"23" is a song recorded by Colombian songwriter

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

for her eponymous album (2014). It was written by Shakira and Luis Fernando Ochoa and produced by

Busbee Michael James Ryan Busbee (June 18, 1976 – September 29, 2019), known professionally as Busbee, was an American songwriter, record producer, publisher, record executive, and multi-instrumentalist. He was known for his work in both pop mus ...

and Shakira together with Ochoa. "23" is a

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song with

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influences. The song received generally positive reviews from

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. The song is written about Shakira's relationship with her then-boyfriend

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a talented student athlete at Barcelona's La ...

Background and composition

In November 2012, Shakira revealed in an interview with ''

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'' magazine that she had begun writing new material and working with various producers for a new record. The following year, she ended her recording contract with

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and signed under

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for management purposes. In December 2013, it was announced that Shakira had signed a recording contract with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, under which the record would be released. On March 21, 2014, the album was released under the eponymous title ''

''. "This album is very close to my heart and reflects a stage in my life", commented Shakira on the album's content. "23" was written by

together with Luis Fernando Ochoa. The song was produced by

and Shakira, while Luis Fernando Ochoa provided additional production. "23" was recorded at Estopa Estudios in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona by Dave Clauss and Eric Eylands served as engineering assistant. Also Clauss mixed the song at Grabaciones Silvestres in Sant Quirze Safaja, Barcelona and Joel Condal who served as mixing assistant. Busbee provided the programming and the

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, David Levita provided the guitar while Alejandro Serrano the

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

. The song also had the participation by Shakira's son Milan who provided the

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Milan was in the studio as Shakira recorded the song, and his laughter can be heard at the end. "I put a pair of headphones on him and he was listening really intently and after I finished the last little bit of the song ... he goes 'muau' and he just stayed there on the final recording, just like it happened. It was very emotional, it brought tears to my eyes," Shakira emphasized on the recording process. Lyrically, "23" honors Shakira's relationship with Piqué and reflects on his impact on her life. In the song, she reflects on the moment she first met Piqué, expressing that she felt an immediate connection between them and that fate played a role in bringing them together when he was just 23. Shakira commented that it's "one of the most personal songs" she has ever written.

Critical reception

Direct Lyrics review the song positively by saying it was "Without a doubt Shakira's most-personal song on the album". Leila Cobo at the

said that the song is "The overall effect is one of innocence and vulnerability". At

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, Brendan Schroer review the instrumentation of the song like an "Shakira's highly honest and reflective performances". Elysa Gardner of

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defines the song as "a gently blissed-out track" and praised the fact that Shakira credited her son Milan as the "youngest background vocalist in the world!". At

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

' Jon Pareles said that "23" shows "her professions of love sound both innocent and obsessive, and the idiosyncrasies of her English lyrics". David Ferrell at

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

concludes that "motherhood seems to have brought out Shakira’s soft side on the charming "23"".

Live performances

Shakira first performed "23" at the album launch parties in

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on 20 March 2014, and at the

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Theater in

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on 24 March 2014. On 10 May 2014, Shakira performed the song alongside other songs at the

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concert in

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, as she did on 10 July, when she performed it on

Fantástico ''Fantástico'' (originally known as ''Fantástico: O Show da Vida'', Portuguese for ''Fantastic The Show of Life'') is a Brazilian weekly television news program broadcast on Sunday nights on TV Globo since August 5, 1973, created by José Bon ...

at the

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studios in Jardim Botânico,

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. She also performed the song at Al Rojo Vivo in

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on 12 June 2014.

Credits and personnel

;Recording and mixing *Recorded at Estopa Estudios, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain; mixed at Grabaciones Silvestres, Sant Quirze Safaja, Barcelona. ;Personnel *

Songwriting A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

– Shakira, Luis Fernando Ochoa *

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– Shakira,

*Additional production – Luis Fernando Ochoa *Recording - Dave Clauss *Mixing – Dave Clauss *Mixing assistant – Joel Condal *Programming – Busbee Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Shakira'', RCA Records, Sony Music Latin.

References

{{Shakira songs Shakira songs Songs written by Shakira Song recordings produced by busbee Songs written by Luis Fernando Ochoa Pop rock songs Country music songs 2014 songs