“Rabiosa” (AKA Rabid in Spanish) might be one of my favorite songs off of 34-year old Colombian pop superstar Shakira‘s latest album, Sale el Sol. This fiery number has been described as “giddy, rapid-fire Latin pop” and a “meringue-rock hybrid,” both of which describe this song perfectly {SOURCE 1, 2}. Produced by Shakira, El Cata and Pitbull, “Rabiosa” is the third single taken from Shakira‘s 7th studio album, Sale El Sol, and the follow up to the album’s title track which came out last January on Epic/Sony Music Latin. Released back in April, “Rabiosa” was released as two different versions, one featuring a guest rap from American rapper Pitbull and one featuring Dominican rapper/songwriter/producer El Cata.
Despite having been officially released only in April, “Rabiosa” actually debuted on Billboard‘s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at #25 based on downloads alone. Over on the Billboard Latin charts, the song fared much better, peaking at #23 on the Hot Latin Tracks chart and in the Top 20 on the Latin Pop Airplay chart. The video for the song (which was just released) features Shakira looking fierce and fabulous both as a brunette (her natural color – although I’m pretty sure this is a wig) . While the video doesn’t feature Pitbull, the fact that he was involved on a Shakira track makes me happy.
I honestly don’t know if it’s those sexy Spanish chirps that Shakira does so well, or perhaps the way she works the stripper pole with her blond mane flowing. Whatever it is, I love Shakira and “Rabiosa” is a hot Latin club track. Pure and simple. Oh…this is definitely NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Then again, you probably should have picked up on that as soon as there was talk of a stripper pole. Check out the video for “Rabiosa” below and download either the Pitbull version (HERE) or the El Cata version (HERE) on iTunes.