Shakira (Laundry Service) 2001

Shakira (Laundry Service) 2001

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English, Portuguese and Italian. She also sings in Classical Arabic.

About Album: Laundry Service (Servicio De Lavandería in Spanish-speaking territories) is the debut English breakthrough studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 13, 2001 by Epic Records. All the songs on the album except Eyes Like Yours (which is a translation of Shakira’s trademark Ojos Así) are original and were fully or partly composed by Shakira. It also contains four songs in Spanish. Shakira recorded this album during almost two years in Uruguay and the Bahamas.

Musically the album is a fusion of many different genres and cultures. Every song, except of another language versions, is composed in completely different style. The title "Laundry Service" means when people wash all the mud from their body, the same thing can be said for the soul, the songs are like a soap for washing off negative energy, calling the album as the soul cleaner. Heavily influenced by South American culture, britpop and American rock and roll, the album gained generally positive reviews despite of some negative calls from Latin fans for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of contemporary American pop music. This album won dozens of awards worldwide, including the Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Short Form Music Video.

Album Details:

Genre: Pop rock, Latin, Alternative, Britpop, Worldbeat

Producer: Shakira, Emilio Estefan Jr. (Executive)

Language: English

Release date and status: November 13, 2001