Just like Shakira’s hips, I cannot lie to you: “Hips Don’t Lie” popped into my head not the moment I saw this cover, but rather the moment I read the subject line of the email from Cosmo that informed me that this cover existed. And now it’s also in your head! I would apologize, but “Hips Don’t Lie” is an extremely good song.
This cover is also very good: It’s sexy (I mean, it is Cosmo) but Formal 80s Jazzercise Class is also sincerely creative and entertaining as vibes go. It fits the magazine’s aesthetic but it’s also retro in a way that is kind of a hoot. (The editorial shoot is also along these same lines; click through to read the interview and also to see Shakira on a exercise bike in boots and enthusiastically lifting little hand weights.)
Speaking of the interview, it is a good read — Shakira is very insightful and quite forthcoming at times. I thought this was very thoughtful:
To this day, I find it hard to sing to a small group. It’s embarrassing. I feel a little silly, a little ridiculous, and a little naked. The stage and crowd and lights and applause of the people dress me. Once you take that away and you’re there with your voice—it’s such a private, intimate act, the one of singing and exposing your soul. It’s not a coincidence that people sing in the shower most of the time, because that’s when they’re completely naked and uninhibited and alone.
Is Shakira a philosopher? (She does also discuss Socrates.) I mean…why not?
