Colombian singer Shakira is often referred to as the “Queen of Latin Music”. She is credited as the pioneer who expanded the global reach of Latin music singers. Since breaking up with ex Gerald Piqué in June 2022, Shakira has become an even stronger artist, releasing back-to-back hits including “Monotonía” and the her history album “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” Shakira has also received several awards this year and has been nominated for several Latin Grammy Awards this year.
It cannot be denied that 2023 became Shakira’s year. Through this collection of stories, we honor Shakira’s current success, where she started, and the impact she continues to have on the Latina community.
Shakira has become incredible. More than 30 years into her music career, the Colombian pop icon is still on top of the world. Although she has gone through challenging times in her life, including a very public breakup with ex Gerard Piqué, Shakira has channeled these difficulties into her biggest hits yet.
“Women don’t cry anymore, women get paid,” she sings in Spanish in “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” With seven nominations at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards, including a historic three nods in the Song of the Year category, the queen of Latin music is not letting her crown slip.
“Her success in the past year is a testament to her longevity, her continued evolution as an artist, and the unwavering commitment of her fans,” said Jesús Triviño Alarcón, senior director of industry relations and global Latin TIDAL, to POPSUGAR.
Shakira’s influence on the globalization of Latin music is undeniable. She conquered Latin America with her rocker album “Pies Descalzos” in 1995 and proved that her talent was not limited to one genre with the retrospective “Dónde Están Los Ladrones?” Shakira then broke through in 2001 with her first English-language single, “Laundry Service.” Instead of relying only on English to make her mark, she brought over her new global audience to appreciate her music and art in Spanish with “Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 ” in 2005.
Fellow Colombian Leila Cobo, Billboard’s chief content officer in Latin-Español, has documented Shakira’s success from the beginning, including in her 2021 book “Decoding ‘Despacito’: An Oral History of Latin Music.”
“I think her huge successes show what Shakira can do when she really focuses on her music and her projects,” Cobo says. it’s that she hasn’t been there for ten years, and her success is a reflection of what can happen when she’s 100 percent committed to music.
Despite being on a roll, including co-headlining the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez, Shakira admitted to Cobo at Billboard’s Latin Music Week last month that her career gained some traction while living in Barcelona. She moved there in 2013 with Piqué to raise their sons, Milan and Sasha. Shakira still had big hits at that time, including “Can’t Remember to Forget You” by Rihanna and “Chantaje” by Maluma. But she revealed that she felt “alone” and “unmotivated” during that time.
“She says she had other priorities: her partner and her children, and she was living in Barcelona, which is not a music center,” Cobo said. “It was difficult for her to leave her children and take on the tough job of being a music star.”
In April 2022, Shakira apparently hinted at something going wrong in her relationship with Piqué in the breakup song “Te Felicito,” which put her back on top of the charts. Unfortunately, that June, accusations of infidelity in the song appeared to be true when Shakira and Piqué announced their separation. She used music as a place to process and heal from heartbreak in the vulnerable bachata ballad “Monotonía” by Ozuna. The emotional track soared to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart.
Shakira’s revival was the year 2023 when she decided to pull 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 tore her ex-husband to shreds and it seemed she was also calling Clara Chia Marti, the woman Piqué used to cheat on her. Thanks to following her son Milan’s advice to record with Bizarrap, Shakira pushed her sound to new places and hit No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“Shakira has been amazing with her approach to her music at this point,” Cobo explains. “A lot of artists talk in forms; she has been very direct in her messages. What is interesting is that these personal situations have been enjoyed by so many people.”
While closing out this epic series of songs, Shakira shared the spotlight with another Latina, Colombian superstar Karol G. The two women teamed up for the collaboration “TQG ,” in which they sang about how life was much better without their exes around (Piqué in the case of Shakira, and Anuel AA in the case of Karol G). Shakira scored the second biggest hit on the Hot 100 this year with Karol G when the song peaked at No. 7. Their combined star power also contributed to a historic moment in the career of Karol G. In March, she became the first woman to appear at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with an all-Spanish chart when “Mañana Será Bonito” reached the top.
“Even when [Shakira] she recorded her parts, I was always on the set because I didn’t want to miss any moment. . . I remembered her entire career. . . And I thought, ‘She’s a legend, and she’s here with me,’” Karol G told POPSUGAR about working with Shakira back in February. Latin Grammy Awards on November 16, she has made history as the first artist to be nominated in the Song of the Year category three times in one night.
She is up for “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” “TQG,” and “Acróstico,” in which her sons sing with her in the music video. Now after moving to Miami with them, Shakira continues to get out the hits, including the corrido “El Jefe” with the Mexican-American group Fuerza Regida and the sultry “Copa Vacía” by Colombian heartthrob Manuel Turizo.
“I’m really excited about her upcoming album,” Cobo says. “It’s going to be big news, and I think it could also top the Billboard 200. I’m also really happy that she’s recorded everything in Spanish this year gone. That’s a big boost for Latin music.”
