¿Dónde están los ladrones?

Shakira

album cover

Texas-born Latin pop star Selena cracked the door in the 1980s. The Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan knocked it open a little wider, through a series of singles ("Conga") that made Afro-Cuban rhythm an accessible exotic for middle America. And then Shakira, from Colombia, came along in 1998 with this album of seductive pan-American pop and rock. Latin crossover has never been the same.

On one level, Shakira's story is about pure ambition. After her 1996 album Pies descalzos brought her to stardom throughout Latin America, she set her sights on conquering North America. She hired Emilio Estefan (Gloria's husband and business Svengali), who put together a team of musicians and producers skilled at repurposing Latin rhythm for global consumption. This was a savvy move, as in the eyes of U.S. labels, the Estefans were proven hit-makers and could do no wrong. Shakira got the red-carpet welcome. Her flamethrowing voice and adventuresome songs did the rest.

Though ¿Dónde están los ladrones? has Spanish lyrics, the music pulls from a rich smorgasbord of world rhythms—there are updates of her homeland's stately cumbia, explorations of percussive funk, and moments that glance at urban New York-style salsa. Shakira's mother is Colombian and her father is from Lebanon, and on one track, the stellar "Ojos asi," she cannily blends elements from those disparate worlds into an unexpectedly entrancing groove. Where many in Latin pop strive for simple and repetitive words, Shakira writes as though in a romantic poet's reverie; her elegant, deeply felt images put the lyrics of many she was compared to—Estefan, Alanis Morissette—to shame. The album's title, Where Are the Thieves?, refers to a setback Shakira suffered in the early stages of the project: Her luggage, including a briefcase that contained lyrics she'd been writing, was stolen at the Bogota airport. Demoralized, she was forced to start essentially from scratch.

Dónde están, which sold over eight million copies worldwide, was the end of an era for Shakira: After this, she tarted herself up a bit, and began singing in English. On one bit of begging-for-a-hit salaciousness, she proudly proclaims that her "hips don't lie." Those hips, and the rest of her, offer more profound truths here.

Genre: World, Columbia
Released: 1998, Columbia
Key Tracks: "Ojos asi," "Ciega, sordomuda," "Si te vas," "No creo"
Catalog Choice: Laundry Service
Next Stop: Selena: Amor prohibido
After That: Bloque: Bloque
Book Page: 691

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Comments:

#1 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 09/24/2008 4:18

To include “Donde Estan Los Ladrones” by Shakira is all well and good, but “Fijacion Oral” is her monumental work to date, her White Album, her River. “La Tortura” from cut one, Vol 1, is the recording of the decade, and possibly the greatest pop rock recording of all time. Shakira has the most beautiful voice on the planet. Her work as an artist, performer, composer and producer was only beginning to show its phenomenal potential in 1998 when “Donde Estan Las Ladrones” was released. She has reached state of the art status with Fijacion Oral, and Mr Moon is depriving himself of aural ecstasy if he does not listen to it before he ... ah, stops listening.
MKD

#2 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 09/24/2008 5:18

errata already:
comment number 1—
“La Tortura”, possibly the greatest recorded song of all time and surely the recording of this decade, not only a phenomenal recording but a great song, is cut number three of Vol 1 of “Fijacion Oral”.
enjoy
MKD

#3 from tom moon - 09/25/2008 12:52

MKD:

Thanks for your note and clarification. I listened to Oral Fixation V. 1 but don’t remember those tracks specifically. I’ll go back and check em out again. I remember thinking generally the production was so souped-up on that record, where Donde feels somewhat looser, making it easier to appreciate her as a lyricist. (She ventures into some deep water!)

#4 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 09/25/2008 1:43

I agree that “Los Ladrones” displays Shakira’s full power as a vocalist in a band—and some band at that. I would never dispute this album’s inclusion on your magnificent list. “Fijacion” to my ear and mind shows the evolution of her genius. Yes, it is techno-pop—that’s a genre of our digital age. It is a souped up sound, and Shakira is a masterful mechanic. As long as I have you interested in listening to it again, begin at the beginning. Cut 2 of Vol 1 (“La Pared”) gives us her emotional vocal power with full studio production—the song is reprised acoustically further down the disc in stripped-down production, but the vocal genius is all there. “No” (cut 7 I think) is perhaps the saddest song I ever heard, and it is extremely difficult to sing, and Shakira lays it down with all the vocal power sadness can bring to the heart. You like disco? “Las de la Intuicion” will pump your heart muscles. “La Tortura”—given the tools of the studio—is layered deep with instruments, percussion and reverb. And Shakira’s voice is again one of the instruments. The mix is incredible. The beauty of it is, she and her band perform it live, and it is the great latin rock song she designed it to be. And if you want to hear her rock out like “Ladrones” go to Vol 2 for “Don’t Bother”—that’s rock and roll. My comments are certainly not to pick an argument, but to include work that makes my life so much more pleasurable than it would have been had I not found it. I hope you find a re-listening of Shakira’s later work as worthwhile, and with that I recommend “Laundry Service”—if “Ladrones” is her Rubber Soul, “Laundry” is her Revolver. Best regards, and thanks for the book. Well done, Mr Moon.

#5 from Benjoman, Denmark - 03/21/2009 1:15

I think she is good singer i have listened her many songs i like one great song for her album great song, is cut number three of Vol 1 of “Fijacion Oral”.
house music dj

#6 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, MN - 03/23/2009 5:28

Bejoman, music is a universal language whatever tongue the song is sung. To my ear, Shakira’s “La Tortura” is the greatest song ever recorded, from an album that is the best recording thus far this decade—album of the Century so far. So I agree with you, sir, and wish you all the best. Just tell all your friends about Shakira, the most beautiful voice on the planet.
Michael, Minneapolis

#7 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, MN - 03/25/2009 5:55

Those who haven’t heard Shakira yet, or who don’t take her seriously, please know this: there is a very good reason she is listed within this reference book. Donde Estan Los Ladrones is a work of rock and roll genius, a Rubber Soul achievement in 1998 which few bands have since glimpsed in their dreams. One simple song from this album convinced me forever that Shakira’s voice is a virtuoso instrument and all her subsequent work is genuine artistry, the song “Sombra de Ti.” As un-souped-up (as Tom Moon might say) as she and her band have ever sounded, it’s a sultry cellar night club torch song rendered as soulfully, mournfully lovestruck as club singer could ever be on a night of bittersweet associations. That song foretold what I have concluded since, that Shakira is the most beautiful voice on the planet. Michael K, Minneapolis

#8 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, MN - 06/05/2009 4:57

Where did FreckleGirl go? FreckleGirl at http://freckle.tenkeimedia.com/ was the best resource available next to Shakira herself for Shakira’s lyrics from Espanol to English. And suddenly the website went dark. Where have you gone, FreckleGirl?

#9 from Michael K Denny, Minneapolis, MN - 06/16/2009 5:34

“Shakira sings. Who knew?” —Wanda Sykes to Jay Leno.
I want to be the one to nominate Shakira to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.
The nomination essay will credit this book (1000 Recordings) and author Tom Moon for taking Shakira seriously. Donde Estan Los Ladrones is truly a touchstone album of 20th Century Rock and Roll.
My essay in 2021 will extol cuts 2 and 6 to compare Shakira’s poetics with Leonard Cohen at a similar age. I’ll liken the riffs of “Si Te Vas” and “OCtavo Dia” to the E Street Band. “Sombra de Ti”, still sweaty from the treble of cellar door cymbalism, will bear the retelling of comment #7 above. The album is Shakira’s Rubber Soul, the product of a not-souped-up rock band fronted and led by the most beautiful voice on the planet, who happens to sing in espanol.
Her vocal range, phrasing, breathing—on record she sings with a verve most musicians reserve for live performance. She probably doesn’t need a click track.
Shakira knows she’s heard. Undistracted by words, those who don’t understand Spanish are blessed with the aspect of hearing what a truly beautiful musical instrument is Shakira’s voice.
“Ojos Asi” from the Ladrones album fused Latin rock with middle eastern soul. Donde estan los ladrones does not translate as “where are the laundromats.”
Laundry Service, Shakira’s next album in 2001, her Revolver, delivered a buff and blonde image to the U.S. market. It was like Springsteen’s Born in the USA, hustling for chart position amid an array of guilty pleasures competing for radio air time. Even though 70% sung in English, the album went into novelty exile under the gravity of 9/11.
Back in 1999, MTV made an unplugged (un-souped-up) performance video showcasing the Los Ladrones album. The show concludes with prolonged audience ovation. Is Shakira arrogant or conceited? No, not at all. Instead there is a look of dawning in her eyes as she shyly realizes what she has just accomplished, introducing the world to Latin bellydance rock and roll. She is wearing a simple jersey sweater, leather pants and high heel boots, and her loins below the waist of her long pants are wrapped with a kind of macrame beaded shawl, which she shimmied and shook to the show’s finale, “Ojos Asi.”
Seven years later, in fully veiled rope dance regalia, she sings “eso es perfecto” in “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Inevitable. Quiero creer.
Shakira never misled anyone. On Laundry Service she explained exactly what she was doing. In plain English in the song “Ready For the Good Times” she sings, “I used to read survival guides when my world was full of seven legged cats.” She concludes the song in moans of defiance. The album cover photo shows a gang tattoo. If that isn’t enough notice, there’s “Te Aviso, Te Anuncio,” the rock tango that sounds like it’s performed by a wedding reception band, where she sings, “por ti me quede como Mona Lisa.”
La Latina Sprinsteena knew all along her whole career there is no naive pretending there is no sex appeal in rock and roll, especially coming from a colombiana love song poet. Shakira never pretended to be anyone else. The mythos of rock and roll is built on the songs of tarts, rebels, martyrs and savants but does not embrace charlatans.
I trust Shakira with the future of rock and roll. It comes from a sense shared with Jon Landau’s premonition about Springsteen back in the day. It’s rooted in one’s earliest memories, Sam Cooke on the radio singing “You Send Me.”
I hear Shakira sing the simple phrase, “Ay amor,” and I trust her with the future of rock and roll.
My Shakira fixation is high-minded and academic, yes I know. It’s as serious as nobody else takes her music. Of course I am in love with her, enamored in every way with her songs and her character. Love is the very essence of rock and roll. I’m in love with the audio engineering of the mis of Fijacion Oral/Oral Fixation. She knows how to compose an album. Shakira es La Jefa del siglo vigesimoprimero—for the ages.
Shakira has nothing to prove except to herself as an artist that she has the courage to compose, perform and produce music that lives up to the integrity of her genius.
“No solo de pan vive el hombre, y no de excusas vivo yo.”
MKD

#10 from Katherine J. Werner, Saint Paul MN - 08/23/2009 10:54

MKD: Why do you say. “Shakira never misled anyone.” How would you know?

KJW

#11 from Katherine J. Werner, Saint Paul MN - 08/28/2009 12:55

And OF COURSE you are in love her, enamored by her,she’s young exotic and nearly naked….but entrust the future of rock and roll to her? Yikes. Believe in her if you like (Yo también creía.), but trust is a much bigger deal.

1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die