Shakira and Fuerza Regida defend the working class and tell off bad bosses everywhere in the new music video for their joint single “El Jefe,” or “The Boss.”
“You’re dreaming of leaving the barrio, you have everything it takes to be a millionaire, expensive taste, the mentality, you’re just missing a salary,” Shakira sings over a bouncy, acoustic guitar-driven beat. Fuerza Regida’s frontman Jesus Ortiz Paz joins in adding, “Being poor is trash, my mom always told me studying would secure everything but I studied and nothing happened.”
The video sees Shakira and members of Fuerza Regida alluding to the struggles and efforts of the working class — at one point their heads appear on silver platters for men in suits. Meanwhile, Shakira appears stoic in a monochromatic red outfit, atop a horse and joins Fuerza Regida in a dance party that also includes a cameo from songwriter-producer Edgar Barrera, who is the most-nominated artist at the Latin Grammys this year.
The new song and video arrived weeks after Shakira’s career-spanning performance at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12, where she sang her timeless hits including “She Wolf” and “Hips Don’t Lie,” among others. That night, Shakira became the first South American artist to receive MTV’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
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Shakira tied with Karol G as the most-nominated female artist at the Latin Grammys this year and has been rapidly releasing popular singles, her latest being “Copa Vacía,” featuring Manuel Turizo. The Colombian singer and Latin Grammys vet is up for record of the year for her part in “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” and is also nominated three times for song of the year for “TQG,” “Acróstico” and again for “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”
Watch the video for “El Jefe” below.
