• Born in Columbia• Columbian-Lebanese

decent• Started singing when

she was 13 in Columbia• Crossed over to the U.S.

Pop music scene in 2001, at age 24.

Her Cross Over

• Latin-Pop to U.S. Pop Star• Before- Her Brown hair-

people compared her to Alanis Morissette

• Inevitable (1998)• After her cross over: Blonde

hair, people compared her to Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Beyonce

• Whenever, Wherever (2001)

Age 16 in Columbia

Her transformation• She remade herself to cross over from Latin

and South American to U.S. Stardom by dying her hair, singing in English, and adapting to more mainstream U.S. Pop.

• Do you think this has impacted her relationship with her fan base back in Columbia or elsewhere?

What made her famous in the US

• Underneath Your Clothes (2001)

• Her first album in the U.S. was titled Laundry Service because she felt it was a new beginning

• People described her as “The Latin Britney” or “the next Madonna”

Problems with cross-over?

• Rolling Stone-– “Her music is lost in

translation”– “Sounds downright silly”

• Shakira criticized by Latin fans for abandoning her folk and rock roots for American Pop

• Do you agree?

Shakira Doll

•Hyped to be a multi-cultural doll•Looks more like a daughter to the Ken and Barbie family•Tiny waist, white skin complexion, blonde hair, placement of microphone

Before Cross over:

Album Covers

After cross over:

Adapting to the US Pop Culture

• La Tortura (2005)• In the article She says“working since the age of

thirteen, famously resists attempts to label her as “the Latin Britney” or “the next Madonna”

• What makes her different?

• Shakira became known in the US in 2001, Christina Aguilera came out with her Dirrty video in 2002.

• Looking at Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera’s careers, do you think that Shakira felt the need to become more sexualized in her music videos to become more popular?

Beginning of career transformation

transformationBeginning of career

Is she a clone of pop culture or is she unique?

• She Wolf (2009)• The article mentions:• “Her exotic rock star

energy and her exotic sexiness is what makes her different than other pop stars”

• she “reframes conventional representations of Latina “otherness”

• Do you agree?

Her View

• “I’m not pretending to be American. How could I? I am Columbian. Everyone knows and nothing could change that. I would never abandon the Latin community. The Latin fans know me and tolerate me, and forgive my mistakes. That’s the type of relationship I want to build with my Anglo fans now.”

• Do you agree with her statement?