What Is Shakira's Linguistic Trajectory?

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An ideal place to begin tracing Shakira’s linguistic trajectory is by unpacking her position in the U.S. music industry as it is most commonly represented—that is, as a crossover artist. Dominant U.S. popular culture defines crossover in explicitly linguistic terms whereby an artist is only capable of crossing into the U.S. music industry when they have successfully produced English music. The Anglo conformity embedded in this idea not only marginalizes Latin American music production to a peripheral position, but also denies the complexities associated with musical production by Latinx artists who seek to cater to listeners in both markets. In addition, the act of crossing over perpetuates a standard south-to-north ideology that racializes …show more content…

Her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), were recorded completely in Spanish and released mainly in Colombia to very little success, putting Shakira’s musical career on the line. It was not until the release of Pies Descalzos (1995) that Shakira exploded onto the Latin American music scene . Suddenly, her name was a staple in households across all of Latin America where her signature vibrato blared from radios and speakers. And not soon after, she captured the attention of the U.S. music industry, though it would take a few years before she became a complete icon in the U.S.-Latinx music …show more content…

She co-wrote nearly every song on the record, creating a personal and strong lyrical signature that remains commonplace in her music to this day. Soon after, she moved to the U.S. to work with the Estefans on her first English album, a move which put her even closer to her dream of global stardom . While this series of events may fit the traditional narrative of a crossover artist in more ways than one, such an explanation is too simplistic. Pies Descalzos was not merely a point which marked the final step before crossing over. For Shakira, Pies Descalzos was the point which marked the start of her crossover into the global, first by way of the U.S. and Europe. Since her success, Shakira has refused to allow the re-release or re-recording of either Magia or Peligro, citing the “youthful immaturity” associated with these works . But more realistically, Magia and Peligro harken back to a time before Shakira’s global conquest, marking a moment in her musical history which simply does not fit into the international narrative that she has

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