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Shakira is baring it all. The Colombian musician is readying for the largest tour of her career, one that encompasses the various stages of her life and music. In a new interview, she discussed some of the inspiration behind her latest record, including the story of how her hit song with Bizarrap was made, and how her manager tried to discourage her from discussing her relationship with Gerard Pique so publicly.
The interview was published on Rolling Stone, where Shakira was profiled, discussing her music and her new life in Miami. She also opened up about the titanical hit song “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” which has since become one of her biggest hits ever.
“The suffering I felt was probably the greatest I had ever experienced in my entire life, and it kept me from functioning at times,” she said when discussing that time period in her life, which included her divorce from Pique and the health issues that her father was facing. “It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my chest. And the sensation was so real, almost physical. I physically felt like I had a hole in my chest and that people could see through me.”
When she began to collaborate with Bizarrap, Shakira revealed that she felt a great amount of “relief” when writing and expressing herself so openly. “And then I remember my manager at the time telling me, ‘Please change the lyrics,’” she said. “Of course, I was trying to calculate the possible contingencies and the risks, but I said, ‘I’m an artist. I am a woman. And I’m a wounded she-wolf. And no one should tell me how to lick my wounds.’”
Shakira’s gamble paid off
Shakira ignored the advice handed out by her team and decided to release her song unfiltered. It was a gamble that paid off, with the song being praised by its sincerity and winning over 63 million views on YouTube 24 hours after its release.
“I started to see that my fans were there for me,” continued Shakira. “We’re in a society that’s used to seeing women confront pain in a submissive way, and I think that’s changed.”