espanol

Shakira began 2023 with a heartfelt message of hope after a difficult year due to her separation from Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, the father of her children.
“Even if our wounds are still open in this new year, time has a surgeon’s hands. Even if someone’s betrayed us, we must continue to trust others,” wrote the Colombian singer on Sunday (Jan. 1). “When faced with contempt, continue to know your worth. Because there are more good people than indecent ones. More people with empathy than indifference.”

She continued: “The ones who leave are fewer than the many who stay by our side. Our tears are not in vain, they water the soil our future will spring from and make us more human, so that even while suffering heartache we can continue to love.”

Shakira’s message, which she published both in Spanish and English and does not name her ex, comes months after her very public split from Pique after a 12-year relationship. The singer has spoken openly about the breakup since it was confirmed in June, and has posted material alluding to her pain.

In October, the Colombian superstar released the heartbreak song “Monotonía” alongside Ozuna, in which she lyrically displays her sadness against a gripping bachata backdrop. “Suddenly you were no longer the same/ You left me because of your narcissism/ You forgot what we once were,” she sings in Spanish.

Although bachata has been embraced in recent times by non-Dominican artists such as Rosalía, The Weeknd, C. Tangana and Nathy Peluso, Shakira’s choice of genre is likely not a coincidence. Bachata was known as “amargue” (meaning “bitter” or, roughly, “lovesick”) when it was created about a century ago because of its lovelorn lyrics, so it seems fitting for the emotion at hand.

In the music video, Shakira looks distraught as her ex shoots her straight in the chest in a supermarket, where her heart is ejected from her body, leaving a large hole.

A month before releasing “Monotonía,” Shakira told Elle that the separation from Piqué has been one of the “most difficult” and “darkest” moments of her life. “I’ve remained quiet and just tried to process it all,” she shared. “It’s hard to talk about it, especially because I’m still going through it, and because I’m in the public eye and because our separation is not like a regular separation. And so it’s been tough not only for me, but also for my kids. Incredibly difficult.”

See her new year’s post below:

In a way, “Callaíta” by Bad Bunny and Tainy helped set the tone for Un Verano Sin Ti, even though the song was released on May 31, 2019, three years prior to the Billboard staff’s favorite album of 2022. With its serene intro and seagull squawking from afar, the banger encapsulates the essence of the record’s eternal summer energy — it is the outro track of Benito’s latest groundbreaking LP, after all. 

With the Bunny’s continued momentum of viral milestones, his number of billion-view music videos on YouTube also keeps growing, and “Callaíta” recently made the cut. 

The visual already feels like a classic, with the Puerto Rican rapper rocking his famous buzzed triangular hairstyle from the late ‘10s. The video follows a woman who loves taking shots at the bar, but she’s low-key otherwise. Then, a group of beach- and partygoers hit the shores where there’s a merry-go-round spinning on the sand, and Benito gets his chance with the quiet gal. 

A few weeks apart from Un Verano Sin Ti dropping, “Callaíta” reached one billion streams on Spotify this year. “Seeing that ‘Callaita’ became what it became is insane. It’s humbling that people still connect with the song after so many years,” Tainy recently told Billboard Español of the song reaching the milestone on Spotify. “You get a sense of those classic songs that you grew up listening to and still hear today, and can’t comprehend how they still connect with people after so many years. I’m happy that we were able to create a song that has stood the test of time.”

The producer continued: “We always had dreams about things we wanted to do, but they had a limit. Because we didn’t think it was possible for people like me — where I come from, who I am, our position in the world — and to see that I’ve been able to exceed that by a billion from what I initially thought could be possible, it just makes you feel like this is all blessings. [I’m] just here to have a responsibility of inspiring more people that could do twice as much as what [I’ve] done. That’s the most special part for me.”

Revisit the song and its video above.