Shakira wasn’t about to let a “really tough year” get in the way of her latest record-breaking song.
The music star, 46, caught up with Jimmy Fallon The tonight showwhere they discussed her single “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53” and how she got in touch with collaborator Bizarrap for the project.
“The thing about this song is it’s become an anthem for so many women out there. I’ve had a really rough year after my divorce and writing this song has been so important to me,” she said, nodding to her June. 2022 Divorced from longtime friend Gerard Piqué.
“It’s been a healthy way to channel my emotions.”
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Gerard Pique and Shakira
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The song helped Shakira break 14 Guinness World Records and the lyrics seem to allude to the split, its aftermath and Piqué’s, 36, current girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti. In it she sings “You go around saying you’re a champion / And when I needed you / You gave your worst version.”
“After we released this song, I really felt like I didn’t even have fans,” Shakira said of Fallon. “I have a sisterhood of women who’ve been through the same things I’ve been through, who think the way I think, who feel the way I feel, who had to put up with as much shit as I had to.”
“And you know, I wrote the song for myself,” she said. “But I also feel like it was meant to be — and probably for so many women who also needed a forum, and a voice to represent them in so many ways.”
Shakira added during the discussion that she and Piqué’s son Milan, 10, encouraged her to work with Bizarrap.
“He said to me, ‘Mom, you have to work with Bizarrap. You have to do a song with Bizarrap, because you’re going to be number 1,'” Shakira told Fallon. “And he sent a voice memo to my manager, Jaime. He said, ‘You have to put my mom on a number with Bizarrap, because they’re going to be number 1.’ And he was right.”
Bruce Glikas/WireImage Shakira and Gerard Pique
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Shakira, who also shares Sasha, 8, with Piqué, announced her separation from the soccer star last June after they first confirmed their relationship in March 2011. They initially met on the set of her music video for “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, which served as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
“We are sorry to confirm that we are parting ways,” the couple said in a joint statement. “We are asking for privacy at this time for the well-being of our children, who are our top priority. Thank you in advance for your understanding and respect.”
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Since then, Piqué officially took to Instagram with girlfriend Clara Chia Martí, 23, in January, while Shakira has released three songs seemingly addressing the split. Another is a collaboration with fellow Colombian star Karol G titled “TQG” where they sing about watching a former partner move on.
“Seeing you with the new one hurt me / But I’m already set on myself,” Shakira sang in Spanish. “What we lived I forgot / And that’s what offended you / That even life improved me / You are no longer welcome here / I saw your girlfriend threw at me / It doesn’t make me angry, I laugh.”
And in the chorus of her latest worldwide hit with Bizarrap, Shakira declares in the song, “I’m too good for you, and that’s why you’re with someone like you.”
“I wish you luck with my supposed replacement / I don’t even know what happened to you,” she sang. “I’m worth two out of 22 [year old] / You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / You traded a Rolex for a Casio / You go fast, slower / Lots of time in the gym, but your brain needs some work too.”
