WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're opening 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:06.040 up a file that honestly, it feels like a bit 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:08.699 of a glitch in the pop culture matrix. It really 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:10.419 does. It's one of those historical moments where 00:00:10.419 --> 00:00:12.300 you look back and think, wait, that actually 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:15.099 happened. Right. In 2005. Yeah, exactly. Because 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:19.760 when you think of Shakira in the mid 2000s, your 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:22.579 mental image is probably very specific. You're 00:00:22.579 --> 00:00:24.879 thinking about hips don't lie. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.760 White clip sheen, global dance floors, reggaeton 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:31.820 beats. Right. A very polished, universally beloved 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.520 brand of Latin pop. You generally are not thinking 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:36.700 of a woman standing in front of a wall of amplifiers 00:00:36.700 --> 00:00:39.240 just screaming theological questions at the creator 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:42.119 of the universe. No. But that is exactly what 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:44.780 we are unpacking today. We're doing a deep dive 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:47.880 into the opening track of her 2005 album Oral 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.799 Fixation Volume 2. The song is called How Do 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.780 You Do. And for you listening, this isn't just 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:55.439 some obscure deep cut to overanalyze. This track 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:58.799 sparked a literal geopolitical incident. It really 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.659 did. It's a fascinating case study. It's what 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:03.299 happens when globalized pop music just collides 00:01:03.299 --> 00:01:05.469 head on with religious censorship. We've got 00:01:05.469 --> 00:01:07.670 a great stack of sources today to look at. Wikipedia 00:01:07.670 --> 00:01:10.849 archives covering the composition, the release 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:13.530 history, and of course, the massive controversy 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:15.629 it sparked. Right. Our mission here is to unpack 00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:18.670 how a global superstar used a rock anthem to 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:21.280 question faith. We'll look at the specific musical 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.719 choices she made to try and bridge three major 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:27.260 religions and the incredibly heavy -handed censorship 00:01:27.260 --> 00:01:30.540 response that tried. It failed. Exactly. Tried 00:01:30.540 --> 00:01:33.060 and failed to silence the track. And we really 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:35.099 have to talk about the sound first because the 00:01:35.099 --> 00:01:37.319 production credits here, they're just baffling 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:39.340 in the best way. Let's jump right into that. 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:43.159 Put yourself back in 2005. You just bought this 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:46.340 CD. maybe at a Virgin Megastore, and you pop 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:48.700 it in expecting, I don't know, La Tortura Part 00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:51.060 II, what happens? You are immediately confused. 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:53.700 Right, because it doesn't start with a pop beat. 00:01:53.859 --> 00:01:56.159 No, it starts with Gregorian chants. Solemn, 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.519 heavy, monastic Gregorian chants. Followed right 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:02.019 away by a spoken recitation of the Lord's Prayer, 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:06.239 you know, Our Father Who Art in Heaven, the whole 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.780 thing. It's such a bold choice. It immediately 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:11.879 sets a tone for the whole album that says, We 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.340 are not at the club anymore. Right. But then, 00:02:14.419 --> 00:02:16.560 and this is where the production notes get wild, 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:20.000 the prayer ends and it doesn't turn into a ballad. 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:22.400 It turns into a rock song. A heavy rock song. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.800 The sources describe it having modern pop rock 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.099 structures, massive riffs, and a really specific 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.280 staccato guitar solo. It's aggressive. And to 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:34.120 understand why it sounds like that, you have 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.300 to look at who is in the booth. Yeah, it wasn't 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.879 her usual Latin pop hitmakers. It was co -written 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:41.550 and produced. by The Matrix. Okay, we need to 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:43.310 unpack The Matrix for a second, because if you 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:45.250 weren't reading liner notes back then, that just 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:47.189 sounds like the Keanu Reeves movie. Right, so 00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:50.310 The Matrix is a famous production trio. Lauren 00:02:50.310 --> 00:02:52.889 Christie, Scott Spock, and Graham Edwards. And 00:02:52.889 --> 00:02:55.090 they are the architects of a very specific era 00:02:55.090 --> 00:02:58.090 of sound. Exactly. Think Avril Lavigne's debut 00:02:58.090 --> 00:03:02.400 album, Complicated. Skater boy. That crunchy, 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.300 radio -friendly pop rock sound. That is the Matrix. 00:03:05.620 --> 00:03:07.699 That is just wild to me. Shakira coming off these 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:11.460 massive Latin dance successes explicitly hires 00:03:11.460 --> 00:03:14.240 the team behind Avril Lavigne. She clearly wanted 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:17.819 that angst, that specific texture of early 2000s 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:20.620 American rock. But it gets better. Because she 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:23.020 pairs them with Rick Rubin. The absolute legend. 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:26.400 Executive producer Rick Rubin. Famous for stripping 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.580 things down, working with Johnny Cash, finding 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:32.939 the raw truth in a recording. And Lester Mendez 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:36.319 co -produced as well. Right. And then, just to 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:38.180 make this supergroup even more insane, you have 00:03:38.180 --> 00:03:40.759 Gustavo Cerati credited as an additional producer. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.080 Who is basically royalty in rock in Espanol? 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.120 The front man of Soda Stereo. So you have this 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:48.319 massive collision of talent, the commercial pop 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:51.060 punk gloss of The Matrix, the raw authenticity 00:03:51.060 --> 00:03:53.439 of Rick Rubin, and the Latin rock credibility 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:56.139 of Sorati. Critics totally recognized it too. 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.159 Songwriter Universe called it a bold opening 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:00.919 track. And The Guardian compared the chorus to 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.300 the grandeur of arena rock. It was designed to 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:05.400 sound massive, but that brings us to the core 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:07.979 issue. You build this giant sonic arena rock 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:12.469 track, and then you use it to just... Interrogation 00:04:12.469 --> 00:04:14.509 is the perfect word for it. This is not a praise 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:17.449 song. It is a confrontation. The lyrics are startling. 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:21.970 She addresses the deity directly, which is already 00:04:21.970 --> 00:04:24.329 a huge risk. It's a massive risk. I want to quote 00:04:24.329 --> 00:04:26.689 this specific part from the verse because it's 00:04:26.689 --> 00:04:32.470 the core of the song. She sings, Hey, does that 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.410 make you proud or does it bring you shame? Or 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.610 does it bring you shame? That line alone is so 00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:41.389 heavy. It's theodicy. Yes. the attempt to justify 00:04:41.389 --> 00:04:44.730 God's actions, specifically how you explain human 00:04:44.730 --> 00:04:47.850 suffering and evil if God is supposedly all -powerful 00:04:47.850 --> 00:04:50.699 and all -good. the oldest question in philosophy 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:53.500 and she's belting it out over a distorted guitar 00:04:53.500 --> 00:04:56.379 riff she gets really specific about her grimaces 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:59.240 in the lyrics the sources point out themes of 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.019 frustration with wars historical crimes committed 00:05:02.019 --> 00:05:04.000 in the name of faith but she also brings it down 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.220 to a really personal level right she mentions 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:08.839 siblings driven apart by religious differences 00:05:08.839 --> 00:05:11.060 which is where it really resonates it's not just 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:14.120 abstract historical war it's the pain of seeing 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.180 religion used as a wedge between families so 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:19.310 she's essentially saying Look at all this conflict 00:05:19.310 --> 00:05:22.629 over what to call you. And that frustration leads 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:25.009 right into the bridge. The bridge is crucial. 00:05:26.029 --> 00:05:28.649 Billboard reviewed the song and specifically 00:05:28.649 --> 00:05:32.310 called it a blistering bridge. Because she isn't 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:34.870 just singing anymore. She starts chanting. And 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:37.269 she incorporates chants in three different languages. 00:05:37.829 --> 00:05:40.870 Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin. Representing Islam. 00:05:41.500 --> 00:05:44.379 Judaism and Christianity. Right. Three major 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:47.040 religions that historically and obviously currently 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.620 have deep conflicts. But she forces them together 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:53.300 in the song. And the sources emphasize that despite 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:55.680 the different languages, each chant is a plea 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.079 for forgiveness. That's the unifying message. 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.899 She's musically blurring the lines between these 00:06:00.899 --> 00:06:03.220 faiths to show a common thread. It's a really 00:06:03.220 --> 00:06:05.680 powerful artistic statement. Shakira actually 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.740 defended this specific choice later on. She did. 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:10.459 She argued it was a hymn for peace and equality. 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:13.019 She said, God is the same no matter what they 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.660 call him, whether Jehovah or Yahweh. She insisted 00:06:15.660 --> 00:06:17.920 her entire goal was reflection and dialogue, 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:21.439 not offense. A hymn for peace, which is a beautiful 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:24.019 sentiment. But obviously intention and reception 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:26.620 are two very different things. Very different. 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.540 You can call it a hymn for peace all day long. 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:32.500 But if the lyrics sound blasphemous to the listener, 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:35.180 you have a massive problem on your hands. Which 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:37.819 pivots us perfectly into the censorship scandal. 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:41.759 Because this album hits the Middle East in December 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.740 2005. And it immediately hits a brick wall. Normally 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:48.120 when we look at censorship in these deep dives, 00:06:48.220 --> 00:06:50.220 we're talking about a government ministry handing 00:06:50.220 --> 00:06:53.029 down a ban. Right. some state censorship board. 00:06:53.230 --> 00:06:55.589 But here, the initial ban was actually driven 00:06:55.589 --> 00:06:58.410 by the private sector. The source is specifically 00:06:58.410 --> 00:07:01.689 named Mohamed Abdel Halim. Yes. He was the owner 00:07:01.689 --> 00:07:04.089 of Sony Music International's distributor in 00:07:04.089 --> 00:07:06.470 Cairo. He's the guy in charge of putting the 00:07:06.470 --> 00:07:09.029 CDs on the shelves and generating revenue. Exactly. 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:12.370 And he personally ordered the censorship. His 00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:14.370 quote from the archives is fascinating because 00:07:14.370 --> 00:07:17.230 it goes against every rule of the music business. 00:07:17.529 --> 00:07:24.459 He said, Even though I am aware that it could 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:30.079 become a bestseller, he knows he is leaving massive 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.519 profits on the table. Shakira was one of the 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:35.779 biggest stars on the planet. This album was guaranteed 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:39.759 money. But the lyrics were just deemed entirely 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.540 blasphemous. Disrespectful to religious figures 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:45.699 and beliefs. The decision was attributed to a 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:48.139 very limited openness toward religious discussion, 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.100 especially this kind of aggressive interrogation 00:07:51.100 --> 00:07:53.579 in regions like Egypt at the time. So what was 00:07:53.579 --> 00:07:56.339 the actual outcome for the fans there? Well, 00:07:56.379 --> 00:07:59.259 the entire album, Oral Fixation Volume 2, was 00:07:59.259 --> 00:08:01.480 just not distributed at all in many Middle Eastern 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.040 countries. Completely banned. Completely. But 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.860 in the GCC countries, the Gulf Cooperation Council, 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.779 and in Lebanon... They found a compromise. If 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:11.980 you can call it that. Right. The album was released, 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:14.759 but How Do You Do was completely removed from 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.220 the track list. Just erased from the album. But 00:08:17.220 --> 00:08:19.079 they tried to get Shakira to approve that, right? 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.620 The company did try to get her to scrap the song 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:24.779 entirely to save the album's distribution across 00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:26.699 the whole region. To just take the business win. 00:08:26.939 --> 00:08:29.660 But she refused. She absolutely refused to do 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:32.559 it. That tension between artistic integrity and 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:36.279 cultural sensitivity is so stark here. She wouldn't 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:38.779 compromise the piece. But the censorship didn't 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:41.139 stop at the audio. We have to talk about the 00:08:41.139 --> 00:08:44.360 visuals. Right. Because the album cover art caused 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.940 its own massive controversy. If the lyrics were 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:50.039 gasoline, the album cover was the match. For 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:52.480 you listening who haven't seen the cover of Oral 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:55.240 Fixation Volume 2, let's describe it. It features 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:59.960 Shakira posing as Eve. Biblical Eve. Yes. She 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:02.419 is semi -nude, standing beside the Tree of Knowledge. 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:04.659 She's holding the forbidden fruit. An amble. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:08.039 And there's a baby reaching up for it. Embodying 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:10.460 the concept of original sin. So if you are the 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:12.759 distributor in Cairo, already offended by the 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.340 lyrics. And then you see a semi -nude pop star 00:09:15.340 --> 00:09:18.519 posing as a sacred figure holding the forbidden 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.500 fruit. It just compounds the issue completely. 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.620 So in those GCC countries where the album was 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:26.899 released without the song, what did they do about 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:29.720 the physical CD cover? They altered it. They 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:31.919 literally added leaves to cover her body. Just 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.250 photoshopped foliage over Shakira. Exactly. visual 00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:37.830 censorship to match the audio censorship. It's 00:09:37.830 --> 00:09:40.029 just wild to think about. But to put this all 00:09:40.029 --> 00:09:42.509 in context, this track wasn't just Shakira trying 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:45.549 to be edgy for one album cycle. No, not at all. 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:48.129 The archives show this is a recurring theme in 00:09:48.129 --> 00:09:50.210 her career. She has a history of exploring her 00:09:50.210 --> 00:09:52.629 beliefs and questioning authority in her music. 00:09:52.789 --> 00:09:55.549 If you look at her earlier work, songs like Octavo 00:09:55.549 --> 00:09:59.789 Díaz from 1998 or Tena Sesedo from 1995, she's 00:09:59.789 --> 00:10:02.210 been writing about God and power for a long time. 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:05.210 How Do You Do was just the loudest, most globally 00:10:05.210 --> 00:10:08.070 visible version of that exploration. And despite 00:10:08.070 --> 00:10:11.549 the bans. The song still reached a massive audience. 00:10:11.809 --> 00:10:14.470 Oh, absolutely. She performed it live at Rock 00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:17.990 in Rio Lisboa II in 2006. For an audience of 00:10:17.990 --> 00:10:20.830 90 ,000 people? 90 ,000 people. So you have store 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:23.049 shelves in one part of the world refusing to 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:26.350 stock it and 90 ,000 people screaming it in a 00:10:26.350 --> 00:10:28.950 field in Portugal. It perfectly illustrates how 00:10:28.950 --> 00:10:31.990 you can try to ban a track, but a global pop 00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:33.870 star is still going to find a way to perform 00:10:33.870 --> 00:10:36.230 it. It's a huge testament to her scale as an 00:10:36.230 --> 00:10:39.000 artist. When we look at this whole story. From 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.279 the studio to the censorship. We see this incredible 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.740 journey, a collaborative writing session with 00:10:43.740 --> 00:10:46.860 The Matrix and Rick Rubin, turns into a multilingual 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:49.539 plea for forgiveness. Which then results in an 00:10:49.539 --> 00:10:51.799 international distribution ban. It highlights 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:55.519 such a fascinating tension. On one side, Shakira 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.179 refusing to cut the song to protect her artistic 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:01.059 integrity. And on the other, the distributor 00:11:01.059 --> 00:11:04.370 refusing to sell it. due to deep -seated cultural 00:11:04.370 --> 00:11:06.909 and religious sensitivity. So we want to leave 00:11:06.909 --> 00:11:08.970 you with something to think about. We're looking 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:11.370 at a world that is still very much fractured 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:13.870 by religious conflict. Perhaps even more so today. 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:17.279 Right. So was the song's attempt to blend Arabic, 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:20.600 Hebrew, and Latin chants into a pop rock track 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:23.759 fundamentally naive? Or was it exactly the kind 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.259 of bold hymn for peace that she claimed it was? 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:28.740 And if she released it today, how would the world 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:30.919 react now? Something for you to explore on your 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:32.960 own. That's a great question. Thanks for joining 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:34.779 us on this deep dive. See you next time.