The 25-year-old appeared on MTV’s popular “TRL.” She stopped by CNN Headline News in Atlanta for an interview (and to do her signature belly-dance). She made appearances on “Today” and “The Tonight Show.” And of course, she filmed music videos–ensuring that 2002 would be the year the Colombian singer finally crossed over.
It wasn’t until late in the year that she actually started performing again for live audiences–something she’d seriously missed, having been on the road since she was 17. “I hadn’t been doing anything else other than photo sessions and videos and interviews, everything that has to do with the cosmetic part,” she says. Now two months into her first world tour, Shakira found a bit of time for NEWSWEEK’S Vanessa Juarez to chat (via her bodyguard’s cell phone) about how things have changed since her American crossover. But first, some technical difficulties….
NEWSWEEK: Hi, how are you?
Shakira: Hello, do you hear me well?
Yes, I hear you fine. Do you hear me OK?
Oh, I know why I couldn’t hear you. OK [laughs], I had the phone, I was holding the phone the other way around. Where are you calling me from?
I’m calling from New York. So you’re pretty busy today?
Just a bit busy. I’m on my way to do a TV show.
You’re in Rome?
In Rome, yeah. And then tomorrow we travel to London for the concert. [Laughs.] I’m sorry about all this. If you would have seen me you would have laughed. I was holding the phone the other way around. I was speaking through the battery.
Don’t worry about it. So, how has your tour been?
I’m performing in front of 10,000, 15,000 people every night. That’s just magic, you know.
This is your first tour.
I’ve toured in the past in Latin America twice, but this is my first world tour. And this is the first time I ever include English songs in my repertoire.
Have you gotten any backlash from the Latin community?
Like you mean … backlash means what?
Backlash, like harsh criticisms.
Absolutely not. People tend to think they’re going to feel abandoned and that kind of stuff. But the relationship I have with my Latin fans is so solid, and it has lasted so many years. They know exactly my ideals, my principles, the principles that guide my life.
Why did you call this series of concerts “The Tour of the Mongoose”?
Well, I think we’re going through very difficult times. Every time I turn the TV on, I don’t see anything else than conversations about war, images of war, war in Colombia, war in the Middle East. I think that little word has invaded our lives. I think this is a moment, we have to awaken, you know, before it’s too late. To me the existence of the mongoose is like the existence of hope, you know. There is on earth an animal that can defeat the snake with a bite. I think that maybe it’s not impossible that someday we can bite the neck of hatred and prejudices and resentment. This symbol was very inspirational for the whole concept of the show.
Where do you call home in between touring?
I go wherever the night falls [laughs]. I feel that home for me is wherever I’m surrounded by my family, my loved ones, because I’ve lived this nomad life since I was 17 years old. I don’t really have an attachment to a physical space.
I noticed on your tour schedule you’re doing a private party in Guadalajara, Mexico. How much would it be to get you to perform at my next birthday party?
[Laughs.] Well, the problem is that it’s a pretty expensive production, so if you want to cover it I’ll be more than happy. But you know, this private party is for 18,000 people.
Well, I sure as heck don’t have 18,000 friends.
[Laughs.] No I don’t think I have 18,000 friends either. I probably can only count them with my two hands. That’s it.
Which songs are you most proud of, artistically?
Usually the B-side songs are what make me more proud of myself as a musician and songwriter. Usually the songs that never get played on the radio.
You like the stuff that’s more raw.
I like stuff that is more raw, yeah. To me there’s something in the raw type of songs and always, the lyrics are more intricate. And usually they’re on the B-side of the album.
I read that Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” had a big affect on you, musically.
A journalist asked me if there was a song that I remembered that created some kind of impact. I was probably 9 years old or 10, I don’t remember exactly when I first heard that song, and I just used to feel so many weird things inside me. That guitar riff at the beginning of the song, I didn’t even know what it was, and I just felt something so special.
I have a remix of that song that’s 15 minutes long.
No, no. Really? I want it.
Do you have any idea if your next album will be English or Spanish, or both?
I’m starting to write a few things already on the road. I would love to do two albums. I don’t know if it’s possible but I’d like to do one in Spanish, one in English.
You’re sometimes compared to the Britneys and Christinas of this industry, but you’re more multifaceted. You actually produce and write your own stuff.
I feel that [comparisons] are kind of natural to a certain extent. They exist because my relationship with the Anglo audience is very new and they don’t know everything about me. They just see me shaking my hips in a video, and that’s probably everything they think I can do, everything that I’m about. But that changes with time.
You were talking about the whole cosmetic thing. Do you feel like you’ve been Americanized?
I do feel that there is a difference between–especially the visual part–what I used to do in Latin America and what I do now. This album [“Laundry Service”] came out and all of a sudden I saw myself surrounded by 20 stylists, makeup artists, hairdressers, directors, assistant to the director, assistant to the assistant to the director. I try to be in control because … some of your essence kind of gets a little hurt. That’s why it’s so important for me to do these live shows. On the stage, there’s no tricks, there’s no way to fool anybody, so you either you like what you see or you hate it, that’s it. It’s just the bare truth.
