I’ve always lived through my mouth. I am fixated on chocolate, the spoken word, things I’ve said and the things I should never have said. - Shakira

I do feel that I have to use my voice for those that don’t have one. I have to do the best I can in my own work to represent my culture, represent the women of my country, of Latin America. What we stand for. What we’re made of. I feel like there is a part of me that represents a minority in the US, a minority around the world. People who struggle, people who want to succeed with drive and ambition. So, people who want to try – yeah, I do feel in a way like an ambassador, for all of those.

It depends on the artist. I think some artists are meant to stay and some will disappear. It always happens. It's natural selection of the species. But I don't think of it as a boom in Latin music. I think the world is in a different place. Social media means it's not only the radio that decides what'll be a hit. It's the people.

I always felt that there had to be much more [than] just… shaking it, you know, eternally. Or just making music. Or more even than the pure enjoyment of entertaining someone – being on stage, which is a tremendous rush of adrenaline. But there had to be something else to my life. And I feel that with this work that I do, that’s how my life gets fulfilled. And how I find a purpose to my own existence. And I do feel that music is the platform. It’s become the vehicle that allows me to use my voice to speak about those issues that need urgent attention. I can take the spotlight that shines on me and shift it towards those issues that are infinitely more important than my own issues.