Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry, ) is the twelfth studio album by Colombian singer Shakira. It was released on 22 March 2024 through Sony Music Latin. The album marks her first album release in seven years, following El Dorado (2017).

The album was primarily inspired by Shakira's experiences surrounding her breakup from footballer Gerard Piqué and describes her transformation of heartbreak into strength. Primarily a pop record, it employs a diverse range of musical genres, including EDM, rock, reggaeton, bachata, regional Mexican, and Afrobeats. Shakira enlisted vocal collaborations with Cardi B, Rauw Alejandro, Manuel Turizo, Grupo Frontera, Ozuna, Karol G, and Fuerza Regida, as well as her children Milan and Sasha.

Shakira released seven singles from Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran over a two-year period. The lead single, "Te Felicito" with Rauw Alejandro, reached number one in Argentina and the top ten across Latin America, and was certified thirteen times platinum (Latin) in the United States. The album also includes the collaborations "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" with Bizarrap and "TQG" with Karol G, both of which reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Global 200, and topped the Hot Latin Songs chart for five weeks each. To further promote the album, Shakira will embark on the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, commencing November 2024. As of May 2024, eight of nine singles released reached the top of US Latin Airplay chart breaking the record for most number one singles from a single album.

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran was met with positive reviews from music critics, who praised the exploration of music genres and the vulnerability of the lyrics. Upon release, the album debuted at number one in Argentina and Spain, In the United States, it peaked at number one on Billboard Top Latin Albums and number thirteen on the Billboard 200, and was certified seven times platinum (Latin) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Background
Following the release of her eleventh studio album El Dorado (2017) and the El Dorado World Tour (2018), Shakira released two collaborations in 2020, "Me Gusta" with Anuel AA and "Girl Like Me" with the Black Eyed Peas, and performed at the Super Bowl LIV halftime show with Jennifer Lopez. During the same period, the singer faced prosecution for tax evasion in Spain and the divorce from Gerard Piqué, finalized in 2022.

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran reflects on the transformation she has been going through since the release of her last album. The singer describes the creative process as "alchemical". While she was writing songs she "was rebuilding" herself and singing them turned her tears "into diamonds", and her "vulnerability into strength". The album title is a lyric taken from her song "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" with Argentine producer Bizarrap from his music sessions series. On 15 February 2024, she took to social media to announce the record and made it available for preorder. The album features 16 tracks, five of which have already been released as singles: "Te Felicito", “Monotonía”, "Acróstico", "Copa Vacía", and "El Jefe". In addition to the previously released singles, the album also includes "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" and the collaboration "TQG" from Karol G's album Mañana Será Bonito.

Singles
"Te Felicito", a collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, was released as the lead single on 21 April 2022. The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and was successful throughout Latin America, where it became Shakira's first number-one single on the Billboard Argentina Hot 100 and reached the top ten in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Spain. In the United States, it peaked at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Hot Latin Songs.

"Monotonía", a collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Ozuna, was released as the album's second single on 19 October 2022. The song peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Global 200 and reached the top ten in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Spain. In the United States, it peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on Hot Latin Songs.

"Acróstico" was released as the album's third single on 11 May 2023 and features vocals from Shakira's children Milan and Sasha. The song peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Global 200 and topped the charts in Colombia and Spain while reaching the top ten in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. In the United States, it peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 on Hot Latin Songs.

"Copa Vacía", a collaboration with Colombian singer Manuel Turizo, was released as the album's fourth single on 29 June 2023. The song peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered the top 20 of charts across Latin America. In the United States, it peaked at number 31 on Hot Latin Songs.

"El Jefe", a collaboration with regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida, was released as the album's fifth single on 20 September 2023. The song peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered the top ten in Colombia and Mexico. In the United States, it peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on Hot Latin Songs.

"Puntería", a collaboration with Dominican-American rapper Cardi B, was released concurrently with the album on 22 March 2024 as the sixth single. The song peaked at number 69 on the Billboard Global 200 and entered the top 20 of charts across Latin America. In the United States, it peaked at number 72 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on Hot Latin Songs.

"(Entre Paréntesis)", a collaboration with Regional Mexican band Grupo Frontera, was released as the seventh single just 3 days after the release of the album, on 25 March 2024. In the United States, it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 and number 22 on Hot Latin Songs.

Other songs
The album includes "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", which was released as part of Argentine producer Bizarrap's Bzrp Music Sessions series. The song saw huge commercial success worldwide and broke four Guinness World Records, including for the most-streamed Latin track on Spotify and YouTube in 24 hours. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Global 200, becoming Shakira's first top-ten single globally. The song topped the charts in 16 countries across Latin America and Europe, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and Spain, and reached the top ten in Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, and the United States. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot Latin Songs chart for five weeks, becoming Shakira's sixth top-ten single in the US and the first Spanish-language single by a female vocalist to enter the top ten in history.

Additionally, the album includes "TQG", a collaboration with Colombian singer Karol G from her fourth studio album, Mañana Será Bonito (2023). The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Global 200, becoming both artists' first number-one single since the chart's inception in 2020. It also topped the charts across Latin America in countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Spain. In the United States, it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot Latin Songs chart for five weeks, becoming Shakira's seventh top-ten single in the US and her second in 2023. With this, she broke the Guinness World Record for the highest-charting female Spanish-language track on the Hot 100.

Promotion
On March 26 during the album release week, Shakira performed a pop-up show at Times Square which drew a record-breaking audience of about 40,000 people. She performed "Te Felicito", "TQG", "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", "Cómo Dónde y Cuándo" and "Puntería" off the album, as well as "Hips Don't Lie", and played a bass while performing.

On April 12, 2024, Shakira joined Bizarrap's set in Coachella, performing their two collaborations “La Fuerte” and “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, and announcing that her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour will start in November 2024. The first North American dates were announced in April 16, 2024.

Critical reception
Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on nine reviews.

Andrea Romero from Los 40 applauded Shakira for having "perhaps the most sincere, intimate and explicit verses of her entire musical career" on the album. Jon Pareles from The New York Times noted how most of the album "deals with romantic ups and (mostly) downs, honed into crisp, tuneful pop structures", continuing how Shakira continues her "career-long penchant for pulling together music and collaborators from across the Americas" while serving a wide variety of music genres. Bass Magazine hailed the album as a "dazzling testament to her resilience and strength, as well as music’s power to transform even the most trying experiences into precious moments."

Emma Harrison from Clash gave the album 8 out of 10 and described it as "Revelatory, raw but resplendent throughout, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran is one of Shakira’s best albums to date and is a fitting testimony to her strength and resilience turning what was a devastating situation into a beautiful body of work." She also noted that "The She Wolf is back and she is howling louder and prouder than ever." Lucas Villa from NME notes that "After going through one of the most devastating celebrity breakups this decade, Shakira has spun her heartbreak into global pop gold..." with a 4 star review. Rolling Stone noted that "In a crowded Latin music landscape, Shakira's first album in 7 years reaffirms her relevance and dominance." Variety called the album "a Latin pop music odyssey" and noted that "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran is the updated testament to [Shakira's] successful track record."

Commercial performance
Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran debuted at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, with 34,000 album-equivalent units sold during its first week. It was the second best-selling album of the week, with around 15,000 copies sold (of which 6,000 were vinyl LPs), while also accumulating 26.73 million official on-demand streams. It debuted at number one on the Top Latin Albums and Top Latin Pop Albums charts, making Shakira the first woman with number-one albums across four decades on the Billboard Latin album charts.

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran debuted atop of the Spanish Album Chart, becoming her first number-one album since Sale el Sol (2010). In Argentina, the album also debuted at the number one position and remained at the top for two more weeks.

Track listing
Tracks 9 to 15 of the tracklist were revealed on February 15, 2024. The remaining tracks were revealed on February 29, 2024.

Notes
 * The album consists of 16 tracks. CD and vinyl pressings of the album include a different version of "Puntería", which is also present on digital versions of the album as track 17. The original version of "Puntería" features Cardi B singing and rapping in English and Spanish, while in the vinyl version she sings only in Spanish.
 * "La Fuerte" contains elements of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", as performed by Daft Punk.