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Barranquilla experienced a historic night, with the return of Shakira to her homeland after almost 20 years of absence on local stages. The global star delivered an unforgettable performance at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, where her fans gathered to enjoy a show filled with emotion, culture and a very special tribute to the Barranquilla Carnival.
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From early in the day, thousands of people lined up under the sweltering heat of Barranquilla to secure their entry to this unforgettable event, part of Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour. The production of the show was up to her international status, featuring striking visual effects, giant screens and a dance troupe that accompanied each performance.
The artist began her performance with a triumphant entrance, dressed in a dazzling silver outfit, while the attendees enthusiastically chanted her name. Visibly moved, Shakira expressed her joy at returning home: “I am very happy to be here, at home. There is nothing like singing among my own people.”
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Promoted by Live Nation, Shakira’s stadium tour began on Feb. 11 in Río de Janeiro and continued in São Paulo, Brazil (Feb. 13) and Lima, Peru. After a second concert in her native Barranquilla, Colombia on Friday (Feb. 21), she will make stops in Santiago, Chile (March 2-3); Buenos Aires, Argentina (March 7-8), and several cities in Mexico.
Below are the most memorable moments from Thursday’s concert.
Concert setlist and fan club
The show’s setlist included the biggest hits from each stage of her more than three-decade-long career, such as “Estoy Aquí,” which reached No. 2, and “Suerte” and “Te Felicito,” both which topped Billboard‘s Latin Airplay chart. Additionally, the song that earned her the only No. 1 so far on the coveted all-genre Hot 100, “Hips Don’t Lie,” was also included.
Shakira took a journey through the years to reminisce about her beginnings in the ’90s, when her career was just starting to take off, and she concluded her memories with an emotional performance of “Pies Descalzos” which moved everyone in attendance.
One of the most special moments of the night came with the ballad “Antología.” Shakira dedicated the song to her mother, Nydia Ripoll, who was present at the concert along with the artist’s children, Milan and Sasha. At that moment, the stadium stands lit up with the colors of the Colombian flag, an initiative led by Shakira’s fan club in the city as a deep show of affection.
Tribute to the Barranquilla Carnival
Shakira dedicated a portion of the concert to the Carnival of her hometown. The artist surprised the audience by revealing her special guest: Chelito De Castro.
A musician renowned for his work as a pianist for the late Joe Arroyo, the Caribbean icon joined Shakira years ago to perform “Te Olvidé,” which is considered by many as the anthem of the Carnival.
While singing the song, Shakira also played the tambora and wore a vueltiao hat as a sign of pride for her coastal roots. At that moment, she also welcomed onto the stage the current Carnival queen, Tatiana Angulo Fernández, with whom she danced to the rhythm of the traditional garabato dance.
Grand finale
The concert closure was marked by the energy of “Waka Waka,” where thousands of attendees joined in a massive chorus. The song was immediately followed by the hit made with Argentine producer Bizarrap: “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” a song with which many women connected — not only because of the story of heartbreak the artist wanted to tell, but also because of a phrase that could now be considered a national heritage: “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” (“Women no longer cry, women invoice”).
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
For our entire lives we’ve been warned about the dangers of cocaine and how it could lead to a life of addiction and ultimately overdosing. But apparently, the president of Colombia feels otherwise as he likened the dangerous narcotic to that of alcohol aka spirits.
According to Raw Story, Colombian President Gustavo Petro recently declared that cocaine was “no worse than whiskey” during an live broadcast of a government meeting. As shocking as that statement may be to most, we imagine that President Petro probably partakes in nose candy, which prompted him to make such a comparison. Known as the cocaine capital of the world, Colombia is infamous for producing some of the most notorious drug kingpins the world as ever seen, including Pablo “El Padrino” Escobar and Griselda “La Madrina” Blanco.
Still, Petro apparently feels that cocaine is demonized not because of the damage it’s capable of inflicting on it’s users lives (it really can turn people into coke fiends), but because it’s a Latino product. In other words, racism.
Per Raw Story:
During a six-hour ministerial meeting — broadcast live for the first time ever — the leftist president said “cocaine is illegal because it is made in Latin America, not because it is worse than whisky.”
“Scientists have analyzed this. Cocaine is no worse than whisky,” he added, suggesting that the global cocaine industry could be “easily dismantled” if the drug were legalized worldwide.
“If you want peace, you have to dismantle the business (of drug trafficking),” he said. “It could easily be dismantled if they legalize cocaine in the world. It would be sold like wine.”
If they legalized cocaine around the world, Colombia would probably have the best economy known to man. So yeah, we get why he might be advocating for the schedule II level drug.
Still, he did make a valid point when he said that fentanyl was the drug that was “killing Americans and it is not made in Colombia.”
“Fentanyl was created as a pharmacy drug by North American multinationals” and those who consumed it “became addicted,” he added.
While we’re sure many cocaine users will agree with Petro’s sentiment, we’ll go out on a limb here and say you probably still shouldn’t use booger sugar as a recreational drug. Just sayin’.
What do y’all think about President Petro’s feelings about cocaine being as “harmless” as whiskey? Let us know in the comments section below.
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President Donald Trump and Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro clashed over the handling of deportees from America to the South American nation via military planes, with Petro initially denying entry. After President Donald Trump threatened to impose stiff tariffs on Colombia, President Gustavo Petro agreed to the terms that allow immigrants to return who entered the United States illegally.
CNN was one of several outlets covering the brief yet intense exchange between the two leaders that began on Sunday (Jan. 27) when military planes from the United States carrying illegal immigrants attempted to land in Colombia. The outlet said it examined documents that showed the country approved the flights yet President Petro says that wasn’t the case with officials stateside saying that Colombia retracted the authorization. There have been reports on social media that the migrants were placed in shackles.
Petro initially denied access to the planes from landing stating that American officials handling the migrants as criminals and demanding a more humanitarian approach. In response, Trump threatened tariffs on imports against Colombia, which has been a longtime trade partner with America. Trump also said he would levy a travel ban on citizens of the country, revoking visas, and halting visa processing for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
The visa restrictions were particularly alarming as they typically only arise for countries or individuals that have committed human rights abuses. Petro fired back with tariff threats of his own and had choice words for Secretary of State Marco Rubio via social media.
By Sunday evening both sides stated that they reached an agreement, with some framing the actions of Colombia’s agreement with the United States and backing down from Trump. However, it appears that Petro was able to negotiate terms that were more in line with other deportation exchanges done under the Biden administration which ever escalated into a trade dispute.
“We will continue to receive Colombians and Colombian women who return as deportees, guaranteeing them decent conditions as citizens subject to rights,” Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said in a statement. Murillo then shared that deportation flights are clear to go and that they will send the Colombian presidential plane to help with the efforts of bringing citizens back.
The White House issued a statement in connection to the brief standoff.
“Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” read the statement.
On X, formerly Twitter, some are discussing the exchange between President Gustavo Petro and President Donald Trump while expressing disappointment that the country didn’t stand up further for itself. We’ve got those reactions below.
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Photo: Getty
A historic moment occurred in Colombia in late 2024 when Heredero (real name Féizar Orjuela), the carranga music artist, achieved a major hit with his song “Coqueta”. The song not only became a huge viral hit, but also reached the No.1 position for the first time in history, a milestone that also represents a breakthrough for the traditional carranga music genre, which has recently found a new place in the music industry.
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“Coqueta” achieved the feat by becoming the first carranguera song to reach No. 1 in the official Spotify 50 Colombia ranking, displacing reggaetón smashes by hitmakers like Karol G and Feid, who have dominated the Colombian charts for many years.
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It is the first time a carranga song has generated so much attention and popularity through digital platforms and social networks. The musical genre, originating from the Andean region of Colombia, specifically from the departments of Santander and Boyacá, is, in essence, Colombian peasant music. It is composed of string instruments, such as the guitar, the requinto and the requintilla (a little smaller), guacharaca and/or charasca — which are also sounds that come from the roots of the lands of Colombia and are scraping idiophones or instruments that generate sound by themselves, when hit, shaken, or rubbed.
Heredero, currently one of its most outstanding representatives, describes it as “the country of the United States,” nourished by peasant songs and poems and has transitioned its structure by entering other cities over time.
“It is totally the sum of efforts, dedication, love for rural musical culture, years, generations,” Heredero tells Billboard Español.
Now that peasant music is reaching Colombia, the world is entering thanks to “Coqueta.”
With more than 1.9 Million videos created on TikTok, including videos by J Balvin and Valentina Ferrer, Jay Wheeler, and Zhamira Zambrano, and more than 55,00 reels on Instagram, her song “Coqueta” has connected with different types of audiences — which Heredero attributes to fans’ need to consume music that is based on what is simple and honest.
“Maybe at the time it was thought, and it worked, [that] you have to have baby skin, you have to project, I don’t know what… and [labels and artists] did not spend so much time on the important product, which is the songs,” Heredero tells Billboard Español. “Now we are consuming real things. Both young people, the children, the adults, and older people are eager for it. I believe that caranga music, or at least what I try to do, is for it to be that. Show me as a person as [they are].
“When someone asks me for a photo, I tell them: ‘Please don’t retouch it, don’t put a filter on it, let me look as natural as possible,’” he adds. “That is where people are connecting to; with being, with nature. A fake smile is fake — no matter how nice you pretend it is, it won’t connect. But a look, a real smile, is something else.”
Originally from Macaravita, Santander, Heredero — son of a poet mother and Carranguero musician father — carries in his veins the culture of his music and the lyrics that accompany it. “I try to honor myself the promise that I made to myself — and that I continue to nourish all the time — that the carranga grows and is known. What is happening right now is showing that it is possible, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he says.
From his childhood, Heredero had the best teacher at home: “There was no electric light on my sidewalk at that time, and my mother, a teacher by profession, went to a room with a wax or paraffin candle to write and write, and well, I was going to accompany her,” he remembers. “She used to write many things, such as poems and stories, and she made dramatizations for her students. And I accompanied her, but without intending to, learning because she was doing it. When I started doing my little things, I talked about the seven years I was doing some verses, and he corrected me: ‘Don’t repeat that word because you already said it… but say it this way.’ On the other hand, my father was making music in the town in the urban center of our municipality. While [he was doing that] I was sitting next to the musicians, watching them how they did and learning.”
Although Heredero was well known in the carranga scene, “Coqueta” was the song that brought him to fame. The single, from his third album (distributed by ONErpm), shows the slightly more romantic part of the project and the carranga.
The remix with Jessi Uribe occurred when their teams approached each other. Uribe became interested in the song; as Heredero tells us, he also wanted the remix to have the same feel as the original arrangement.
“When we started, he said: ‘I want it to continue tasting like Carranga; I don’t want us to make a ranchera.’ He comes from popular music and ended up singing carranga; I always say: ‘Well, what a tremendous ‘shampoo’ [A popular ‘saying’ when you have gotten the best or the top] I used on myself was to sing carranguera music with the top artist in música popular.’
Heredero says he’s grateful for Uribe’s new spin, “because it was really successful for carranguera music. Immediately the next day, we were trending in Chile, Central America, the United States, and Spain. We are a bridge, and that would possibly have taken me much longer to achieve [without the remix],” he adds.
What dreams does he have from here? “A Grammy for the carranga!” These things can happen, but if you work at them fully… I will be extremely happy as a farmer and as a carranguero to grab that gramophone and raise it in honor of my land and my roots.”
In his first-ever stadium headlining show in his hometown, the Colombian superstar delivers a show filled with star-studded cameos, deep cuts and relentless energy.
This summer, singer-songwriter Yeison Jimenez achieved his lifelong dream of selling out the coveted Movistar Arena in Bogotá, Colombia — not once, but three times, with more than 40,000 collective fans attending the shows. The feat was not only historic for Jimenez, but for any música popular (regional Colombian) artist. “No one in the genre has been able to [sell out] a solo arena throughout Colombia,” he says.
Música popular — which fuses ranchera and the string music known as carrilera in Colombia — was born more than five decades ago in the country’s coffee region, which has four departments: Caldas (where Jimenez was born), Quindío, Risaralda and Tolima. Initially known as música de carrilera or música de cantina, its inspiration derived from regional Mexican music and first gained traction in small towns and local bars with the help of genre pioneers including Darío Gómez, Luis Alberto Posada and El Charrito Negro.
As Jimenez tells it, música popular traces back to Gómez in particular. The former notes that when the latter arrived at radio stations with the newborn fusion in the ’70s, they told him he was crazy.
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“This is not like vallenato, which is something authentically ours — we did not invent this,” música popular singer Pipe Bueno says. “We are a subgenre that comes from Mexico but with our essence and our flavor. The fact that we are Colombian gives it a different color.”
Lyrically, a regional Colombian song will often focus on despecho (heartbreak) or rejoicing in good times. Sonically, the arrangements can mirror the instrumentation of mariachi and ranchera music, such as trumpets, violins and the guitarrón (six-string acoustic bass), blended with the accordion, commonly used in vallenato.
As part of the new wave, Bueno and Jimenez — alongside artists including Paola Jara, Luis Alfonso, Jessi Uribe and Arelys Henao — have not only given the genre a modern twist but also propelled it to an international scale. Jimenez first reached Billboard’s Latin Airplay and Regional Mexican Airplay charts with “Tu Amante” in 2021, and he’s now touring nightclubs and theaters across the United States. Bueno, who entered the Latin Digital Song Sales and Latin Rhythm Airplay charts with his 2014 song “La Invitación” (featuring Maluma), has since collaborated with Grupo Firme and inked a deal with Warner Music Latina earlier this year.
“We are an aspirational genre,” Bueno says. “We have been at the top of the streaming charts alongside Peso Pluma. We are filling arenas. It wasn’t like this [when I started my career].”
“When we came into the game, we wanted to make music that would reach other countries and, above all, other generations,” Jimenez adds. “On one hand, there’s a lot of admiration. On the other hand, we are criticized a bit… I don’t pigeonhole myself because we are in another era.”
This story appears in the Sept. 28, 2024, issue of Billboard.
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