After a tumultuous couple of years that included a nasty divorce, the illness of a loved one and severe tax woes, Shakira is finally on the other side of a traumatic time and is shining brighter than she ever has in her three decade career. It’s been a few years now since her latest album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, but the accompanying world tour is still going strong. To keep things fresh and exciting musically, Shakira has released a new single with the help of fellow Colombian artist Beéle who is enjoying his own taste of commercial success as well. “ALGO TÚ” is an homage to both of their roots and a celebration of the music that helped raise them.

The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour has been an overwhelming success from its first announcement in 2024. First, Shakira was forced to upgrade to stadiums due to unprecedented demand. Then, the Latin American leg of the tour sold so well that she ended up breaking records in almost every city she visited. In Brazil she had the biggest attendance by a solo female artist this century, while in Argentina she has the fastest selling show in history by a female artist. Then there’s Mexico City, where she performed a record-breaking 13 shows at the Estadio GNP Seguros, making her both the artist with the most career shows at the stadium (17) and the first female artist on tour in history to perform more than ten stadium shows in a single city. If Harry Styles has the arenas of the world on lock with his round of residencies this year, Shakira is doing the same thing in stadiums across Latin America. She takes the tour to Europe this summer but to cap off the first year of shows there was a free concert in Mexico City just last week that attracted more than 400,000 fans. Shak performed her latest single with Beéle which also was live-streamed to fans worldwide. It was also the first of two free shows on this tour. The second is coming up this May at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro, where last year Lady Gaga performed for more than 2.5 million fans. Shakira’s attendance is expected to surpass that. The cherry on top of all this tour success is the fact that Shak was also just nominated to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

This nomination makes sense to me for a number of reason. Shakira is a rock star through and through, more so than people might want to give her credit for. Every single album of hers, especially the ones from her early years as an artist, have a heavy rock influence trickling throughout the entire project. Whether it’s the electric guitar solo in “Inevitable” or the alternative influence on “Sale el Sol”, she has incorporated rock and elements in her live shows and recorded music since the beginning. This is the girl who once said that Radiohead’s OK Computer is her favourite album of all time. Shak is a true rock chick, she’s been around for well over 30 years now so it’s a perfect time for her to be getting her legend flowers. Time will tell if she snags the induction, but already getting nominated is a win on its own.

Next week is the release of Jack Harlow’s newest album Monica, which was announced last month. There hasn’t been any single release and conversation has been relatively quiet, but I’ll let the music speak for itself once it hits the airwaves. This week we’ve got both Shakira and Jennifer Lopez with new music, as well as Ty Dolla $ign with Brandy, Yebba and of course, Harry Styles. Plus, a viral pick that comes from one of my favourite albums of 2026 so far.

Listen on…

MC’s PICKS OF THE WEEK

“ALGO TÚ” by Shakira & Beéle

Shakira’s musical choices over the last ten years have been experimental while still maintaining her signature sound. Her voice is unmistakable so it doesn’t even really matter what genre she sings, you know her when you hear her. From electronic and dance, to Reggaeton, to more Afro-Caribbean infused sounds, she has put her stamp on all genres that have made noise in the world of Latin music. This new track with fellow Colombian artist Beéle is a blend of Electronic and Afrobeats, with a festive flute solo in the bridge of the song. The song is a tribute to both artists’ Colombian roots with the traditional sounds of Baranquilla echoing throughout the entire duration. There’s some Cumbia in there as well as some Vallenato, both sounds that are very popular in the region. The music video isn’t out yet but it’s already been confirmed to have been filmed in Shak’s hometown of Baranquilla, Colombia which will take this homecoming tribute to a whole new level. Clearly inspired by the victory lap she has been revelling in on her sold-out stadium tour across North and South America, Shakira has been finding her greatest career achievements ever as a result of her honouring her roots and staying true to the music that made her original fans from 30 years ago fall in love with her, before her English crossover in 2001.

“Save Me Tonight” by Jennifer Lopez, David Guetta

From Shakira to J.Lo, this week is just one big blast from the 2020 pre-COVID past. Mindless dance is Jenny from The Block’s bread and butter, it’s the genre that helped her stage a successful comeback in 2011 with “On The Floor” and by the looks of it, she’s hoping to do the same thing this time around. With some help from David Guetta she has released a real potential crowd-pleaser. I hated the last single of hers, “Birthday”, which to me felt incredibly try-hard and inauthentic. This one on the other hand, while not being anything exceptionally new for her, is a formula that works. As much as she loves to attempt to give us vocal moments, because the fact is she is not the best vocalist and her voice shines when there’s a dance beat to help support her-  and that’s ok. Those of us who love J.Lo can appreciate the vocals that she does have. Not everything needs to be Whitney Houston all the time, and some people should just stop trying to do that. It seems to be resonating with the public too because the song earned 1.02 million streams on Spotify on its first day, the biggest of her career so far in the streaming era. “Save Me Tonight” sounds like it came straight from one of her 2011 recording sessions with Pitbull. If anything, omitting Pitbull from this song was a mistake as it really could have tugged on the ever so successful nostalgia of it all. A recent appearance on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live indicates that Jennifer intends to continue with the dance motif and record a new cance album. One thing I’ll always say about Jennifer is that she does not let any of her creative flops stop her from carrying on. I’ll be here listening Jenny, always.

“intention” by Ty Dolla $ign, Brandy

It’s no secret that I’m a Brandy stan so if there is a new Brandy single or feature, I am all over it. Ty Dolla $ign has released the first part of his three-part EP series, girl music vol. 1, complete with six new songs ready for the bedroom. The EP has features from Brandy, Leon Thomas and Ronald Isley centered around romantic music that will please the ladies (and me lol). It’s the best Brandy has sounded on a recording in years. A big critique that some fans online may have with her recent vocal appearances is they tend to be overproduced with some unnecessary faulty mixing making it sound a bit chaotic. Her recent remix of Kehlani’s “Folded” is an example of this – even though personally I enjoy listening to the stacked vocals, I can understand why some fans want the vocal production to be less busy. She’s got gorgeous vocal ability, they don’t call her the “vocal bible” for no reason, so it’s nice to hear her voice crystal clear in this duet, and it’s such a great one. The entire EP is songs of a similar vein, the type of R&B that artists like SZA and Summer Walker are currently dominating the streaming charts with. It’ll be interesting to see which artists he features on future iterations of this EP series – maybe a “safety net” part 2 with Ariana Grande? One can only hope.

“Are You Listening Yet?” by Harry Styles

Harry’s new album is a whole ton of fun and just the type of cute Brit pop that I enjoy. I would not say that the entire collection of songs is anything groundbreaking, though. There are no real surprises here. Having said this, “Are You Listening Yet?” is a standout. Harry’s rapping style performance on the verses is charming and reminiscent of something I’d hear from Robbie Williams in 2000. Plus, it was an instant addition to my running playlist which is greatly appreciated since I’ve training for a marathon. This song is so catchy and joyful with the bumping drums in the chorus that make a perfect wall of sound of Harry’s stacked chants of “are you listening yet?” before a roaring guitar transitions into the bridge. It’s so Gay Pride coded, whether that was intended or not. The girls are going to be having some real fun to this one, and while I do enjoy the second single “American Girls”, I would argue that this song is the real banger. For some reason I am still here enjoying Cruz Beckham’s latest solo music and this entire Harry album was just reminding me of how much I look forward to Cruz’s full-length album. Am I drinking too much of the Beckham Kool-Aid? Either way, Harry’s album is a pleasant listen and sounds like it will translate well to a live show which seems to be the focus of this era in his career. It’s been a fun year so far of male pop stars returning to the conversation between Harry and Bruno – please, don’t get any ideas Justin Timberlake.

“Earth, Wind & California” by Yebba

It’s been five years since Yebba released a new body of work, but since 2026 is the year of the comeback, what better time to put an end to the hiatus? Known for her stripped-back production and powerful vocal performances, YEBBA is sliding right back into the indie-R&B pockets that she became known for on her debut album and on her features with artists such as Drake and Sam Smith. “Earth, Wind & California” is Yebba in her more mellow state but only where the music itself is concerned, because the lyrics are a cutthroat look at the world of pop culture politics in Hollywood and California in general. “Prolonging death to suck dick for the man who makes us come to meetings about meetings, we’re fucked” is about as honest a take on the “corporate morgue” as ever. What is the “corporate morgue” you ask? If you read Mariah Carey’s memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, you’ll know she refers to the men in the suits at the record labels (the ones who make the big decisions) as said term for reasons that are pretty self-explanatory. Her words, not mine, although depending on the day I may agree with her. Yebba explains how the never-ending loop of corporate nonsense that is plaguing all creative industries can be soul-sucking. Alas, this is California, it’s not all sunshine and marijuana. Still, it’s all executed beautifully and Yebba sound as angelic as ever, and she’s become somewhat of a darling in the indie world, finding the perfect frequency between mainstream attention and still keeping true to underground traditions. The new album Jean is just further proof that she still is writing her music with the same grit.

MC’s VIRAL PICK

“butterflies.” By Brent Faiyaz

Gen Z and Gen Alpha have finally found a romantic anthem that has become a staple for their love stories. Long gone are the days of a handwritten love letter – today’s youth share their love through social media posts, and those posts need a soundtrack. A few weeks ago, I spoke about Brent Faiyaz’s new album and how he was shedding his image of “toxic lover” for a more romantic approach. The result was a herd of teens and 20-somethings streaming the f-ck out of the new music, and taking a particular liking to the track “butterflies.”. The song talks about a church girl that Brent falls in love with who makes him want to completely shed his toxic relationship ways, and go full start on a monogamous coupling. The song itself was co-produced by none other than Benny Blanco, so one has to wonder if there was just a ton of lovey-dovey energy in the room when creating the music. “How do you feel? Is it anything like I feel?”, Brent sings to his lover, wondering if she feels the same. “Maybe you think it’s untrue, but I’ve fallen for you” is the line that points exactly to the disbelief that listeners had hearing Brent Faiyaz yearning for a girl. TikTok has reacted and it’s a collection of instrumental covers, vocal performances, and just all around appreciation for an exquisitely beautiful love song. Who said that romance is dead?

@therealstephh #brentfaiyaz #icon ♬ butterflies. - Brent Faiyaz
@emmanuelmartirosi Brent Faiyaz - Butterflies Tenor sax version. #saxophone #brentfaiyaz #musica ♬ origineel geluid - 𝑬𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒍

The song is quickly becoming a runaway hit on both streaming platforms and social media channels. It’s nearing a million+ daily streams and has collected over 100K sound uses on TikTok. For the users who made content with captions like “Before this gets overplayed, this is my favourite song”, you all better quit the gatekeeping because the masses are ready for some romance. “butterflies.” keeps growing every week, and is quickly shaping up to be one of the most celebrated songs of Brent’s discography. Cheers to love!

The 2026 “MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE” Spotify playlist is officially live. You can add it here to keep up to date with my weekly picks throughout the year. 

With Love, 

MC

Shakira performs in Mexico City, March 1, 2026

Photo credits: ISAAC ESQUIVEL/EPA/Shutterstock

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