Shakira Reflects on “Rough Year” After Gerard Piqué Split as Inspiration for Hit Breakup Song

Shakira took a personal struggle and channeled it into a song fans want to hear whenever, wherever.

The "Hips Don't Lie" singer, recently reflected on her breakup from Gerard Piqué after 11 years together, and how their split led to her record-breaking collaboration with Bizarrap "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53."

"I've had a very rough year after my separation, and writing this song has been so important to me," she shared during a March 10 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. "It's been a healthy way to channel my emotions."

The track, which features lyrics that seemingly shade Gerard and his new girlfriend Clara Chia Marti, has broken a whopping 14 Guinness World Records, as discussed during her appearance on the talk show. The 46-year-old shared that the song's success has made her feel as though her fanbase includes a "sisterhood" of women "who feel the way I feel, who had to put up with so much crap the way I had to."

As for how Bizarrap and Shakira came together to collab? It all went down once Shakira noticed that the Argentine DJ slid into her DMs. But even before Bizarapp and the "She Wolf" singer got into the studio, Shakira and Gerard's son Milan, 10, the eldest of their two boys, had a vision.

"He told me, 'Mom, you've got to collaborate with Bizarrap. You have to get on a song with Bizarrap, because you guys are gonna be number one,'" Shakira told host Jimmy Fallon. "And he sent a voice note to my manager, Jaime. He said, 'You got to put my mom together with Bizarrap on a song because they're gonna be number one.' And he was right."

Bizarrap and Shakira released "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" in January, seven months after she and Gerard announced their split.

After putting the track out into the world, Shakira declared during a Feb. 27 interview with Mexican channel Canal Estrellas, "I use my voice and give it to those who can't use their voice. As Madeleine Albright said, and it's a phrase that I love, ‘There's a special place in hell for women that don't help others.' And yes, I'm in total agreement with that."

During that same discussion, Shakira shared that while her life has changed amid their split, so has her outlook. 

"I too believed that story, that a women needed a man to complete herself," she said. "I also had that dream to have a family where the kids had their mom and dad under the same roof. Not all of those dreams come true, but life has a way of compensating you in one way or another."

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