Fans who enjoyed watching Shakira and Rihanna caress each other in their “Can’t Remember To Forget You” scenes will be happy to know there will be nothing but women in all of the Colombian singer’s future music videos.
Wearing a simple white t-shirt and metal chain necklaces that hint at the return to her rock roots in her upcoming album, Shakira is the face of Billboard’s upcoming March issue. In the interview with the magazine, the singer revealed why there were no men in her latest music video and more details about her forthcoming album.
The 37-year-old star recently joked about not having permission from boyfriend and soccer star Gerard Piqué to do videos with men, but it seems the topic is not taken lightly at home.
“He’s very territorial, and since he no longer lets me do videos with men, well, I have to do them with women,” Shakira told Billboard with a laugh. “It’s more than implied in our relationship that I can’t do videos like I used to. It’s out of the question – which I like, by the way. I like that he protects his turf and he values me, in a way that the only person that he would ever let graze my thigh would be Rihanna.”
Interesting enough it was a music video that brought Piqué and the Colombian superstar together. The soccer player starred in the video for her hit single “Waka Waka”, which became the anthem for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
By the end of the international soccer tournament, Piqué had won the cup and Shakira’s heart.
“That’s how he won me over,” she told Billboard. “During the World Cup, he’d say, ‘If I score a goal, I’ll dedicate it to you.’ But we weren’t dating then.”
The Colombian star dedicated the song “23” on her upcoming album to Piqué, who was 23-year-old and ten years her junior when they met. The self-titled record will also feature the Spanish-language versions of “Can’t Remember To Forget You” and “Dare,” which means the star will be delivering her fifth bilingual album.
“I feel very Colombian, very Latin, and at the same time I feel I’ve been a sponge and a student of different cultures,” Shakira said. “I’ve traveled the world since I was 18, and I think that’s allowed me to have a global perception.”
And it’s no coincidence that the star has managed to infuse her music with an eclectic mix of influences throughout her career. The songstress’ collaborations with international superstar Rihanna and her use of reggae, folk, rock and dance are all part of a plan to take Shakira to the top on a global scale.
“The design behind this album was to break globally, not just in the Latin markets but to put her on top of the charts everywhere in the world, especially in the U.S.,”Tom Corson, president and COO of RCA Records told Billboard.
Still, Shak understands that it was her Latino fans who helped catapult her into crossover stardom and says she expects to be back in the studio soon to record a Spanish-language album.
“The relationship I have with my Hispanic fans is very deep and intricate,” the singer told Latina magazine recently. “It’s like a 20-year marriage, but with a lot of passion, with a lot of sex. There’s mutual understanding and trust.”
