Shakira has never been a stranger to dance music. On early albums like Pies Descalzos and Dónde Están Los Ladrones, house music was often woven into sunny Latin pop and buzzing rock guitars—while reggaetón has remained a significant staple of her catalog since the runaway success of “La Tortura,” in 2005. But for her eighth studio album, She Wolf (2009), the Colombian superstar found fresh inspiration in hedonistic electronic music. Seduced by the bass, she was eager to get lost with her fans on the dance floor. To accomplish her sprawling nightclub fantasy, Shakira enlisted songwriting partners and visionary beatmakers who melded hip-hop, disco, and electro-pop with Middle Eastern strings, samba drums, and more. The throbbing title track was also the album's lead single, conceived alongside The Bravery singer Sam Endicott and featuring a sensual, surrealistic music video complete with crystal-covered caves and asymmetrical mirrored bodysuits. Endicott's post-punk background also influenced “Men In This Town,” where a disappointed Shakira bemoans a dismaying lack of quality suitors over saturated electroclash synths. Shakira also found a kindred spirit in Pharrell Williams, who co-wrote four of the album's songs, including singles “Good Stuff” and “Did It Again,” bringing R&B, ‘90s hip-hop, and The Neptunes' signature percussion to the mix. The hip-hop influence is all over She Wolf; the hammering “Did It Again” got the remix treatment from Kid Cudi, and a notable feature from Lil Wayne on “Give It Up to Me” produced one of the album's biggest stateside hits. Instead of splitting the English and Spanish renditions of each song into separate albums—as Shakira had done on Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2—the She Wolf (Deluxe Version) includes translated tracks, live recordings, and even a Making Of clip. For the Spanish versions of “She Wolf,” “Did It Again,” and “Why Wait,” she enlisted Academy Award-winning Uruguayan singer and composer Jorge Drexler, who helped round out the poetry that has become so integral to the pop star's mythos.
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