Every Year Is The Year Of Shakira: 10 Songs That Prove She’s Always Been A Superstar
Between smash hits, museum exhibits and Latin GRAMMY wins, 2023 proved to be Shakira’s big year. But a cruise through the icon’s discography proves that Shakira has long been a timeless artist with a boundless aesthetic universe.
Was 2023 the year of Shakira?
At 46, she released some of the most intriguing and successful singles of her career: “El Jefe,” with música mexicana sensation Fuerza Regida, “TQG,” with fellow Colombian KAROL G, and an already classic Bizarrap session that may well be the best revenge song of the past 50 years. In November she collected three Latin GRAMMY awards and, in March, the GRAMMY Museum opened an exhibit focusing on her music.
As she readies the release of her twelfth studio album and an accompanying world tour, GRAMMY.com looks back at her discography. These 10 tracks — a mix of anthemic mega-hits and lesser-known gems — prove that while 2023 may have been Shaki’s big year, she’s always been a star.
“Antología” (1995)
Culled from her breakthrough third album Pies Descalzos, the lilting “Antología” remains one of her biggest hits.
Even though she would go on to experiment with every genre under the sun — from merengue and bhangra to reggaetón — Shakira always emphasized solid songwriting as the main ingredient of her craft. A bouncy ballad with an unᴀssuming chord progression, it leaves plenty of space for her pᴀssionate vocalizing to shine through.
“Ojos Así” (1998)
The apocalyptic closing track of Dónde Están Los Ladrones? —basically, a rock album — “Ojos Así” revealed a reality that wasn’t obvious back in the late ‘90s: Shakira was no ordinary pop star.
A tribute to her Lebanese roots with subtle echoes of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” the song fused Arabic folk and rock. She beamed and belly danced on stage while performing the song, captivating a generation of concertgoers.
“La Tortura” (2005)
The Oral Fixation/Fijación Oral album diptych signaled Shakira’s creative growth and global star status. No other song summed up this moment of artistic exuberance like “La Tortura” — a pop smash that transcends the limitations of the genre.
A duet with the gruff voice of Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz, “La Tortura” combines quotable lyrics with a reggaetón backbeat, EDM textures and accordion riffs — the perfect marriage of digital slickness and analog warmth.
“Gypsy” (2009)
Look beyond the hits and you will find a treasure trove of deep cuts in Shakira’s discography. Culled from She Wolf — her eighth LP — “Gypsy” finds its inspiration in Indian bhangra music, with spidery lines of sitar and hypnotic tabla rhythms. Of note: whenever she explores regional genres outside her own culture, Shakira’s respectful approach results in tracks that preserve the style’s roots.
“Loca” (2010)
What did Shakira do when she decided to tackle a merengue? Well, naturally, she flew to the Dominican Republic and spent some time working with authentic merenguero El Cata at his unᴀssuming recording studio.
Included in the life-affirming Sale El Sol LP — one of her best — “Loca” brims with staccato piano lines, fun electro accents and the diva’s sᴀssy delivery.
“Islands” (2010)
Shakira’s ethereal cover of British band the xx’s “Islands” was a pivotal moment for her reputation as a tastemaker. In interviews, she often expressed a deep affinity for mainstream rock’n’roll, naming Led Zeppelin and Queen as some of her favorite artists. But until this moment, no one could have suspected that she also kept up with the best of British indie rock.
Her decision to cover a song by critical darlings the xx demonstrates what a sophisticated listener she is. This dazzling version also showcases her impeccable taste in terms of the track’s arrangement and the specificity of its mood.
“Empire” (2014)
The singer had always shown a proclivity for lush sonics. This epic tour de force — from her self-тιтled 2014 album — took her sumptuous tendencies to a different level.
A cinematic ballad tailor-made for the exquisite vulnerability and command of her voice, “Empire” implies that Shakira’s reputation as a “pop star” is only a fragment of her artistic idenтιтy. She can also sound downright operatic when the mood strikes.
“Me Enamoré” (2017)
The beauty of autobiographical love songs is that the purity of those initial feelings remains frozen in time — regardless of the relationship’s outcome.
A chronicle about meeting her then-partner and the father of her children, soccer star Gerard Piqué, “Me Enamoré” struck a chord for the way it captured the ʙuттerflies-in-the-stomach giddiness of falling head over heels in love. A window into her emotional world, it also shows how witty and funny she can be in the lyrics department.
“Chantaje” (2017)
If “La Tortura” introduced Shakira as one of the first mainstream artists to flirt with reggaetón, this duet with Colombia’s Maluma operates in full progressive urbano mode.
Quick to absorb the influences that evolve around her, she sounds right at home in the jagged bounce of the rhythm track, trading seduction barbs like a seasoned reggaetonera. Shakira seems to love infectious dance music, and the urbano cosmovision is a perfect match for her pop sensibility.
“Bzarp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” (2023)
This infamous viral session by the Argentine producer signified a step forward for both artists. It provided Bizarrap with a larger-than-life arena where he could show off the addictive beats that he had been cooking up for years in his home studio. It also confirmed Shakira as the kind of timeless artist who fits seamlessly in the aesthetic universe of a 24 year-old wunderkind.
The lyrics, quoted gleefully by the entire planet throughout 2023, illustrated the genius of Shakira — and how she managed to turn heartbreak into both material riches and emotional payback.
