The 10 Best Shakira Songs of All-Time
Shakira is a Colombian singer-songwriter. However, her reputation extends far beyond her homeland, so much so that she has been called the Queen of Latin Music. Over the course of three decades and counting, Shakira has released more than ten studio albums, which include a considerable number of international hits and greatest hits.
10. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
The biggest sporting event in the world isn’t the Olympics. Instead, it is the FIFA World Cup. As such, everything associated with the FIFA World Cup gets a boost, with an excellent example being the songs that are adopted for use by each such event.
Out of those, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” is one of the best-known, which makes sense because it is one of the most successful as well. For proof, look no further than the fact that it has sold more than 15 million downloads, thus making it one of the best-selling singles ever released.
Unfortunately, “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” was somewhat controversial because a lot of South Africans felt that it would have been better to choose a South African artist for the role.
9. Try Everything
“Try Everything” was sung for the Disney movie Zootopia. Content-wise, it is an upbeat pop song that expresses a determination to persevere in spite of the possibility of failure. Nonetheless, it is no exaggeration to say that “Try Everything” is one of the better songs sung for an animated movie in the last decade.
8. She Wolf
The title track of Shakira’s eighth studio album, “She Wolf” is an electro-pop song that has sometimes been compared with 1970s disco. A lot of people will remember it because of Shakira’s howling in the song, which isn’t always well-regarded but is nonetheless memorable.
For that matter, considering that “She Wolf” went either platinum or even double-platinum in a number of countries, it seems safe to say that a lot of people found it both very strange and very interesting for various reasons.
7. Hips Don’t Lie
“Hips Don’t Lie” was released with Shakira’s seventh album Oral Fixation, Vol. 2., which was her second English language studio album. Said song was very successful in the United States, so much so that it remains her sole number one single in said country.
It is interesting to note that “Hips Don’t Lie” was a collaboration with Wyclef Jean, a Haitian rapper who found success in the United States but retains a very strong connection with his homeland.
6. Chantaje
“Chantaje” features vocals from not just Shakira but also her fellow Colombian singer Maluma. This makes sense because the song has both a male protagonist and a female protagonist, one of which is unsure about his relationship with his lover while the other is ambiguous about the matter. The result of their collaboration is quite good, as shown by how it topped the charts in five countries.
5. La Tortura
Speaking of which, “La Tortura” is another example of a song featuring a dialogue between a pair of protagonists, whose parts are sung by Shakira and the Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz respectively.
The titular torture is one of emotion felt by the woman whose lover cheated on her, abandoned her for someone else, and has now returned begging for forgiveness while retaining the notion that it is somehow natural for men to cheat. Unsurprisingly, the woman gets the upper hand by the end of the song, making it very clear that she won’t cry over him.
On the whole, “La Tortura” was very influential. For example, it was one of the first Spanish songs to be aired on MTV. Similarly, it was one of the factors that spurred on the creation of an international fan-base for reggaeton music.
4. Clandestino
“Clandestino” is another collaboration between Shakira and Maluma. Supposedly, it was meant to be on Shakira’s twelfth studio album but for whatever reason, it winded up being cut from it. Regardless, “Clandestino” has more than managed to prove itself, seeing as how it managed to top the charts in seven countries.
3. Perro Fiel
“Perro Fiel” started out as a demo by the American singer Nicky Jam for his fourth studio album. However, he never quite finished it. Instead, Nicky Jam presented it to Shakira, who added further material before including the resulting work on her eleventh studio album El Dorado.
There is a lot of gold body paint in the music video, which is perhaps fitting considering the name of the studio album. After all, El Dorado refers to a Spanish legend about a golden man, then a golden city, then a golden kingdom, and then a golden empire in the Americas.
Something that caused more than one expedition to set out in search of it because of the promise of riches beyond their wildest imagination.
2. Can’t Remember to Forget You
“Can’t Remember to Forget You” is the product of a collaboration between Shakira and Rihanna. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this meant that there was a lot of interest in the song as soon as the news of its existence was revealed. Reaction-wise, its reception was rather mixed.
There were some people who didn’t find it particularly memorable. In contrast, others thought it was catchy while being a clever blend of influences.
1. Whenever, Wherever
“Whenever, Wherever” is one of Shakira’s most recognizable songs. For that matter, it is particularly notable in the English-speaking world because it was the song that enabled her to break into said markets.
As such, it stands to reason that “Whenever, Whatever” is something special, which retains much of its magic even though it has been more than two decades since its initial release. Besides this, it should be mentioned that the Spanish version called “Suerte” was a huge hit as well, as shown by how it topped the charts in her homeland as well as much of Latin America.
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