With the recent announcement of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and more performing at this year’s Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show, Shakira has been speaking out about her experiences performing in 2020.
During an interview with Cosmopolitan, the “Hips Don’t Lie” legend opened up about the historic performance, where she co-headlined with Jennifer Lopez. Shakira and J.Lo’s performance marked the first time two Latina women starred on the Halftime stage together.
Lopez and Shakira took the gig after artists like Rihanna and Cardi B turned it down in support of Colin Kaepernick.
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During her conversation with Cosmo, Shakira defend her choice to perform, sharing, “JLo, as a Latina born in the U.S., and me, as a Latin American woman in the U.S., had a huge responsibility and opportunity to represent all different minorities through our performance.”
She added, “In my case, I also wanted to pay homage to my Middle Eastern culture. I feel that we did it."
Additionally, the “Whenever, Wherever,” songbird spoke about the enormous efforts that went into the production of her halftime performance.
"It wasn’t an easy show to put together. There was a lot of work behind it, a lot of stress. But it was one of the highlights of my career," explained Shakira.
For the artist, she felt the Super Bowl was “a great opportunity to make a strong statement about what an important part of the American fabric the Latino community is. An opportunity that we couldn’t miss."
“When I first came out, there wasn’t really an audience for Latin pop or Latin female pop artists,” noted the “She Wolf” singer
When Shakira entered the American market, she felt it was crucial for her to “honor my Latin roots,” especially because she faced “prejudice.”
She explained, “Many magazines would put emphasis on the fact that I was Colombian. I was called the second finest export of Colombia. I guess they were referring to cocaine as the first one. I was like, ‘Why are journalists asking me about drug trafficking? My country’s so much more than that’... I wonder sometimes what would happen if a media outlet said similar things about me today. Back then, the gatekeepers could get away with stuff like that."
During her Super Bowl performance, Shakira was especially proud when she was able to “introduce champeta, a street dance that belongs to a virtually unknown corner of my country. I’m always trying to be unafraid through my career."
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