拉丁艺人的代表人物Shakira

　　[歌手简介]

　　After achieving superstardom throughout Latin America, Colombian-born Shakira became Latin pop's biggest female crossover artist since Jennifer Lopez broke down the doors to English-language success. Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music, especially for a female artist; she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material, and in the process gained a reputation as one of Latin music's most ambitiously poetic lyricists. When she released her first English material in late 2001, she became an instant pop sensation, thanks to her quirky poetic sense and a sexy video image built on her hip-shaking belly-dance moves.

　　Shakira Mebarak (full name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) was born February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, into a poor family. Her mother was a native Colombian and her father was of Lebanese descent, and so as a child Shakira soaked up music from both cultures; she also listened heavily to English-language rock & roll, listing her favorite bands in later interviews as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the Police, the Cure, and Nirvana.

　　Shakira wrote her first song at age eight, began entering (and winning) talent competitions at age ten, and started learning the guitar at age 11; one story runs that around this age, she was kicked out of her school choir for singing too forcefully. In 1990, at age 13, Shakira moved to Bogot?in hopes of pursuing a modeling career, but wound up signing a record deal with Sony's Colombian division instead.

　　Her 1991 debut album, Magia (Magic), was comprised of songs she'd written over the past five or six years, including some of her earliest efforts. Although it didn't break internationally, the record started to make a name for her in her home country.

　　Dissatisfied with the pop inclinations of the follow-up, 1993's Peligro (Danger), Shakira changed direction for a time, joining the cast of the Colombian soap opera El Oasis in 1994.

　　When Shakira returned to recording in 1995, she asserted more control over the direction of her music, and worked more rock & roll rhythms -- as well as occasional Arabic tinges -- into her Latin pop material. The first results were Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), which was initially released in 1995; a slow seller at first, the album gradually caught on thanks to the rock-tinged single "Estoy Aqui," which became a hit all over Latin America, as well as Spain.

　　Seeking to build on her success, Shakira signed Emilio Estefan -- Gloria's husband and a highly successful music-biz insider -- as her manager and producer. The move paid off when her follow-up album, 1998's Where Are the Thieves? , became an even bigger worldwide hit than its predecessor. What was more, it cracked the lucrative U.S. market wide open, spending 11 weeks at number one on Billboard's Latin album chart and producing two U.S. number ones (on the Latin chart) with "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Tu."

　　Mainstream pop stardom beckoned. Shakira dyed her long brown hair blonde, romanced Antonio de la Rua (son of the former president of Argentina), and went to work on her first (mostly) English-language album, Laundry Service. The single/video "Whenever, Wherever" was released in advance of the album in late 2001, and made her a star in the English-speaking world almost overnight. Laundry Service entered the American pop charts at number three, and "Whenever, Wherever" climbed into the Top Ten of the singles chart, peaking at number six. The follow-up "Underneath Your Clothes" also hit the Top Ten, halting at number nine; less than a year after its release, Laundry Service had gone triple platinum. Reviews of Laundry Service were divided as to the effectiveness of Shakira's English lyrics, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery.

　　1977年2月2日Shakira出生于哥伦比亚的加勒比海岸地区，一个从事珠宝生意的中产家庭中。她的父亲是个业余作家，与前妻生了九个小孩，Shakira是他与再婚的太太唯一的女。Shakira这个名字在拉丁文中是指“气质优雅的女性”。从小到大，Shakira就是全家人最宠爱的小女儿。受到父亲写作的遗传，Shakira从四岁就开始写诗，这也为她将来的创作打下基础。她自10岁起便开始在各个地区性及全国性的音乐大赛中拔得头筹，未满13岁时，即被Sony唱片公司相中签下合约，而她的首张专辑 Magic，即是将她在8到13 岁之间所创作完成的作品集结而成。而今，Shakira除了多次获得各种音乐奖项的肯定外，更被极具影响力的美国时代杂志选为杂志封面人物，被推举为当今拉丁艺人的代表人物。

　　从1996年起到2000年，Shakira一共推出三张拉丁专辑，都取得了骄人的成绩，其中第二张拉丁专辑还为她赢得了第41届格莱美音乐奖“最佳拉丁／另类艺人”奖项。

　　而在占领拉丁及美国市场后，Shakira用了两年时间苦学英语，终于推出首张英文专辑 Laundry Service，在这张专辑中，Shakira一人挑起词曲创作以及制作大任，尽情施展她的音乐才华。专辑在全球的销售量惊人，并在发行首周就跃上Billboard专辑排行榜的Top3。

　　专辑中首支单曲Whenever, Wherever是一支奔放、野性十足的动感情歌，以安地斯山脉排笛、巴西鼓等传统乐器调味，同样也在Billboard排行榜上取得了非常优异的成绩。

　　而专辑中的第二首抒情单曲Underneath Your Clothes充分表现出她十分柔情的一面，以及其创作方面的才华。

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