Shakira's new album 'She Wolf' shows off her different dimensions
BY JORDAN LEVIN
For the original, go here.
For a minute, Shakira doesn't know where she is -- at least physically. ``Which airport is this?'' she calls out to her entourage, before coming back to her cellphone with the answer ``JFK.'' But she knows where she's going -- to L.A., to tape Larry King Live and So You Think You Can Dance and even Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place, part of an onslaught of media appearances to promote her new album, She Wolf.
Notice the brusque beginning; no fancy introduction; rather we are immediately placed in an interesting scene. Then the selective use of dialogue ("Which airport? . . ."). Note two uses of a dash (in the form of double hyphens:--). In each case the dash is used for emphasis: "at least physically" and "to L.A." The paragraph concludes on Shakira's new album, She Wolf, placed in the strongest position, so this topic can be developed in the next paragraph.
Note in the next paragraph (below) the strong use of an appositive, summing up the album, She Wolf, by using dashes to define the noun (She Wolf). This is a good use of apposition, here set off not by commas but by dashes ("an electro-pop dance recording," etc.).
Then the writer defines the album in terms of cause/effect, as an attempt to capture "the widest possible" audience. (Note the varied way song titles are printed. Here they don't receive quotes at all. But don't follow this format; follow the literary format (with quotes around the song title) in your textbooks.) The final sentence of the paragraph leads logically to the first sentence of the next: "Blond ambition indeed."
The metaphor that follows is neat, since it fits Shakira's new "she wolf" image: "Shakira's on the prowl," etc. Note how well the contrast between sexy star and humanitarian is developed in this paragraph (Shakira's "two goals"). Then this achieves a lower level of generality in the direct quote from Shakira that follows ("I don't think," etc.).
In the next paragraph the writer coherently links the word "useful" with more dialogue about Shakira's CD, She Wolf, repeating the word "useful." This paragraph then further "defines" the album (that is, tells us, through Shakira's words, what kind of album it is. But the album is "defined" (explained) in terms of cause/effect (she wants people to have fun, etc.).
The next paragraph defines the album by what it is not (contradiction). That is, it lacks the Middle Eastern style, etc. of Shakira's previous albums. A lower level of generality follows in the next paragraph, this time using cause/effect, as Shakira explains why she adopted the new musical styles, such as hip hop and electro-pop.
"The 32-year-old Columbian star" is an example of coherence by replacement (instead of repeating Shakira's name, the writer refers to her by her nationality; this not only insures coherence, however; it not only adds variety; it also advances the definition of who Shakira is (she's 32 and Columbian). This paragraph discusses the singer's sensuality (giving specific examples) but ends with an antithesis ("but"), thus insuring coherence for what follows. The antithesis continues, now as a contrast between men and herself (she's addressing her own needs, not her male fans). This theme is developed as cause/effect: why she's more sensual now than before (not as promotion, but because of her own inner needs).
Next the writer uses this theme (sensuality) to contrast against the other image associated with Shakira: her humanitarin concerns. This in turn is developed by cause/effect (her childhood experience of poverty), which insures focus to the whole, because this theme was stated from the beginning (Shakira's two sides as well as the album, She Wolf).
Notice that there's not much description of person or setting. That's because photographs have replaced in the written word in today's published profiles. But students should aim for a precise (but SELECTIVE) description of the person as well as the setting. The key word is "selective," while never forgetting one's purpose in describing this detail of a person or place rather than another.
And she has no doubt about her direction. She Wolf -- an electro-pop dance recording with production by hip-hop heavyweights The Neptunes and Timbaland, and appearances by star rappers Lil Wayne and Pitbull -- looks like Shakira's most direct play yet for the widest possible global audience. In the video for Give It Up To Me, she pins the camera with her intent gaze and thrusting hips, brushes off Lil Wayne with a wave of her hand and chants ``anything you want you can make it yours.''
Blond ambition indeed. Shakira's on the prowl, and she's got two goals: to expand her musical and pop ambitions, and to uplift the children of Latin America with her two charitable foundations, ALAS and Pies Descalzos. And she sees no contradiction between writhing like a caged cat in heat on the video for She Wolf and meeting with presidents as she pushes the causes of early childhood education in Latin America.
``I don't think that sexy side of me is an alter ego -- I don't think I have an alter ego,'' Shakira says. ``I don't find a dichotomy between the singer, the performer, the dancer and the human being -- they're the same person. All these are facets of my personality, different dimensions in which I express myself. I have so much to say. I have things to say as a woman. I have things to say as a person who grew up in the developing world and seeing so much inequality and injustice. . . . I grew up wanting to do something about it. But I also grew up wanting to perform on stage. I think my career as well as my desire to be useful in society have gone hand in hand.''
And she hopes She Wolf will be useful. ``I wanted to make an album that was dancey and uplifting, that people could have fun and forget about their troubles with,'' Shakira says. ``In the middle of this economic crisis people need to find a space of distractions and fun as well. . . if people can forget about their troubles on the dance floor for eight minutes then I will feel like it's mission accomplished.''
The Middle Eastern and Latin tinges, and the bellydancing exotica that defined much of Shakira's music and image are largely gone from She Wolf, replaced by a pulsing, pop electro-dance sound. While Shakira says you'll still hear musical influences from Colombia, India and the Middle East, the globe-trotter was ready for a change.
``Hip-hop is everywhere, you can run all you want but it will get you,'' she says. ``I don't think any artist or musician can be indifferent to what's going on out there. I was certainly not indifferent to the electro-pop that's current and the great bands and hiphop artists out there. . . . I wanted to explore new routes. It would be very boring to do the same things over and over.''
The 32-year-old Colombian star has never been shy, but she displays a new level of sensuality in She Wolf, whether it's the burlesque-inspired cage dance in the title video, the amorous bed battle on Did It Again, or wishing she had longer legs to wrap around her lover in Long Time. But for all the seductive attitudes, Shakira says her more forthright sexuality is a result of womanly growth, not a desire to play to her male fans.
``This album has been written from a very feminine perspective. I feel more like a woman. . . . I experience that more in my own flesh with its struggles and its advantages,'' she says. ``As far as my image, it's not like I have a group of consultants who tell me what to do or how to dress, it's a natural expression of who I am. . . . If you find my videos more sensual maybe I'm embracing that part of myself more than when I was 18 or 20. There's a certain freedom I experience today that I probably didn't own a few years ago.''
Maturity and success have not only built Shakira's confidence in her body, but in her ability to change the world. In 2006 she launched Fundación America Latina en Acción Solidaria, or ALAS (``wings'' in Spanish), which leverages her own celebrity and that of other Latin stars like her friend Alejandro Sanz to persuade Latin American governments to improve early childhood education, nutrition and healthcare. And Shakira's own foundation, Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), named for her breakout 1995 third album, has built six schools in Colombia for poor children, especially the millions displaced by Colombia's 40-year civil war.
Shakira says the name of her foundation, her focus on children, and her own drive, all stem from a pivotal moment when she was 8 years old and came home to find that her father, who had a jewelry business that went bankrupt, had sold all their belongings to pay debts.
``The furniture was gone, the color TV became a little black-and-white TV, the two cars were gone,'' Shakira says. ``I was very upset with my parents, I couldn't understand why they let this happen. So they took me and they said, we're gonna show you how cruel reality is.''
They showed her a bitter but common sight in Latin America, a park full of homeless children ``who were barefoot, who sniffed glue to deal with the poverty and hunger and sadness of their lives. All these kids my age sniffing glue barefoot in the street. That image never left my mind and I promised myself one day that I would succeed. It became a compulsion in me to succeed, to vindicate my parents' situation, and also to do something about the kids I saw that day.''
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