Shakira

Columbian star Shakira's latest album 'Oral Fixation Vol. 2' was re-released in May 2006 after the addition of the now chart busting "Hips Don't Lie". 'Oral Fixation Vol. 2' was originally released in November 2005 and is her second English album. The first part of this album is entitled 'Fijación Oral Vol. 1' and was released earlier in 2005.

Born to a Colombian mother and an American born Lebanese father, Shakira Isable Mebarak Ripoll has been writing and singing songs since the age of eight. She recorded her debut album 'Magia' (Magic) (1991), when she was fifteen. Although it didn't do too well, this was the beginning and she has a dozen albums to her name to date.

Of course, Shakira's breakthrough came with the release of "Whenever Wherever", where she romanced Antonio de la Rua, the son of former Argentine President), and her first English album 'Laundry Service'. She followed this up with an equally (if not more) popular "Underneath your Clothes" which reached the Top Ten.

"Hips Don't Lie" is Shakira's first number 1 single in the US as is Wyclef Jean's (who is featured on the song). Jean wrote the song though Shakira assisted him in writing and producing it. "Hips Don't Lie" is a global success and has been a chart topper everywhere. Shakira had a number 6 hit with "Whenever Wherever" from 'Laundry Service', but this is the biggest it has ever got for her. In the UK too, this was Shakira's first number 1 hit. However, in most other European countries, "Hips Don't Lie" is just a reaffirmation of Shakira's immense popularity and was at least her second number 1 hit.

She says she decided to call her album 'Oral Fixation' because she has always "lived through her mouth". She believes her mouth has given her the maximum pleasure of the world. She's fixated on chocolate, on words (written and spoken) and these are only a couple of reasons for her calling her album so. The album artwork on 'Oral Fixation Vol.2' shows a child reaching out for an apple in Shakira's hand and this is significant for Shakira as she believes it shows Eve's 'Oral Fixation' with the apple, leading to the Original Sin.

Shakira's quirky poetic lyrics (self-written or co-written) and sexy belly-dancing, hip-shaking image built up through her music videos quickly shot her to fame and made her Latin America's biggest rage since J.Lo. Her unique sound – a combination of rock n' roll rhythms with Arabic ovetones with her Latin pop roots, showcased once more in "Hips Don't Lie", has ensured that Shakira is not just another wannabe singer.

From Discogs:

Colombian pop singer, born on February 2, 1977 to a Colombian mother of Spanish-Italian descent and an American father of Lebanese-Italian descent. Shakira is known for a high IQ and is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese.Writing songs and belly-dancing since childhood, her first album was released when she was a mere 14 years old. Other Spanish-language albums followed, each faring better than its predecessor, but it was not until 2001 that she achieved a world-wide breakthrough with the English-language "Laundry Service" album.

From Lastfm:

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is a Grammy-award winning Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, composer, record producer, music-video director, dancer, choreographer, instrumentalist and philanthropist who has sold over sixty million records worldwide. She has won ten Grammy awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards and has been nominated for a Golden Globe. She has been in the music industry since 1990, releasing her first album the following year.

Read more about Shakira on Last.fm.

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From Wikipedia:

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira (pronounced /ʃəˈkɪərə/, Spanish: [tʃaˈkiɾa] or [ʃaˈkiɾa]), is a Colombian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese.

After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? was a critical success. Since then she has gained many fans in semi-Hispanophone countries, and many non-Spanish-speaking countries, especially the United States. In 2001, and aided by heavy rotation of the music video, "Whenever, Wherever", she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the most successful song in the 21st century to date, "Hips Don't Lie". From October-November 2009 Shakira released her latest album She Wolf worldwide.

She has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer after Gloria Estefan, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide according to BMI. Additionally, she is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, and the UK Singles Chart. Shakira is to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Shakira's latest success story is the superhit "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, titled "Waka Waka (Esto es África)". The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide hit.