"Inevitable," Shakira

Before she became an international pop star, Shakira was a Spanish-language rock star who melded confessional-style lyrics with arena-ready hooks.  At just 21, she released what would become her most critically acclaimed album, Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, spawning eight singles and estimated worldwide sales of ten million units.  Though it was not the album’s most popular single at the time, “Inevitable” has become the signature song of Shakira’s earlier career.

Rewatching the video now, well, it almost doesn’t look like the Shakira of today.  Clad in a modest, all-black outfit, Shakira’s look recalls Alanis Morissette in “You Learn.”  The concert crowd holds up their lighters (because people once did that, remember?) as Shakira performs in the round (or, as I see it, a toned-down version of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way?”).  The dancing that helped make Shakira a star is kept to a minimum.  Instead, she channels her inner headbanger, hiding her face behind brunette braids.  All the hiding contrasts with the song’s stark lyrics, detailing lost love and the resulting fallout of a breakup.  (It’s also a far cry from “Hips Don’t Lie,” her biggest selling single.)      

To capitalize on the “Latin Explosion” of the late 1990s, Shakira also recorded an English version of “Inevitable,” but it failed to find the same success as the original.  It would, however, set the stage for Shakira’s first English-language album, Laundry Service, which would mark a great sonic and visual departure from Los Ladrones. 

In support of her latest album, Shakira has performed throughout the world on The Sun Comes Out tour, which will close with a performance in Puerto Rico on October 14^th.