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For Shakira, family comes before music

Singer completed latest album at her own pace

By Associated Press
Published: June 3, 2017, 6:00am

NEW YORK — Shakira may be a Grammy-winning, multiplatinum singer, but these days she calls music a hobby.

Singing has taken a back seat to motherhood for the 40-year-old Colombian sensation, who has two sons, ages 4 and 2.

“For years I spent my life pressing pause on those things that are now my priority, like having a family. I pressed pause on that. Now, I hit play,”

Shakira said it was difficult to approach making new music after spending so much time with her family. When she started working in the recording studio, she said she dealt with writer’s block and didn’t want to be away from her children.

“I was in front of this white canvas and sort of panicking, and I was, at the same time, conflicted because I didn’t want to stop spending time with my kids, but I also wanted to attend to my own needs as a creator, as an artist, as a producer,” she said.

She decided to release music in her own way and at her own pace. Instead of putting out a full album, she released songs when she wanted without announcing when an album would finally come.

“It was more fun than any of my previous albums because before I had many demands (and) requests by others,” she added.

Before she released her 11th album, “El Dorado,” last week, Shakira dropped four singles, including “La Bicicleta” with Carlos Vives — which won song and record of the year at last year’s Latin Grammys — and “Chantaje,” a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Hot Latin songs chart with fellow Colombian singer Maluma.

Another single, “Me Enamore,” features her partner, soccer player Gerard Pique, in the video.

“When I played ‘Me Enamore’ for (Gerard), he really liked it. … He looks at me with those eyes like, ‘Oh,’ like really appreciating the fact that I almost paid an homage to that moment in our lives when we met each other and the turning point in our lives when everything changed for both of us,” recalled Shakira.

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