She Wolf (Shakira song)

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Shakira said that the idea for "She Wolf" came to her "very mysteriously", revealing "I was in the studio in a bad mood that day, then I got inspired and went to a corner and I wrote the lyrics and the melody in 10 minutes. The image of the she wolf just came to my head, and when I least expected it I was howling and panting". Initially, she felt unsure of being able to write the lyrics in English, reaching out to Sia and Seth MacFarlane for help but nothing came to fruition. Shakira ended up writing the entire lyrics by herself. The music was composed by Shakira with John Hill and Sam Endicott. Endicott, musician and lead singer of American post-punk band The Bravery, explained how he and Hill began working with Shakira, saying she "contacted him (Hill), asking if he had any stuff. We never had her in mind. We just made the thing independently of her, and then she liked it a lot, and she sang over it. She used some of the melodies we put in there and then wrote these crazy lyrics about being a werewolf. And that's how it happened". "She Wolf" contains a sample of the strings breakdown from "Good Times" by Chic. The single was described by Slant Magazine as a "sleek, hi-NRG/Italo throwback that's drenched in disco strings" and "sleek electropop". Mikael Wood from Spin identified the song's genre as synth-pop. Shakira also howls and pants at various times during the song. Shakira's vocal range on the song spans from B3 to D5. The song was released by Epic Records as the lead single from the album of the same name. "She Wolf" was made available for digital download on iTunes on 10 July 2009. It was released as a CD single later on 21 September. A Spanish-language translation of the song titled "Loba", which features additional lyrical contributions from Jorge Drexler, was released on 6 July 2009. == Critical reception ==

The song was well received by most music critics. David Balls from Digital Spy gave the song a positive review and said that the song "manages to be fresh and quirky while still sounding like a smash". At the 2009 International Dance Music Awards ceremony, "She Wolf" was nominated for "Best Latin Track", but lost to Pitbull's song "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)". At the 2009 Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica awards ceremony, the song was nominated in the category "Canción Del Año" ("Song of the Year"). At the 2009 Premios 40 Principales awards ceremony, "Loba" won the award for "Best International Song in Spanish Language". At the 2009 Premios Shock award ceremony, the song was nominated "Best Radio Song". At the 2010 Premios Juventud awards ceremony, the song was nominated for "Mi Ringtone" ("My Ringtone"), but lost to Tito El Bambino's song "El Amor". At the 2010 Latin Billboard Music Awards, the song was nominated for "Latin Pop Airplay Song of the Year" and "Latin Digital Download of the Year", but lost both. At the 2010 ASCAP awards ceremony, Jorge Drexler won an award for his composition of "Loba". It was acknowledged as an award winning song at the 2011 BMI Latin Awards. Lists == Commercial performance ==

In Austria, the song entered and peaked at number three on the Austrian Singles Chart, spending a total of 19 weeks on the chart. In the Dutch-speaking Flanders region of Belgium, the song entered the Ultratop chart at number 48 and peaked at 16, spending a total of 15 weeks on the chart. It performed much better in the French-speaking Wallonia region of Belgium, where it entered the Ultratop chart at number eight and peaked at number five, spending a total of 21 weeks on the chart. "She Wolf" was Shakira's second consecutive single to peak at number five in the region, after "Beautiful Liar" (2007). In Germany, the song peaked at number two on the German Singles Chart. In Ireland, the song peaked at number two on the Irish Singles Chart, spending a total of 12 weeks on the chart. In Italy, "Loba" entered the Italian Singles Chart at number 12 and peaked at number three, spending a total of 22 weeks on the chart. It became Shakira's first single to receive a record certification in the country after the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) certified the song platinum for selling 30,000 units. In Norway, "She Wolf" narrowly missed charting inside the top ten of the Norwegian Singles Chart by peaking at number 11. In Spain, "Loba" entered the Spanish Singles Chart at number 25 and peaked at number two. In Switzerland, the song entered and peaked at number three on the Swiss Singles Chart, spending a total of 23 weeks on the chart. In this territory, it was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for selling 10,000 units. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified "She Wolf" platinum for sales and streams of 600,000 units. "Loba" became a success in Mexico, peaking at number one on the Monitor Latino airplay chart and receiving a platinum certification from the Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas (AMPROFON). In the United States, "She Wolf" debuted at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Shakira's highest debuting song on the chart. It later narrowly missed reaching inside the top 10 of the chart by peaking at number 11. On the Hot Dance Club Songs chart, it peaked at number one and spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart. "She Wolf" became Shakira's second solo consecutive single to peak atop the chart after "Illegal" (2006). "She Wolf" remained as Shakira's highest-debuting single on the Billboard Hot 100 until "Can't Remember to Forget You" broke its record in 2014 by debuting at number 28. The Spanish-language translation "Loba" peaked at number one on Hot Latin Songs chart, spending a total of 22 weeks on the chart. It became Shakira's fourteenth top-ten single on the chart and tied her with American singer-songwriter Selena for having the fifth-most top-ten singles for a female artist. On the Tropical Songs chart, "Loba" peaked at number one, spending a total of 20 weeks on the chart. "She Wolf" was certified platinum in the United States for digital downloads of 1,000,000 copies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of March 2014, "She Wolf" stands as Shakira's second highest-selling digital song in the United States with sales of 1,812,000 units, behind her 2006 hit "Hips Don't Lie". == Music video ==