Aside from her world-famous hips, Shakira is well known for being a cross-genre artist, moving fluidly between them like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Few other musicians can successfully take an electric guitar, reggae rhythm, Indian drums, mix them all together and make a smash hit. Now, she’s set her lycanthropic eyes on conquering the pop world.
After being released all across Europe and Latin America, Shakira’s latest album, She Wolf, finally reached the States on Nov. 23, and it was well worth the wait.
The title track for the forthcoming album has been prowling dance floors and airwaves alike for the past month. The song, She Wolf, serves as a very good preview for what the album has in-store. It’s up-beat, bouncy, and appropriately awkward at times. For instance, you might find yourself in the middle of dancing and mimicking as best you can Shakira’s moves, then stop mid-song to think about what she meant when she sang, “I’m starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office.”
For true fans, who actually own a copy of Los Ladrones, the music video for She Wolf is also a bit awkward, as it is the most provocative Shakira has starred in. In years past (if anyone has noticed), Shakira adamantly refused to show her legs, though prominently baring her midriff. Now she’s in a flesh-tone leotard, writhing in a gold cage or dancing in a suggestively pink tunnel. I guess that’s what pop music does to you.
Elsewhere, the album feels completely natural and unaugmented. A predominant force within the album is dancehall. Long Time and Good Stuff are definite favorites and deliver on their titles’ promises, (despite Long Time clocking in at under three minutes, its mellow groove makes it feel like a good four). But the gem of the dancehall-infused tracks is Did It Again, which quickens the pace with drum line precision.
However, She Wolf is not just about feel-good, dance-hard tracks. It also provokes the hard-hitting question: where are all the men in L.A.? Men in This Town is almost an ode to Los Angeles (“I’ve got to say / California is a place that I respect” she croons). Looking at the lyrics alone, it sounds surprisingly normal coming from Shakira’s mouth and may seem more appropriate for Beyonce or Lady Gaga. “Matt Damon is not meant for me,” she sings. If Damon can’t please Shakira, who can?
To get her new, techno-chic sound, Shakira turned to music producer, Pharrell Williams, who has made a name for himself by producing modern pop standards for such high-caliber artists like Madonna and Gwen Stefani. He’s done this not only by making sweet, danceable music with his clientele, but by making his presence sufferably known on their records. Either he graciously stepped aside, or Shakira unleashed her Alpha Female side, because Williams has failed to mark his territory on She Wolf. There’s no Pharrell falsetto in the background, or rap-sung bridges before the chorus. It’s pure Shakira, and that makes it all the better.
That said, Shakira’s sense of imagery still remains untamed. She still writes lyrics that make her listener stop and think, “Did she really just say what I think she said?” Many of her early critics suggested that her metaphors were lost in translation, but this really is not the case. English or Spanish, she really does write things like, “I used to read survival guides when my world was full of seven-legged cats.”
As for weird lyrics, Gypsy definitely takes the cake, possibly of all Shakira’s songs, ever. The third line of the first verse is “crayons and dolls pass me by.” Not only is the song the only ballad of the brief album, but it is by far the best. Its lyrics are such non-sequiturs that I won’t even try to explain them. You’ll understand when you hear the song.
Shakira is many things, but above all, she is a musician. For fans, it never matters what genre she samples as long as it’s her. Shakira will definitely be memorable in this new era of disco. Since becoming the fourth richest woman in music, she has said in interviews that making money is not her focus, “I still care about the music,” she said. Lucky for her fans, that she does.
