Editor’s Note
Shakira’s upcoming album, *Las mujeres ya no lloran* (Women No Longer Cry), marks a powerful artistic statement of resilience and self-reclamation following her public separation. As this article details, the project is rich with symbolism, using the diamond as a central metaphor for strength forged under pressure.
Shakira has taken back control of her life following her turbulent separation from Piqué and will reflect this in Las mujeres ya no lloran (Women No Longer Cry), her upcoming album. After the storm always comes calm, but it’s necessary to take the bull by the horns to withstand the trot. Her new studio album is loaded with symbolism and metaphors, with the diamond being the most powerful element of the project.
Shakira left everything for love, a decision she likely regrets. In 2011, shortly after her relationship with Gerard Piqué was confirmed, she moved to Barcelona to focus on her partner and forgot about herself. Her last album, El Dorado, was released in 2017, and she was absent from the international scene for several years, despite continuing to release songs like Clandestino with Maluma, Me gusta with Anuel AA, or Don’t Wait Up. In 2023, the Barranquilla native moved to Miami and began planning her return to music.
Almost seven years after her last studio album, Shakira returns on March 22 with the album Las mujeres ya no lloran, a project with which she aims to make a statement and re-establish herself as one of the most influential Latin singers in history. As seen on her social media, it will have four versions—diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire—each presenting a distinct attribute.
The diamond is the main precious stone and the gear that moves all the pieces of the album, especially due to the story of overcoming that the Colombian artist wants to tell. Everything is summed up in the phrase ‘Women no longer cry, women invoice’, which we first heard in the Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53. The song, released in early 2023, revolutionized the entire world due to the evident darts Shakira threw at her ex and his current partner, Clara Chia.
With it, the artist wanted to make it clear that she had suffered greatly from her separation and was not going to stay home sad and depressed, but rather would use these experiences to give a boost to her music career. A kind of adaptation of ‘if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’
The main album cover shows Shakira crying, although her tears are diamonds. That is, she monetizes her misfortunes.
The choice of diamonds was no coincidence and seeks to send a message of strength and power to her haters. Following the session with Bizarrap, many people criticized her for living off her separation from Piqué and being unable to write about other topics.
Shakira has been clever and managed to turn the story around, and now she boasts of being a sensitive woman who wears her tears as a flag. The same happened with Taylor Swift in 2017 when, after months of being called a ‘snake,’ she turned the reptile into the symbol of her next album, Reputation.
Shakira’s new album promises to be a torrent of uncontrolled emotions that will allow the singer’s fans to step into her shoes and feel what her last few years have been like, heavily marked by pain and the need to reinvent herself.