Shakira Barak Ripoll Research Paper

Celia Cruz was one of the most famous Cuban salsa singers. She was nicknamed the Queen of Salsa, with more than thirty-six albums, recorded with some other leading singers in Latin music. Celia worked as a singer for more than forty years, and during that time, she became well known for her vigorous work, great personality, and her emotional way of singing. During her performances, she was well known for being able to improvise lyrics. She was an artist with over six decades of success making her an inspiration to the Latin community as well as the rest of the world.

On May 6 of that same year, Selena Quintanilla released a new album titled “Entre a Mi Mundo”. It ascended to the #1 spot on the U.S Billboard Regional Mexican albums chart! People started calling her the Queen of Tejano Music and many said that she was the Mexican Madonna because of her glamorous outfits. When Selena Quintanilla was finally nominated for a Grammy in 1994, she wore a gorgeous white beaded dress which in the end was donated to the Selena Museum.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll Was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she was raised as well. Shakira began preforming in school, showing her latin, arabic, and rock and roll influences and her belly dancing abilities. Growing up Shakira was fascinated watching her dad on the type writer and asked for one, got one for christmas, and has been writing poetry since then. Shakira’s poetry eventually turned into songs. Shakira wrote her first song, titled “Tus gaffes oscuras”, which was about her father who always wore dark glasses after her brother died in an motorcycle accident to hide his grief. Shakira was invited to various events between the ages of 10 and 13 in Barranquilla. Shakira was eventually singed to Sony Colombia after preforming for the executives and leaving them very impressed. Shakira was able to sign to record three records.

Selena was a great warrior, she brought many people together with her music. Selena made music in both spanish and english which brought both communities together, “Throughout her career, Selena was not only inspired by Tejano music but created a fusion of musical genres that incorporated other Latin sounds and inevitably won over Latinos across the country,” (“Selena.”) Selena was able to lace both communities together due to her mixed cultural background. Her music was a great way to bring people together.

Selena was known for being the “Mexican Madonna.” She had the brightest smile and dances when she was at her concerts she would turn really fast and boost up the crowed. Selena was a bright person.

Incase you do not know who Selena Quintanilla is, I want to give you a small background of her. Selena Quintanilla was a Mexican-American artist who began singing as a young child with her older siblings. She began to get famous at around 1971 but unfortunately, her manager was jealous of her and murdered her in 1995 when her career was officially beginning. Selena sang and danced Tejano music which is a type of country music with Latinos. This is what began her career but eventually she began to dance cumbia and began to sang songs in English. I am going to refer to her as Selena because that is what everyone knows her as.

While Madonna was being compared to Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston, Spears was competing with her contemporaries like Christina Aguilera or even Jennifer Lopez. However, in 1987 Madonna’s Who’s That Girl tour earned her $25 Million in US ticket sales in comparison to Houston’s $20.1 Million earned for her Moment of Truth tour that same year. (Thakur 168) Madonna has also sold over 300 Million records worldwide and is has generated over $1.2 Billion in sales during the first half of her career. (Kramarae & Spender 459) Spears also came out on top throughout her early career as becoming the biggest female artist of the decade of the 21st century with over 150 million albums sold worldwide- heavily outselling Aguilera, Lopez, and other contemporaries. (Billboard) In fact, Guinness World Records has Spears’ debut album as the best-selling album by a teenager selling 25 Million records In 2001, Spears had

Selena Quintanilla’s music was inspired by a lot of people before she came around and then inspired a lot of people that came after her. She began just playing in her family band at her father’s restaurant on the weekends. Her father had always had the dream of being a musician but it never worked out for him and due to that he really wanted his children to be more successful in that industry than he was. As soon as Selena started singing people started recognizing the fact that she had some serious talent. People started showing up more on days that she would sing and they decided to start booking gigs around the state.

The Queen of Salsa began her life in Havana, Cuba on August 21st, 1925 and was one of 12 children. She had won many talent shows as a signer by her teenage years, but was encouraged by her dad to become a teacher. She attended school but left after she won a talent show called “La Hora de Te” which made her a local hit. For Celia “Music gave [her] the courage to fight and get out of poverty…when people hear[ed] [her] sing, [she] wanted them to be happy, happy, happy…[Her] message is always felicidad- happiness.” In order to become a great contributor to the music world in 1947 she enrolled at the Conservatory of Music to study voice and theory.

As previously mentioned, Furtado released her debut Spanish-Language album on her label, Nelstar, in 2009. Called Mi Plan, the album was a huge success, earning her a Latin Grammy for Female Pop Vocal Album. This honor made her the first Canadian musician to ever win a Latin Grammy.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on on February second, nineteen seventy-seven in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll Torrado and William Mebarak Chadid. Shakira wrote her first poem named “La Rosa De Cristal” at the age of four. At the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song “Tus Gafas Oscuras.” In nineteen ninety, Shakira recorded her first album, Magia, with Sony Music Colombia when she was only thirteen years old. Her album Pies Descalzos was released in February ninteen ninety- six and reached number five on the United States Billboard Top Latin Albums. In the year nineteen ninety- seven, she received three Billboard Latin Music Awards, for Album of the year for Pies Descalzos, Video of the Year for “Estoy Aqui”, and Best New Artist. From there Shakira’s career flourished and gained fame throughout the world.

Beyoncé has also set many world records as well. Beyoncé's pregnancy announcement earned the Guinness World Book of Records title for most tweets per second. In 2010, Guinness World Records named them the Highest Earning Power Couple, after earning $122 million that year. Beyoncé is the most Grammy-nominated woman in history. Beyoncé was also the first woman to win six Grammys in a single night. She became the first non-supermodel or non-athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue in 2007.

Now Shakira is now a coach on "The Voice" and is about to release a highly anticipated new self-titled album.

And nowhere is this more evident than in her album Laundry Service (Servicio de Lavanderia). Recorded almost entirely in English, Laundry Service is often categorized as Shakira’s crossover moment into the U.S.-Latinx market. After delaying the album’s release in order to compose the lyrics to each song herself, Shakira’s intense approach to the album’s English language was interpreted as a sign of her dedication to producing and recording for English listeners . However, a closer look at the lyrics for the songs in Laundry Service reveals that most songs fit the bill for Aparicio’s sub-versive signifiers. In “Whenever, Wherever,” Shakira writes of an unnamed lover by describing their relationship in geographic and positional terms. By writing

New Artist award and that had featured a spectacular performance of her hit song Paparazzi—ending