What is "shakira"

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (; ; born February 2, 1977) is a Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer and record producer. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school, demonstrating Latin American, Arabic, and rock and roll influences and belly dancing abilities. Shakira released her first studio albums, Magia and Peligro, in the early 1990s, failing to attain commercial success; however, she rose to prominence in Latin America with her major-label debut, Pies Descalzos (1996), and her fourth album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998).

Shakira entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service. Its lead single, " Whenever, Wherever", became the best-selling single of 2002. Her success was solidified with her sixth and seventh albums Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005), the latter of which spawned one of the best-selling songs of the 21st century, " Hips Don't Lie". Shakira's eighth and ninth albums, She Wolf (2009) and Sale el Sol (2010), received critical praise but suffered from limited promotion due to her strained relationship with label Epic Records. Her official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, " Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", became the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time. With over a billion views, it is one of the most-watched music videos on YouTube. Since 2013, Shakira has served as a coach on the American version of The Voice, having appeared in two of its seven seasons— fourth and sixth. Her tenth album, Shakira (2014), is preceded by its lead single, " Can't Remember to Forget You".

Shakira has won many awards, including five MTV Video Music Awards, two Grammy Awards, eight Latin Grammy Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, 28 Billboard Latin Music Awards and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and sold between 70 and 125 million records worldwide (depending on the source), making her one of the best selling Latin artists of all time. She carries out well-known philanthropic activities through charity work most notably through her Pies Descalzos Foundation. In 2014, she was listed as the 58th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Shakira is a fictional character, a sword and sorcery heroine published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Warlord #32 (November 1980) and was created by Mike Grell.

Shakira is an Arabic female given name meaning "thankful". It is the feminine active participle of the verb شَكَرَ, "to be thankful". Its masculine counterpart is Shakir.

Shakira may also refer to:

• Shakira (born 1977), Colombian singer-songwriter
  • Shakira (album) (2014), her self-titled album
• Shakira Caine (born 1947), Guyanese-British actress and fashion model
• Shakira (cheetah), one of the Cheetah stars of BBC's Big Cat Diary
• Shakira (comics), fictional character from the Warlord series

Shakira is the tenth studio album by Colombian singer Shakira, released on 21 March 2014 by RCA Records. It is her first English-language album since her eighth studio album, She Wolf (2009). Shakira revealed in November 2011 that she had begun work on the album, which continued into 2014. The album was initially set to be released in 2012, but was delayed because of Shakira's pregnancy. Since starting the album, Shakira departed Epic Records, signed a new management deal with Roc Nation and subsequently signed to Epic's sister label, RCA Records.

A pop album, Shakira has a diverse musical style that incorporates a range of genres such as reggae and rock, as well as dance and country elements. Its production is characterized by lean, tender verses and muscular, ecstatic choruses, that incorporate swirling, crashing sounds. The album's lyrics explore motherhood, the complexities of romantic relationships, stages of love and the search for personal happiness. Most of the album was written by Shakira, along with Nasri and Adam Messinger, with all the previous predominantly producing the album.

Upon release Shakira was met with positive reviews from music critics, praising its lyrical content, while others stated that Shakira was trying to " Americanize her sound". Commercially the album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 85,000 copies. By doing so, Shakira became the singer's highest-charting album on the chart, although it also achieved her lowest first-week sales figure (for an English-language album). The album campaign started in 2014, with the release of its first single, " Can't Remember to Forget You", followed by the singles " Empire" and " Dare (La La La)".