Shakira

Shakira’s theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup—“Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)”—solidified her international appeal, but the Colombian-born singer with the absurdly articulated hips has been traversing musical borders for nearly two decades. Granted a surprising amount of creative control for such a high-profile pop act, in 2009 Shakira used those freedoms to set She Wolf in a sweaty, anything-goes discotheque. The bizarro, vocodered disco of the title track occasionally tips over into distressingly Fergie-like territories, but the new “Loca”—the lead single from the new, bilingual Sale El Sol —proves there’s still enough sensual craziness in her to make up for her most whacked-out English-language lyrics.

Updated 09/21/2010