Shakira REFUSED to change lyrics to Gerard Pique diss track despite her team begging her to reconsider: ‘I have the right to work on my emotions through my music’

Shakira’s split from Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué last year after 11 years together not only shook her world as she knew it, it also marked her as a darling of the Spanish tabloids, having lived in Barcelona since starting their family together .

And while the publicized breakup at times wreaked havoc on her heart and soul, the process of trying to understand the loss and betrayal amid accusations of infidelity on Piqué’s part seems to have turned to gold in terms of her art.

It seems Shakira has managed to pull off the old classic move of using your art to exercise your demons, as she has had six chart-topping hits over the past twelve months, in the wake of her divorce from Pique, according to Billboard.

And what’s more: all six hits refer to the divorce with Piqué, which varies in emotions from great sadness to anger and ultimately the hope of what will happen in the future.

This year, the Colombian singer has scored two song numbers this year with TQG featuring Karol G. and Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53. featuring Argentinian DJ Bizarrap, a diss track that focuses on Piqué, but is also an anthem for women’s empowerment.

Both TQG and Sessions would also reach the top 10 of the Hot 100, while the former topped the Billboard Global 200.

Sessions reached number one in 16 countries, as well as on Hot Latin Songs.

In a new interview with Billboard, Shakira (born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll), 46, was asked about the controversy surrounding Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53, and whether it was right to speak out so publicly about her relationship with the former football star, 36.

“When I did that session, people on my team said, ‘Please change this. Don’t even think about coming out with those lyrics.’ And I said, “Why not?” I am not a diplomat at the United Nations. I am an artist and I have the right to work on my emotions through my music,” she proudly stated.

She continued, “It’s my catharsis and my therapy, but it’s also a lot of people’s therapy. I know I’m the voice of many people, and I’m not pretentious, just realistic. I lend my voice to a lot of women who may have also wanted to say the same things I did, but may not have had the validation to do so.”

It sounded like Shakira felt an obligation to speak out for women as a whole when it came to the lyrics of songs like Sessions and TQG.

“I think songs like the Bizarrap session or like the one I did with Karol have given a lot of women strength, self-empowerment, self-confidence and also the support to express and say what they need to say.”

The correlation between the breakup of her family after her divorce from Piqué and her newfound musical renaissance is something Shakira is aware of.

‘I feel like a cat with more than nine lives; every time I think things can’t get any better, I suddenly get a second wind,” she says in a tone of gratitude for her words. ‘I went through different phases: denial, anger, pain, frustration, anger again, pain again. Now I’m in a survival phase. Just keep your head above water. And it is a reflection phase. And a phase in which I work very hard and when I have time for my children, I actually spend it with them.’

Before her recent string of hits, Shakira’s last number one on the Hot Latin Songs chart was Chantaje, featuring Maluma, in 2016.

Her descent from the top of the charts over the past decade sounded more like a choice for a woman who prided herself on putting her family and their life in Barcelona first.

‘My priority was my home, my family. I believed in ’till death do us part’. I believed that dream, and I had that dream for myself, for my children,” the Barranquilla native admitted in the interview.

She added: “My parents have been together for fifty years, I don’t know, and they love each other like on the first day, with a love that is unique and unrepeatable. So I know it’s possible. My mother does not leave my (ill) father’s side. They still kiss on the mouth. And it has always been my example. I wanted that for myself and my children, but it didn’t happen.’

Despite the heartbreak and disappointment, the Try Everything star knew she had to keep going for herself and her two children, Milán (10) and Sasha (8).

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” she declared. ‘That’s what I do: make lemonade.

Since May, when the Colombian star moved from Barcelona to Miami, she has been spending as much time as possible in the recording studio working on new music for an upcoming new album and tour.

It will be her twelfth studio album and first since the release of El Dorado in May 2017.

Inspired by her personal life and experiences, El Dorado mainly features songs about the singer’s relationship with Piqué, which began after meeting in 2011.

Now it seems like the focus is largely on Piqué again, in terms of lyrics, but now it’s about saying goodbye to the sadness and enjoying her new life in Miami with her children.

“I think this will be the tour of a lifetime,” she said, as preparations for the global trek are still underway. ‘I am very excited. Just imagine: I had my foot on the brake. Now I’m pressing the accelerator, hard.’