On February 2nd, 1977, Shakira Isabel Mebarak was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, the daughter of a Lebanese immigrant and a Colombian woman. Without knowing it, she became the most hegemonic Latin American artist in the history of modern popular culture, and there is no person in the world who does not know her.
This week she turned 46 years old, and is crowned as the female star with the greatest longevity and commercial projection in the phonographic industry of the 21st century. And among popular culture, there is a tradition or trend among pop lovers, who worship only Anglo-Saxon artists.
This is how they constantly try to undermine the validity and impact that Shakira has had as a pop star worldwide. And if you look at the statistics, the Colombian is undoubtedly the most successful artist globally in relation to the longevity of her career.
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Shakira is the only female pop artist, along with Madonna, who can boast of having achieved success with at least one song throughout all stages of their careers. Both are the only ones to overcome the sentence of ageism prevailing in the superficial music industry.
In order not to create divided opinions, the artistic career of the greatest pop stars of recent times will be broken down, starting clearly with Madonna, the reference par excellence of pop and its temporary extension, but although she is still present, it is no secret that she is facing a commercial decline.
P!NK, seemed to be the female artist who would take the title, but the “decline” came to her from 2019, staggering her acclaimed career. As for Celine Dion, her massive success is supported by the same loyal fans of all life, and that is why she is only present in the market of physical sales, since in streaming she does not appear.
Currently, it could be said that Taylor Swift has had a similar musical career, but without achieving the impact that Shakira has achieved globally, a field in which Taylor Swift cannot match, mainly because her impact and figures are mostly relegated to the United States.
But Shakira, managed to overcome all that, after her third studio album, has harvested a whole collection of anthems in America and Europe, and, in addition, all her artistic periods allow to extract, at least, one belonging to each era she has had in her career.
For 32 years of her career, the Colombian singer has held the position of being the most successful musical reference in the history of Latin popular culture, and her songs have not resisted the changes in the industry. Regardless of radio ageism, nor the volatility of streaming.
Their brand is unmistakable, many Anglo-Saxon artists have catalogs of songs behind them that are not always associated with them. On the other hand, the public easily recognizes “Hips Don’t Lie”, “Waka Waka”, “Whenever, Wherever”, “La tortura” or “Loba”.
Shakira defies the ethnocentrism with which the domination of the sales charts is conceived. Her stardom is not local, focusing only on the United States or the United Kingdom, Shakira is a true inter-regional star, who does not see her influence reduced to Anglo-Saxon culture.
Shakira is now the ultimate essential contributor to the dynamization of Latin America‘s presence in mainstream culture, crossing generations. It is a true cultural milestone that she is among the highest grossing female artists in the history of the modern music industry.
To downplay Shakira’s commercial relevance, her impact or the dimensions of her success, while she prevails as the foreigner who managed to beat the Anglo-Saxon musical bloc, incurs in an ethnocentric, racist, omissive and deeply ignorant reading of the Latin American legacy in pop culture.
