"Hips Don't Lie" is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released by Epic Records on 28 February 2006. The single is a reworking of Jean's 2004 track "Dance Like This", therefore it features additional composing credits by Omar Alfanno, Jerry Duplessis, Luis Días, and LaTavia Parker. The song was released as the lead single from the reissue of Shakira's seventh studio album, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, and second overall. Shakira and Jean wrote the lyrics and jointly composed the music with additional co-writing by Shakira's percussionist Archie Pena. The song was produced by Shakira and Jean with additional production by Jerry Duplessis. The song incorporates samples from "Amores Como el Nuestro" written by Alfanno, and "Carnaval (Baile En La Calle)" written by Días.
Upon its release, "Hips Don't Lie" received favorable reviews from music critics. It received accolades including a People's Choice Award, an MTV Latin America Video Music Award, and an MTV Video Music Award. "Hips Don't Lie" became a global success, reaching number one in 18 countries, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Shakira's first and only number one hit in the United States. It also broke the record for the most radio plays in a single week and the fastest-selling digital download song in the United States. The song was eventually certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), where it has sold over 4 million digital copies and 2 million ringtones. It also topped the charts in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, among other countries. The song had amassed an estimated 13 million downloads by 2017, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. In 2018, the song was selected as one of the greatest songs by 21st-century women, by National Public Radio, ranked at 65.
Background and release
After attaining international success with her fifth studio effort, Laundry Service, in 2001, Shakira opted to create a two-part follow-up record. Having co-written nearly sixty songs, she put herself "on the mission of selecting [her] favorite ones" to record for Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 and its predecessor, the Spanish-language Fijación Oral, Vol. 1. While recording the project, Shakira worked with previous collaborators, and newer partners including Jerry Duplessis and Wyclef Jean.
After the moderate success of "Don't Bother" and of the album, her label Epic Records asked Wyclef Jean, in early 2006, to remake his song "Dance Like This" with Shakira, attempting to revive sales of the album. The remake "Hips Don't Lie" premiered on KIIS-FM's Ryan Seacrest Morning Show on 14 February 2006. On 28 March 2006, the song was released as part of Oral Fixation, Vol. 2's reissue. A Spanish version of the same name was also released. Shakira also sang another version (produced by RedOne) titled "Hips Don't Lie - Bamboo" at the closing ceremony of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Two versions of the "Hips Don't Lie - Bamboo" remix were officially released, one in English and one in Spanish.
Shakira incorporated the rhythm of Surinamese Kawina music into Hips Don't Lie.De Wereld Draait Door, Ronald Snijders (fluitist) , 45m40s, October 2019
Recording
"Hips Don't Lie" was initially written and recorded by Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras for the Fugees reunion. The song was titled "Lips Don't Lie" at that point, but was never completed due to Hill's dissatisfaction with it. Charlie Walk, who at the time was the President of Epic Records, called Pras to state he wanted to do a remix of the song with Shakira. Following the call, Hill left the group and the Fugee's reunion was over. The song was then given to Shakira and along with Jean and long-time partner Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis, they produced "Hips Don't Lie". According to another version of events, Jean was asked by Shakira's label to record a remix of "La Tortura" but refused stating he already had a record that Shakira would be perfect for. The record was Jean's own song "Dance Like This", which he recorded with Claudette Ortiz for the soundtrack of the 2004 film Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.
Shakira co-wrote the song with Wyclef Jean, Jerry Duplessis, Omar Alfanno and LaTavia Parker, whilst production was handled by Shakira, Jean and Duplessis. Jean also served as the song's guitarist and programmer alongside Ramón Stagnaro (who also provided guitar), Hermides Benitez, Richard Bravo, Archie Pena and Roberto Cuao who all contributed the song's percussion, whilst Gustavo Celis and Jerry Duplessis added further programming. The song's recording took place at various studios including Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, FL; La Marimonda Studios, Nassau, Bahamas; Olympic Studios, London, England; Platinum Sound Recording Studio, New York, NY; Sonido Azulado, Bogota, Colombia and The Warehouse, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Composition
"Hips Don't Lie" reimagines Wyclef Jean's 2004 song "Dance Like This" as a Latin pop song with a reggaeton beat. The song, like "Dance Like This" before it, uses a sampled salsa trumpet line from Jerry Rivera's 1992 Omar Alfanno-written song "Amores Como el Nuestro", a song previously sampled on "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" by Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz. The use of the opening trumpets caused a minor controversy, when Rivera openly accused Shakira of plagiarizing the opening trumpets without his knowing, unaware that rights had already been obtained from his former label Sony Discos.
According to EMI Music Publishing's digital sheet music for the song, "Hips Don't Lie" is set in common time signature, is in the key of B♭ minor, and has a moderate Latin groove of 100 beats per minute. Shakira's vocals span from the low note of A♭3 to the note of B♭4.
During an interview, Shakira explained that the song's lyrics were inspired by her ability to determine the release-readiness of a song by whether or not it motivates her to dance. She states that she used to tell her musicians, "My hips don't lie! Are they moving? They're not moving! So this is not ready."
Commercial performance The song debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States, based on airplay alone. For its 11th week in the chart, "Hips Don't Lie" reached number 9 based on heavy airplay rotation on American radio and received the "airplay gainer" title for three consecutive weeks. In the issue dated May 27, 2006, "Hips Don't Lie" ascended to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, becoming Shakira's first number-one hit in the chart where it remained for three weeks. On the chart issue dated 17 June 2006, "Hips Don't Lie" reached number one on the multi-metric Hot 100 chart, becoming the singer's first and only number-one in the US to date. Its number-one position was aided by 267,000 digital copies sold in its first week of availability in the digital stores and its number-one position on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. That sum also marks the biggest opening-week digital sales for a single in 2006, as well as the highest-selling song in its first week for a female artist in 2006. "Hips Don't Lie" spent two consecutive weeks at the top of the chart, and was the 5th most successful song of 2006, the second highest ranked song for a female artist behind Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous". Throughout 2006, it sold 1,410,237 digital copies in the United States. As of 17 June 2021, the song has sold 4,100,000 digital copies, two million ringtones and garnered 685 million streams in the US alone, despite only being digitally available in June 2006, three months after its release. In 2021, Billboard included the song on its list of the "Biggest Hot 100 No. 1s of Last 30 Years", confirming that the single had at least twice the weekly Hot 100 points of the runner-up title, "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone during the June 17, 2006 week. To date, it is Shakira's most successful single in the United States.
In Canada, the song has been certified Diamond in 2024, being Shakira’s best selling single and one of the best selling singles in Canada.
In the UK, it spent a total of five weeks at number one. After its initial one-week reign at number one, it returned to the top in its 8th week preventing Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man", Rihanna's "Unfaithful", as well as Cascada's "Everytime We Touch" and Chamillionaire's "Ridin' from going to No. 1 until it was replaced by Beyoncé's "Déjà Vu". "Hips Don't Lie" broke the record for the most weeks for a song in a second run, staying four weeks during its second reign at number one, a record it now shares with "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Belgian-Australian singer Gotye. The song remained in the top 10 for 16 weeks and then stayed within the top 75 for an additional 38 weeks. "Hips Don't Lie" finished the 2000s decade as the 11th best selling single by a female artist in the 21st century in the UK, and also the 10th best-selling collaboration. It is also the 46th best-selling single of the 2000s decade in the UK.Radio 1 Official Chart of the Decade, as broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on Tuesday 29 December 2009, presented by Nihal
In Australia, the song debuted at No. 1 and remained at the top of the chart for 9 weeks. The song has been certified as six times platinum in the country, becoming one of the best selling 2000s singles. In Ireland, the single remained at the number one spot for a total of nine weeks throughout the summer. "Hips Don't Lie" was the most successful song of 2006 worldwide and it reached No. 1 in the majority of charting countries and territories around the world. It also reached number one on the US Billboard Pop 100 and Hot Latin Tracks charts, in Colombia, the Czech Republic, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latin America, Lebanon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Switzerland. The song peaked inside the top ten in Austria, Canada (on the Canadian Airplay Chart), Finland, Norway, Denmark and Russia. Furthermore, it reached the 94 position on the Japan International Singles chart. In Sweden, it peaked at number forty-five. "Hips Don't Lie" was the number-two-year-end song in the Netherlands; it also finished number three in Germany and the UK, and in the US it was number five. In Germany, it is the fourth best-selling pop duet ever. It was the best selling song of 2006 in Europe.
Music video
The music video was directed by British director Sophie Muller and filmed in Los Angeles. The video begins with Shakira against a black background dancing while Wyclef and a couple of other men are watching her. When Wyclef raps his first rap verse, it shows him following Shakira with pink curtains everywhere. It also shows them on the street along with different people. When the second verse begins, she is seen sitting in a chair while singing. It then cuts to an arena-like environment, where Shakira is dancing with other people. It ends with Shakira against the black background. The majority of the costumes and outfits featured in the video belong to the Carnaval de Barranquilla, some of which include the white dress Shakira dances in, and the colorful flags.