Come on — you always knew she was a little crazy. That's probably why you love her so much. Today, it's really time to get loca with Shakira — because tabloid! is giving you the chance to be the among the first to see her brand new video for the single Loca on gulfnews.com.
The follow up to her massive summer hit, Waka Waka, which is officially the biggest selling World Cup song ever, with two million sold, Loca premieres today globally — so don't miss it. It's the first single from her upcoming Spanish-English album Sale El Sol, which releases on October 18.
The video, which was filmed in Barcelona, Spain, sees the 33-year-old Colombian megastar — who has roots in the Middle East and has performed in the UAE twice — roller skating through the city and cooling off by jumping into the ocean. "Barcelona is one of my favourite cities and has become a second home to me," said Shakira. "The video is just about having fun and being real in this amazing place with real people."
Merengue-inspired
It's all set against a Caribbean beat — the song is a cover of the track Loca Con Su Tiguere by Dominican rapper El Cato, so that merengue-inspired vibe is no surprise. El Cato appears on the Spanish-language version of the track.
The English version features British rapper Dizzee Rascal not only on vocals, but as an important element of the video. Shakira wanted a video to reflect the "crazy" lyrics of the song, and decided to rope in Rascal to help her capture a fun day in Spain in YouTube-style shots.
Carrying a hand-held camera, Rascal occasionally points the lens at himself, so it's clear who is recording. The rapper, real name Dylan Kwabena Mills, reportedly cancelled holiday plans to join Shakira on the project.
But that's not the craziest thing about the track. Shakira — despite her racy videos and saucy belly-dance-inspired dance routines — is one of the best-behaved music stars around, and spends a good portion of her time raising money and awareness for children's charities. But even the music world's darling got her wrists slapped: a scene in which she dances in a public fountain upset locals in the Spanish city because the crew had apparently not obtained permission for the shot.
So what can we expect from Sale El Sol when it's released in October? "The best record of my career," says Shakira.
"I'm very excited about the new album, because it reminds me of different eras and stages of my career. It's like a synthesis of all these 20 years," she told MTV, adding that it encompasses "a strong rock side" in addition to "romantic" and Latino songs. Collaborators on the album include Freshlyground, Grammy-Award winners Calle 13 and Pitbull, while Shakira herself takes on a cover of Islands, a track by Mercury Prize winners The xx.
"It's been quite interesting to make this album, I've been reconnecting to myself," she said.
We're pretty interested to reconnect with her too.
The word from Dizzee
He may be the last person you'd expect to record with the Colombian hip-shaker, but UK grime rapper Dizzee Rascal says he loved the "merengue tip" of Loca. "It's me doing something different man," he told the BBC. He said: "Nice girl to work with — it was easy. It was one of those ones off the cuff, ‘Oh do you want to work with Shakira, she's in town?... Yeah!'"On the track, Rascal sings: "That girl is a nutter / hot though, heat up when I touch her /... I'm loving it / she's got a mean old bumper, you should see what she does with it."
