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Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in Barranquilla, near Colombia's Caribbean coast on February 2nd, 1977. She's the youngest of eight of American born and Lebanese decent William Mebarak and Colombian mother Nidia Ripoll. By age eight Shakira, which is Arabic for "woman full of grace," wrote her first song and won talent shows by playing guitar at 11. Ironically, she was kicked off the school choir because her strong voice projected too loudly. In 1990 at age 13, she signed with Sony Discos. Rock music is where she wanted to be in but Sony execs had other ideas. They wanted to mold her into another of these one hit wonder girl singers who seem to disappear at a blink.
Shakira refused and penned her own compositions of rock music. Her determination paid off and at age 19 she recorded "Pies Descalzos," (Bare Feet) which fused on rock, pop and Latin rhythms. In the meantime, she starred in the Colombian soap opera "El Oasis" between 1994 and 1997.Though she caught the acting bug, music remained Shakira's primary focus. "Pies" had a shaky start but with consecutive singles, "Estoy Aqui," "Donde Estas Mi Corazon," "Antologia" and "Pienso En Ti," the fledgling CD received a lot of airplay in Latin American radio stations. The album sold 3.6 million copies and Shakira was on her way. The album reached success all over South America and maintained its position in the Billboard Latin Top 50, moving quickly to the Top 10, where it remained for several weeks. With her career skyrocketing, her longtime advisor Jairo Martinez went to producer of Latin Music, Emilio Estefan, to further la Colombiana's career.Estefan took the role of manager and producer in Shakira's life. That collaboration resulted in the top-selling creation of Shakira's best selling CD, "Donde Esta Los Ladrones." "Ladrones" released in September 1998 and sold over 3 million copies. Along with record-breaking sales, Shakira graced the cover of the international editions of Time and Cosmopolitan magazines and landed a contract with Pepsi for a Spanish language commercial. The CD also received a Grammy nomination for Latin Rock/Alternative. However, critics questioned whether the exotic beauty was more pop than rock, for the nomination. And her resemblance towards Morrisette didn't help. "Shakira faces no competition, her style seems unique in the Spanish market," says California State University of Northridge Business Administration Accounting major Dalila Corea. Unfortunately, her crossover won't be as successful since her style is a copy of Alanis Morrisette." Nonetheless, anyone who listens to "Ladrones" can tell there is no pop sound at all. Shakira doesn't perform solely dark songs like Courtney Love's "Doll Parts." Shakira is the thinking woman's music with an edge. Listen to her scream at an ex-boyfriend in "Si Te Vas" (If You Go) or how God takes a break in "Octavo Dia" (Eighth Day) and comes back finding the world more of a mess. She sings about love gone wrong, the state of the world today and intense self-analysis. Her unpredictability has you following her music, like a melodic mood swing. She's blends poetry with upbeat tempo while easing towards a tender ballad. It's trip worth taking. |
