Shakira Opens Up About Creating an 'Anthem' for Women

For the last year, Colombian megastar has been dealing with a public split from footballer Gerard Piqué, with whom she shares two young sons. Amidst news that he was cheating on her with current girlfriend Clara Chia Martí, Shakira hit back by allegedly trolling her former mother-in-law with a witch mannequin, and notably dropping several diss tracks against her ex, including her chart-topping collaboration with producer Bizarrap, "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53."

Related | Shakira Fan Allegedly Chased Gerard Piqué and Clara Chia Out of Restaurant

Shakira and Bizarrap appeared on The Tonight Show on Friday for a viral high-energy live performance of the single, which has broken 14 Guinness World Records. "I'm worth two of 22," she raps on the song, nodding to Martí's age. "You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo. You traded a Rolex for a Casio."

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Later speaking to host Jimmy Fallon, the 46-year-old singer opened up about why she wrote the song, and how audiences have received it. "The thing with this song is it has become an anthem for so many women out there," Shakira said. "I've had a very rough year after my separation, and writing this song has been so important to me."

"I have a sisterhood of women who have been through the same things that I have been through, who think the way I think, who feel the way I feel, who had to put up with so much crap the way I had to," she added. "I feel that it was meant to be, and probably for so many women out there that needed a forum and a voice to represent them in so many ways."

Shakira and Piqué first met each other on the set of the music video for "Waka Waka," which was the official song of the FIFA World Cup back in 2010. After roughly a decade together, they announced the split in June 2022. Throughout the media scrutiny, the couple has asked for privacy for their family.

"We have a job to do for these two incredible boys, and I have faith that we will figure out what is best for their future, their own dreams in life, and what is a fair solution for everyone involved," Shakira told ELLEin September 2022. "And I hope and would appreciate if we were given the space to do that privately."

Watch Shakira and Bizarrap's interview on The Tonight Now below.

Photo via Todd Owyoung / NBC / Getty Images