Songfacts®:

• Bizarrap (real name: Facundo Quiroga) is an Argentine DJ, producer, and social media influencer known for his trap and hip-hop beats and collaborations with other artists in the Latin American music scene. He rose to fame in the mid-2010s through his viral music videos and live performances on YouTube.
  
  "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" is part of a series of music sessions produced by Bizarrap and released on his YouTube channel. His previous session with Spanish act Quevedo, "BZRP Music Sessions #52," resulted in his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
• In August 2022, rumors of a collaboration between Shakira and Bizarrap began circulating when Shakira publicly wished Bizarrap a happy birthday. On January 9, 2023, a small plane flew over Miami displaying a flag bearing the phrase "Una loba como yo no está pa' tipos como tú" ("A wolf like me is not for guys like you"), leading fans to believe that the collaboration would be released on January 11. Bizarrap confirmed the upcoming release on his social media the following day.
• Fans weren't sure what to expect from the latest edition of the music sessions, as Bizarrap's guests generally rap over a beat created by the producer. The Argentine took a different approach with Shakira because she doesn't rap. It was more of a therapeutic exchange between the pair.
• Shakira first met the Spanish football player Gerard Piqué in the spring of 2010 when Piqué appeared in the music video for her single "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)." They became romantic partners the following year and had two children together, but in 2022, the couple announced their separation after 11 years.
  
  Shakira's lyrics were born from a devastating discovery a few days prior to the song's creation. Eagle-eyed fans of the Colombian star spotted Pique's new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti, in a Zoom interview that the footballer gave in 2021 when Shakira was away working. She believes it proves that Pique had been unfaithful to her for years before their split.
  
  Over Bizarrap's futuristic pop-electronica beat, Shakira slams Pique's infidelity and includes lines dedicated to Marti.
• Shakira highlights the age gap between herself and Pique's new partner (Marti is 23 years younger than Shakira) with the lyrics, "Yo valgo por dos de 22" ("I am worth twice as much as a 22-year-old"). She also jokes that Pique exchanged a Ferrari for a Renault Twingo, a budget-friendly car model popular in Europe, with the lyrics "Cambiaste un Ferrari por un Twingo. Cambiaste un Rolex por un Casio" ("You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo. You traded a Rolex for a Casio").
  
  Pique had some fun with it, showing up at a press conference driving a Twingo and wearing a Casio. He claimed that he signed a sponsorship deal with Casio, but the company said that wasn't true. Casio did say that sales went gangbusters after the song was released.
• This is the third song Shakira has recorded where she discusses her split from Pique. "Te Felicito" expressed a combination of sadness and anger towards her ex-partner, while "Monotonía" blamed their breakup on growing apart. "Vol. 53" is a complete kiss-off track, where Shakira, fueled by her rage, makes it clear she intends to humiliate her cheating ex. The lyrics "Esto es pa' que te mortifique,' mastique' y trague,' trague' y mastique'" translate to, "I do this for you to mortify, chew and swallow, swallow and chew."
• During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Bizarrap said he created two potential beats for his collaboration with Shakira the day before they went into the studio together.
  
  Shakira was immediately drawn to one of the instrumentals, which she felt had a cool, dark undertone reminiscent of one of her favorite bands, Depeche Mode. "I usually have this physical, visceral reaction to music. If you see me two-stepping, things aren't right," she said. "I know when a song works because I suddenly start moving. It usually results in my hips moving."
  
  And as we know, Shakira's hips didn't lie. The song was a record-breaking success – the Colombian superstar became the first female vocalist to debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with a Spanish-language track.
• The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, Shakira's highest placement since "Beautiful Liar" with Beyoncé reached #3 in 2007.
• Shakira included the song on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran album. She also closes the record with a remixed version by Tiësto. The Dutch superproducer gives it the house treatment, transforming the track into a pulsating dance-floor banger.
• Some people on Shakira's team wanted her to change the lyrics as they were concerned how people would react. "I'm like, I'm not a UN representative, you know? I'm an artist and no one's going to tell me how I'm supposed to heal. And no one should tell any woman how she's supposed to heal and lick her wounds, you know?" she told Apple Music's Zane Lowe.
  
  "This is, this is another time that we're, that we're going through. Like, I know our mothers and grandmothers, people would tell them to hide their tears, conceal their feelings in front of their children and in front of society, accept what they had to go through, whatever it was," Shakira added. "And that's it. Suck it up. But now things are different, and no one should tell anyone what the process should be like. And so this song was the perfect vehicle for me to channel all those emotions."
• Shakira sang this at the Grammy Awards in 2025, where Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran won for Best Latin Pop Album.