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While “Girl Like Me” is all about wanting a girl like Shakira , in her own head the 43-year-old superstar was channeling another powerhouse. Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas treated fans to behind-the-scenes footnotes on making the now-hit song on Friday, January 22 and they did not disappoint. One in particular revealed how the legendary Jane Fonda influenced the star’s portion of the music video.
Scroll to watch the special edition of the video
“I loved the aesthetic of the Jane Fonda videos and the light-heartedness and joy in that kind of movement,” Shakira shared. “I’ve always really liked the shuffle style of dancing and had been wanting to do something with that, and the two worlds fit together perfectly.” Shakira definitely channelled the energy and look of Jane’s iconic workout videos. Her crop top and leotard with suspenders were a modern homage to the 80’s exerciser.
Shakira also said she “really loved working with” the Black Eyed Peas. “Will knows how detail-oriented I am and was so patient and meticulous with me and making sure we had the absolute best sound possible.” She added that the brainstorming process was “a lot of fun,” revealing that the only problem they had was narrowing down their ideas into a four minute video!
The music video, which celebrated passing 200 million views on Saturday, was 12 years in the making. “Shakira and I originally started working on the song in October of 2008,” Will.i.am said in the behind the scenes version of the video (above). “It sat on my hard drive for years… until one magical day in January 2020, I cracked the code with Johnny Goldstein over a video studio session.”