Music Video Relapse: "Hips Don't Lie" (2006) by Shakira
Posted by Adam Fairholm on February 4, 2014 in Music Video RelapseStaff Post |
Last week we got a taste of something no one even knew we were missing - Shakira and Rihanna together, hanging out sexily in a music video. It has been insanely popular, which is really no surprise given that Rihanna touching Shakira's butt is not exactly a hard sell.
As is the whole point for artist collaborations, I'm sure there are some Rihanna fans that are watching this video who have never heard of Shakira or her music. Lucky for them, we have a music video history of Shakira gyrating her hips that goes back more than a decade.
In fact, newcomers to Shakira might be happy to know that Shakira has made a career on doing much more dancing that we get to see in "Can't Remember To Forget You," and one of Shakira's biggest hits is a song called "Hips Don't Lie" which would be a major let down if the video didn't feature some hips. Let's take a look - it's from 2006 and was directed by Sophie Muller.
I've always found "Hips Don't Lie To" to be kind of a weird song. It is basically a version of Wyclef Jean's "Dance Like This" with Shakira on it, adding the "hips don't lie" lines. ("Dance Like This," in turn, samples the brass intro to "Amores Como el Nuestro" by Jerry Rivera.) In every version of this song I've encountered, though, Shakira's vocals are mixed so far to the front that I've always assumed I was listening to a bootleg pre-mastered copy. But nope, buy Oral Fixation Vol 2 and it still sounds just as awkward.
Anyways, with a song with a title like "Hips Don't Lie," we're obviously going to see some hip action in this video, and Shakira doesn't disappoint. At that point in her career she'd had a lot of practice in videos like "Whenever, Wherever", which almost exclusively features her dancing in various nature settings.
In this video, however, Shakira has plenty of friends. It takes place partially at some sort of carnival (apparently Columbia's Barranquilla's Carnival), and features Wyclef Jean doing a little bit of performing, but mostly he's just watching Shakira. In fact, pretty much everyone is checking out Shakira. She's the center of attention throughout this event, and the video consists of various set ups that feature her.
One of the best parts of this video is because it takes place at Barranquilla's Carnival, there are a lot of interesting people wearing costumes on display. My favorite is a small child who is dressed head to toe as a mummy. He is never featured in the video at all, but he is frequently in the background, just standing there completely still.
The most remarkable thing about this video for me is the sheer variety of dancing Shakira manages to pull off. She is dancing almost the entire video and barely repeats herself, something that I think helped earn her an MTV VMA for Best Choreography for this video. Shakira's brand has always been as a dancer first and foremost, and even though this is a sexy video, it's a great showcase for her creativity and talent as a dancer. She would later arguably take this talent too far, but 2006 is the sweet spot. It's interesting that her video collaboration with Rihanna has no real technical dancing at all.
This video may have also given Shakira some practice in "dancing alone with a bunch of cultural stuff behind you."
Shakira, always a multi tasker.
Adam Fairholm is the co-founder and lead developer of IMVDb. You can find him on twitter at @adamfairholm. |
More Music Video Relapse:
Music Video Relapse: "2 Legit 2 Quit" by MC Hammer (1991)
Posted by Adam Fairholm on April 15, 2014 in Music Video Relapse
Most of the time on Music Video Relapse I am writing about a music video that is a classic for a good reason - either being iconic or just fondly remembered. Sometimes I write about a music video that was release relatively recently but I think needs a second look… Read More
Music Video Relapse: "The Last Video" (2004) by ABBA
Posted by Adam Fairholm on April 1, 2014 in Music Video Relapse
As we've covered on the blog before, ABBA has an interesting history with music videos, using the form back in the late 1970s to spread their music to overseas markets. The videos, while pretty primitive, are well-done for their time, and they are almost all on their ABBA Vevo account,… Read More
Music Video Relapse: "Bounce" by Iggy Azalea
Posted by Adam Fairholm on March 31, 2014 in Music Video Relapse
When a video gets pulled off of YouTube, they usually tell you who made them do it. Usually it's a record label, but sometimes it's a random name. For instance, Iggy Azalea used to have a video called "Pu$$y," but it now says "This video is no longer available because… Read More
Music Video Relapse: "Hot In Herre" (2002) by Nelly
Posted by Adam Fairholm on March 18, 2014 in Music Video Relapse
People whose jobs revolve around throwaway "viral" stories hit pay dirt last week when someone noticed that a radio station in LA was playing Nelly's 2002 hit "Hot In Herre" over and over again. This is apparently relatively standard procedure for radio stations undergoing a format change (it has since… Read More
IMVDb Blog
Recent Posts
- Did YouTube Lie to Us? The Shocking Truth Behind the Most Watched Music Videos of 2021
- Jason Baum's Top 5 Music Videos of 2021
- Jason Baum's Top 10 Music Videos of 2020
- Jason Baum’s Top 10 Music Videos from 2010 - 2013
- Jason Baum's Personal Top 10 of the Decade
- Jason Baum's Top 20 Music Videos of the Decade
- Jason Baum's Top 6 Music Videos (and 4 Music Films) of 2019
- Jason Baum's Top 10 Music Videos of 2018
- Jason Baum's Top 10 Music Videos of 2017
- Jason Baum's Top 10 Music Videos of 2016
Archive
- January 2022
- January 2021
- December 2019
- January 2019
- December 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
Categories
- Advice
- Behind the Scenes
- Commentary
- Cool New Music Videos
- Doms Sketch Cast
- Event Coverage
- Fashion
- Hall of Fame
- Interactive Music Videos
- Interviews
- Lists
- Lost & Found
- Most Popular Music Videos
- Music Video Premieres
- Music Video Relapse
- New Releases
- News
- Original Content
- Site News
- Sponsored
- Taped Before A Live Studio Audience
- This Week in Music Videos
- Video Previews
- Videos I <3
Content on the IMVDb blog is ©2012-2024 IMVDb and FilmedInsert, LLC. All Rights Reserved.