It's time to take a look at a rising pop star… one who has been ready to rise for a long time.
Two years ago, we wrote the following: "22-year-old Shakira Mebarak has been a pop star in Latin America for years… Judging from our search logs she's now heating up in the US -- plus she has an English-language album due out this fall."
Well, that English-language album didn't quite come out two years ago. Instead it is coming out this year. And that has Shakira searches once again making a big move.
The 24 year-old Shakira was born in Columbia, the daughter of a Colombian mother and a Lebanese father. She was winning talent contests from the age of 10 and released her debut album, Magia, in 1991 when she was just 14. Her 1996 album Pies Descalzos made it to #1 in eight different countries, the 1998 release ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? is regarded one of the essential Latin albums of the last decade.
Now, two years after it was first rumored, Shakira is finally making her big Ricky Martin-like move into the English-speaking market. Her first English album, Laundry Service, hits stores November 13. Her new single "Whenever, Whereever" is an MTV Buzzworthy video. It features a lot of horses, so you can be excused if you confuse it with a Budweiser commercial.
Shakira's popularity has been gradually growing since August, then took a big jump two weeks ago, with search traffic jumping by about 50 percent. Last week, for example, Shakira got more searches than either Mariah Carey or Christina Aguilera.
Like our current pop queen, Britney Spears, Shakira has an endorsement deal with Pepsi (in Spanish, of course). One wonders if her commercial ends with a crusty Augusto Pinochet leering and telling his dog, "down, boy."
Shakira has dyed her hair blonde in preparation for taking over the U.S. market. Unlike our current blonde teen queens, however, Shakira writes all her own songs. Her sound also features much more rock influence than the American pop divas, plus Latin rhythms and some Arabic flourishes from her Lebanese ancestry.
Because of her more guitar-influenced sound, Shakira is more often compared to Alanis Morissette than she is to Britney. But while Morissette is famous for being angrily introspective, Shakira’s lyrics tend to be poetic and romantic. Plus she wears a lot fewer clothes than Alanis, and she wears them wetter.
(Yes, I know that Alanis did a video where she was completely naked. Let's forget that ever happened.)
Shakira has a ton of Latin American fans. The English speaking fans are next.
