Me Gusta by Shakira and Anuel AA

Published by Lyrical Language on May 6, 2020May 6, 2020

I have enjoyed Shakira’s music for years, and since this song has enjoyed recent popularity, I figured it was a good place to start. And let’s be honest, as she’s had a huge impact on Latin music, no Spanish song list would be complete without the “Queen of Latin Pop”.

“Me Gusta” is a song that was released January 13, 2020 by Colombian singer Shakira and Puerto Rican rapper/singer Anuel AA. The song debuted at number 20 on Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs four days after its release, and reached number six the following week. It hit the top ten in several Latin American countries, including reaching number one in Mexico and number two in Spain. It was certified platinum in Mexico, Spain and the US, and gold in Brazil. Shakira holds the record for the female artist with the most top 10 hits, and this song is her 30th top ten hit.

Song information from Wikipedia (English and Spanish)

About the Artists

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, who performs under the name Shakira, is singer/songwriter from Barranquilla Colombia. She is also a dancer, actress, record producer and philanthropist. The name Shakira means ‘grateful’ in Arabic. Her high sales, vocal versatility and global success have led her to be named the «Reina del pop latino» (Queen of Latin Pop) by Sony Music and Billboard.

She released her first album at 14. While her first two albums were unsuccessful, her third and fourth albums had success in Spanish-speaking countries. She gained international attention in 2001 with her fifth album, and her first English album, Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies. Two songs from this album, “Whenever, Wherever” and “Underneath Your Clothes” were international number-one singles. Since then her albums have all been certified gold, platinum, multi-platinum or diamante in various countries around the world, and she has had several songs that have reached number one in the charts in multiple countries. Her duet “Hips Don’t lie” with Wyclef Jean reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first South American artist to do so.

Shakira’s music awards include three Grammy Awards, twelve Latin Grammy Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards and forty-two Billboard Latin Music Awards. She is the woman with the most Billboard Latin Music Awards, and was named the Top Female Latin Artist of the Decade in 2009 by Billboard. She is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, with 75 million records sold worldwide. She is Spotify’s most streamed Latin artist.

Aside from her music, Shakira was a coach on the fourth and sixth seasons of The Voice in 2013 and 2014. She voiced Gazelle in the 2016 film Zootopia and sang the film’s single “Try Everything”. She is the first artist to perform at three consecutive FIFA World Cups, and performed with Jennifer Lopez in the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show.

When Shakira was 8 years old her father filed bankruptcy and her family lost many of their possessions. Since as a child this seemed like the end of the world, her father took her to a park where orphans were living, in an effort to instill gratitude in her for what she had and show her things could be worse. This experience stayed with her, and she told herself that one day when she was famous she would help those children. And that’s exactly what she did. In 1997 she founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation (Barefoot Foundation). The foundation, which takes its name from her third album, provides special schools for poor children throughout Colombia. Focusing on aid through education, its five schools provide meals and education for 4,000 children. Shakira has received numerous awards for her philanthropic work, including being named the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year in 2011.

Biographical information from Wikipedia (English and Spanish)

Anuel AA

Anuell AA is newer to the Latin music scene. Emmanuel Gazmey Santiago, who performs as Anuell AA, is a rapper and reggaeton and trap singer from Carolina, Puerto Rico. He grew up in a housing project there, and this upbringing has had a great impact on his music. He is considered a pioneer of the Latin trap movement.

When he was 14 he started writing music, which he began posting online in 2010 once he turned 18. His music got millions of streams, and got the attention of American rapper Rick Ross, getting him signed to the Latin division of Maybach Music Group. In 2016 he released a mixtape called Real Hasta La Muerte, which was successfully received and led to a guest appearance on Ozuna’s album Odisea in 2017.

Anuell AA was arrested for firearms possession in April of 2016 and sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. He recorded his first album, also entitled Real Hasta la Muerte, while incarcerated. The day he was released from prison in July 2018 he released the album. It topped the US Top Latin Albums chart and had eleven charting singles.

Aside from releasing “Me Gusta” with Shakira, he has collaborated with Ozuna, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Karol G, Romeo Santos, Nicki Minaj, Zion, Wisin and Ñengo Flow. The song “China”, a collaboration with Ozuna, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin and Karol G released in August of 2019, was a global success, with more than 1 billion views on YouTube. He is set to release a second album in 2020 that will contain collaborations with Karol G, Daddy Yankee, Kendo Kaponi, and Wisin y Yandel.

In 2019 he won the New Artist of the Year Billboard Latin Music Award.

Biographical information from Wikipedia (English and Spanish)

Cultural References, Idioms and Explanations

‘gustar’ – The verb gustar is used to state that someone likes something, but the person doing the liking in the object of the sentence, not the subject. Literally this phrase means ‘[item] is pleasing to [person]’. The verb is conjugated for the item being liked, for example ‘me gusta el libro’ (singular) but ‘me gustan los libros’ (plural).

‘darle a uno la gana’ – This phrase means literally ‘to give someone the urge’. In common usage it means ‘to feel like’ or ‘to want to’.

‘endulzar el oído’ – Literally meaning ‘to sweeten the ear’, this phrase can be translated as ‘to butter someone up’, ‘to flatter someone’, or ‘to sweet talk someone’.

‘cumplir con alguien’ – While ‘cumplir’ means ‘to accomplish’ on its own, when used in this phrase it means ‘to do right by someone’, ‘to do one’s duty’, or ‘to hold up one’s side of the bargain’.

‘mami’ – While this term can mean ‘mommy’, it is very often used as a slang term to refer to an attractive woman, a female romantic partner, or a close female friend. As you will often hear the term ‘girl’ used to refer to women in English language songs (come on girl, you know I love you), I have used this term in my translations.

passive ‘se’ – There are several examples of the passive ‘se’ in this song, such as ‘se resuelvan’ and ‘se ve’. The passive ‘se’ tells something that happened or is happening, without telling who or what performs the action. It is like using the passive voice in English, for example ‘the books were opened’ (someone opened them, but we don’t know who). The verb conjugates for whatever item is being acted upon. ‘Se resuelvan las problemas’ (plural), and ‘el amor se ve‘ (singular).

‘ir a’ – The verb ‘ir’ means ‘to go’. As in English, when this verb is used with a place, it implies movement towards that place. But when it is used with another verb, it implies that that action will be preformed in the future. For example ‘I am going to the store’ ‘(voy a la tienda’) vs ‘I am going to eat’ (‘voy a comer’).

‘los dos’ – While this phrase literally means ‘the two’, in normal usage it often means ‘the two of us’ or ‘both of us’.

Song Lyrics with Grammatical Breakdown

Mouse over a term for grammatical information. A chart of the terms and grammatical information can be found here.

Me Gusta