“You’ve got to trust me….we have a hit”: Shakira discloses she successfully persuaded her label to allow her to release 'Hips Don't Lie'

Shakira reveals how she almost didn't release her uber popular song 'Hips Don't Lie'.

In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, Shakira revealed how she had to plead to her recording company to let her release her song 'Hips Don't Lie' on the reissue of her already released album Oral Fixation, Vol. 2,. Stating as a prophetic dream, the 48 year old expressed,

“I remember my album was already distributed, and then this idea came up, and Wyclef and I met,” talking about Wyclef Jean, who collaborated on the song with her.

She convinced her label to let her release the song,

I knew I had a hit, so I called Donny Ienner, who was in charge at the time of [Sony Music Label Group U.S.], and I said, ‘Donny, you have to pick up the albums from the stores.’ He was like, ‘No way, this album is already out there.’ I was like, ‘You’ve got to believe me. You’ve got to trust me. You do that, we have a hit.”

And in the February 2006 repackaged version of Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, the song hit the streets, claiming “It changed my story,” as the song spent two weeks at No. 1 at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song is now close to hitting 20 years now as the infectious song continues to captivate listeners even today.

The collaboration was even considered because of her manager, as he informed her that "Wyclef wants to work with you." She claimed that the song became the defining moment of her career, along with the famous catchy refrain “Shakira, Shakira”, becoming a cultural phenomenon.

This was back when Latin music wasn't quite mainstream in the US, as singer Enrique Iglesias was one of the only prominent US names in the space. Because of this, the song did in fact struggle in terms of radio plays initially.

The Colombian singer, whose real name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, also talked about her trepidations with Jimmy for her upcoming tour. She revealed that she was surprised that her surprise concert in Times Square in March 2024, for 40,000 of her fans, was such a success, as before going on, she was scared no one would show up.

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“The funny thing is I was so scared to do that performance, because I thought people were not going to show up. We announced it, like, two hours before the appearance, and half an hour before the appearance, I just saw cars. I was peeking through the window, I was so scared, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is the end of my career.’ And then in the last 20 minutes, it was a sea of people.”

The Waka Waka singer is soon going to embark on the United States leg of her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, which kicks off May 13 in Charlotte, N.C. From then, she will head on to Latin America for the later dates of the tour.

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