
My favorite songs are Whenever, Wherever and Hips Don't Lie. My parents put me the same name as you because they were inspired with your music and they thought I will become successful. I am 12 years old. My grandmother from my moms side is teaching me how to Belly Dance I like the rythm of the music. Eres la mejor. Amo la musica Io vivo in Florida. Sei così influentic Ciao Kira
shake that thang ! | Reviewer: Fanny alvarado | 6/16/08
Whats up shaki a just wanted to tell you that i would like to see you performe one of these days with some remix of hip pop in a raceing car action i know you like keeping it in the egyption style with a little bit of rock and the same but me as youre fan woild like to see you change a bit you know get out there and show different eaither way stay sexy !!!!!FAN #6,000000
Hips Dont Lie | Reviewer: Vee | 1/21/08
I love shakira more than other singer, she's beatiful, the way she mowes her body, OMg i cant it makes me wanna met her soon. she the best singer i ever known. i love her songs HIPS DONT LIE. love u shakira.
Gorgeous!!!! | Reviewer: Joyce Juson | 12/29/07
Shakira is one of my favorite because she's the performer. She's very dances gracefully while singing. I like her song hips don't lie. Keep it up pretty and sexy lady. Wish you more success!!!
HIPS DONT LIE | Reviewer: GLORIA FATAKI | 12/18/07
holla! because i liked the way she
danced. i liked the belly dancing part, i love you so much. i started to listen to the songs when i was ten years oid.i now know how to dance belly dance just a little bit.exellento bye.
l love you so mach
Shakira es mi alma | Reviewer: Tashrif | 12/9/07
shakira ,you are my soul but i am not able to tell you because i am here in south asia half world far from you.probably you don't know you are the best among the bests.really you are the unique.
Beautiful liar | Reviewer: Angelina | 11/30/07
i love when you dance with beyonce i love when you do the belly dance my friend Jada can do the belly dance like you you even sing with beyonce that is sooooooooooo cool
u r the best | Reviewer: stephanie | 11/28/07
u r the best singer in the whole wide world i have always loved u i have grown up around your music my whole life between my little and older sisters loveing ur music i dont think i will ever get away from ur music i think it is the best music espeecialy la tortura.
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Review the Artist Shakira
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