October 23, 2023

Laundry Service (Spanish: Servicio de Lavandería) is the fifth studio album and first English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, globally released on 13 November 2001 by Epic Records. After her fourth studio album Dónde Están los Ladrones? became a success in Latin America, Spain, the Middle East and the Latin community in the United States, Shakira was encouraged by American singer Gloria Estefan to record songs in English as she believed her friend had the potential to cross over into the English-language pop market. Shakira was hesitant at first, but then decided to learn English well enough to write songs in the language. The title of the album reflects Shakira’s views on love and music. It was released as Servicio de Lavandería in Hispanic regions in January 2002. Laundry Service is primarily a pop rock[2] record but it also experiments with Andean music, dance-pop, Middle Eastern music, rock and roll and tango music. The album’s theme is love and romance. Every song on it was written and produced by Shakira under the guidance of Emilio Estefan.[3] Six singles were released from the album. The lead single “Whenever, Wherever” became an international success, reaching number one on record charts of Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The second English-language single “Underneath Your Clothes” repeated that success, topping the charts of Australia, Austria, and Belgium. Both singles charted in the top ten in the United Kingdom and United States. Spanish-language singles “Te Dejo Madrid” and “Que Me Quedes Tú” performed well in Hispanic regions, becoming hits in Spain and on the Latin record charts in the United States, respectively. The fourth single “Objection (Tango)” became a top ten hit in most countries around the world, while the sixth and final single “The One” was a moderate commercial success. To promote the album, Shakira embarked on her Tour of the Mongoose between 2002 and 2003. It was her first major worldwide tour and visited many countries and cities. Laundry Service received favourable to mixed reviews from music critics. Many critics complimented Shakira’s varied musical styles and originality, while some critics argued that the album sounded too generic. Shakira’s vocal talent also attracted praise. Laundry Service topped the charts of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland, while reaching the top five in Argentina, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, Laundry Service peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. The album received multiple record certifications, including sextuple platinum in Australia, quintuple in Canada, Spain and Switzerland. It was also certified multi-platinum in the United Kingdom and the United States, proving to be a successful crossover for Shakira. Globally, Laundry Service was the seventh best-selling album in 2002. The album sold around 13 million copies by 2011,[4] making it one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. The album is listed at number 172 of the “Definitive 200” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[5] Background[edit] In 1998, Shakira released her second major label studio album Dónde Están los Ladrones? (Where Are the Thieves?), which became a success in Latin America and received record certifications in various countries like Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Spain.[6] The rock en español-influenced Latin pop album drew comparisons to the work of Canadian-American singer songwriter Alanis Morissette[7] and “cracked the lucrative US market wide open”, spending a total of 11 weeks atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.[8] It became Shakira’s first album to receive a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[9] Dónde Están los Ladrones? spawned the Arabian-styled single “Ojos Así” (“Eyes Like Yours”), which became a hit and was deemed the “signature track” of the album.[8] Shakira’s record label at that time, Epic Records, opposed the decision to release and commission Laundry Service as they “wanted her just to throw a couple of songs in English on a Latin music record.”[10] Gloria Estefan argued with Tommy Mottola, then head of Sony Music Entertainment (the parent company of Epic), and convinced him to release the album, arguing that an “American audience” would not buy a Spanish-language record simply due to its inclusion of a few English-language tracks.[11] In an interview with Latina, she said “I got in the trenches there with Tommy [Mottola] – I fought for that. Because they didn’t believe it. Just like they told us [her and Emilio during the Miami Sound Machine days]. They were trying to think in the box and I wanted to take her out of the box. And fortunately, Tommy, whom I love and adore and is a good friend, he really listened to me.”[10] Writing and recording[edit] The success of Dónde Están los Ladrones? prompted American singer Gloria Estefan in 1999, whose husband Emilio Estefan was managing Shakira at that time, to persuade Shakira to attempt to crossover into the mainstream pop industry.[10] However, Shakira was initially hesitant to record songs in English as it was not her first language, so Estefan offered to translate “Ojos Así” into English in order to show her that “it could translate well.”[10] Shakira then began translating the song herself and showed it to Estefan, who responded “Quite honestly, I can’t do this better!.”[10] As Shakira wanted to have full control over her recordings, she decided to learn English better to enable her to write her own songs.[8] Wanting to find a method to express her “day-to-day stories in English”, Shakira bought rhyming dictionaries, started analysing the lyrics of songs by Bob Dylan, reading poetry and the work of authors like Leonard Cohen and Walt Whitman and took English lessons from a private tutor.[12][13] The first song she wrote was “Objection (Tango)” and in an interview with Faze, she revealed that writing songs in English proved to be challenging for her: “I prayed and asked God to send me a good song today, and I remember I started writing the song [‘Objection (Tango)’] a couple of hours after. I wrote the music and lyrics at the same time, and when that happens it’s really magical to me.”[12] After completing “Objection (Tango)”, Shakira decided to write ten more songs and began setting up portable recording studios in the rural region of Uruguay.[12] She wrote various songs with a “dictionary in one hand and a thesaurus in the other.”[13] During the songwriting process, Shakira wrote “Underneath Your Clothes” as a love song for de la Rúa.[14] She explained that, “If you check the subject of my songs, most of them talk about my own experiences and feelings and what I was actually going through in my life.”[14] Shakira collaborated with various writers