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Yup... that's our MLE with my Shakira ;-)
Click on the picture to listen to them singing together :-)
Yup... that's Steven Tyler with my Shakira ;-)
Click on the picture to listen to her singing "Dude Looks Like A Lady" at the MTV Icons (tribute to Aerosmith - 2002), and yes... that's her on the harmonica... in case you were wondering... ;-)
Yup... that's Mary J Blige with my Shakira ;-)
Click on the picture to listen to them singing "Love is a Battlefield" at the VH1 Divas Las Vegas 2002
Yup... that's the great Gloria Estefan with my Shakira ;-)
OK, I don't have any music to go with this one, but I thought it was cute :-)
Click on this picture to hear a demo of LAUNDRY SERVICE that I put together
OK, so you wanna know a little more about this incredible girl, right?
Read on... :-)
Bio From Shakira's Official Website (http://www.shakira.com)
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."
Other sites to check out:
http://www.shakiramusic.com
http://www.shakira.net
http://www.absolutely.net/shakira
http://www.askmen.com/women/singer/47_shakira.html
http://www.ciudadfutura.com/shakira
http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/shakira/artist.jhtml
http://www.shakira-online.net
http://www.geocities.com/shakirafansite
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/6374/shakira.htm
http://www.efanguide.com/~shakira
http://www.shakira.hp10.com.br
http://www.2tup.com/s3/
http://www.shakiraoctavodia.com/home3.htm
http://www.shakiraheaven.com/biography.htm
http://www.donde-esta-shakira.com
http://www.ukbritney.tv/shakira/
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