Maps of Music

She Wolf (2009)

Where the lyrics of She Wolf take you, and where it was really made.

She Wolf was partly recorded at a Bahamas studio that Bob Marley, The Cure and AC/DC had used before Shakira.

Key places

Compass Point Studios, Nassau (2009)

Recording site Compass Point Studios — Shakira recorded She Wolf partly at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, a studio earlier used by Bob Marley, The Cure and AC/DC. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• She Wolf (Spanish: Loba): eighth studio album and third English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira
• Released 9 October 2009 by Epic Records
• Executive producers Shakira and Amanda Ghost
• Collaborators include The Neptunes, John Hill, Wyclef Jean, Lukas Burton, Future Cut, Jerry Duplessis and Timbaland
• Shifts from her Latin pop and pop rock styles to electropop with folk and world music influences
• Lyrics mostly focus on love and relationships, based on conversations with her female friends

Background

• 2005: international success with Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
• Oral Fixation Tour reportedly grossed more than US$100 million worldwide
• 2008: 10-year deal with touring company Live Nation
• Forbes deemed her the fourth highest earning female musician in history
• Work on the next studio album, She Wolf, began soon after

Recording

• Recorded among other places at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas
• Shakira chose the studio after learning that Bob Marley, The Cure and AC/DC had recorded there
• Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes co-wrote four tracks with Shakira; the two readied four tracks in five days
• Title track co-written with John Hill and Sam Endicott, whom Shakira called personally
• Wyclef Jean appears as featured artist on the track Spy

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia.
• Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer and record producer, known as the "Queen of Latin Music".
• Signed to Sony Music Colombia at age 13; debut album Magia (1991) was not a commercial success.
• Breakthrough with Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998).
• English crossover album Laundry Service (2001) sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
• Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005) and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005) followed, with "Hips Don't Lie" becoming her first Billboard Hot 100 number one.
• Has written or co-written virtually all the music she has recorded.
• Holds four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards.
• Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (2024) topped Billboard Top Latin Albums, making her the first woman with number-one albums across four decades.
• Known for blending Latin, Western and Middle Eastern influences in her music and dance.

Philanthropy

• Founded Fundación Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation) in 1997 to build schools for underprivileged children in Colombia.
• Became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2003.
• Appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic average score 72 from 15 reviews, indicating generally favourable reviews
• AllMusic (Stephen Thomas Erlewine): very positive review
• Entertainment Weekly (Simon Vozick-Levinson): praised the production and music
• Digital Spy (David Balls): praised the eclectic range but noted it downplays Latin-pop roots
• The New York Times (Ben Ratliff): negative review, criticized The Neptunes' productions
• Billboard (Ayala Ben-Yehuda): more adventurous than peers, though execution seemed a little forced

Records

• Number one in Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland
• Top five in Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom
• Billboard 200 debut at number 15 with 89,000 units; 14 weeks on the chart
• Double platinum in Colombia and Mexico; platinum in Brazil, Italy and Spain; gold in France and the United Kingdom
• Over two million copies sold worldwide since release
• 47th best-selling album worldwide in 2009 according to IFPI

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Shakira chose Compass Point Studios after learning that Bob Marley, The Cure and AC/DC had recorded there
• Two months after release, She Wolf had sold 1.5 million copies in Europe and Latin America
• Ghost decided at the last minute to add Give It Up to Me, which delayed the US release from 13 October to 23 November
• In 2010 the album was reissued as Loba in Hispanic countries with additional remixes of the Spanish-language songs
• The Gypsy video, directed by Jaume de Laiguana, stars Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal as Shakira's love interest
• Ghost was fired from Epic Records 20 months after her run as the president of the label

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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