Music Review: Shakira & Wyclef Jean "Hips Don't Lie"
Shakira
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The Hips Don't Lie
Album: Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (Reissued Version)
Year: 2006
After the success of the musical Moulin Rouge! in 2001, the genre became hot. A movie version of the racy "Chicago" followed with plenty of accolades. Then, the deluge of copycats sprang up like weeds. Like the bothersome plant, people ignored it in droves. Alongside "Rent," "Honey" and "The Producers" in the scrap pile is the beastly 2004 sequel to "Dirty Dancing," "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights."
To call it a sequel is to be kind. It's simply a rehash the original story except the setting has changed (1950s during the Cuban Revolution.) Unlike the original, the story takes itself way too seriously and minimizes the dancing. Whereas, the original embraced its cheesiness and flaws, "Havana Nights" thinks it's the bee's knees and a jar of honey.
Featured on the movie's soundtrack is the lifeless "Dance Like This."
A distant guitar opens the song, setting a inhibited tone. Wyclef Jean introduces the song. Tonight, he has resolved to keep his thuggish instincts in check while at the club. He plans on dancing with some women in the club. He then orders people on the floor.
A piped in sample of Jerry Rivera's "Como El Nuestro" accompanies Jean in the chorus. In it, he takes notice of a shy Latina girl, who mostly hangs around a table with her friends, moving sensually on the dance floor. He's ready to learn Spanish to impress her. He immediately thinks of the phrases he was taught long ago in a high school class and television: "You're pretty" and "my house is your house."
In Oritz'ssection, she says the way he swings around on the floor leaves her breathless. She asks him to dance the conga with her.
Album: Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (Reissued Version)
Year: 2006
After the success of the musical Moulin Rouge! in 2001, the genre became hot. A movie version of the racy "Chicago" followed with plenty of accolades. Then, the deluge of copycats sprang up like weeds. Like the bothersome plant, people ignored it in droves. Alongside "Rent," "Honey" and "The Producers" in the scrap pile is the beastly 2004 sequel to "Dirty Dancing," "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights."
To call it a sequel is to be kind. It's simply a rehash the original story except the setting has changed (1950s during the Cuban Revolution.) Unlike the original, the story takes itself way too seriously and minimizes the dancing. Whereas, the original embraced its cheesiness and flaws, "Havana Nights" thinks it's the bee's knees and a jar of honey.
Featured on the movie's soundtrack is the lifeless "Dance Like This."
A distant guitar opens the song, setting a inhibited tone. Wyclef Jean introduces the song. Tonight, he has resolved to keep his thuggish instincts in check while at the club. He plans on dancing with some women in the club. He then orders people on the floor.
"I ain't come to fight tonight/Too many ladies up in here tonight/Everybody report to the dance floor please! Grab a girl!"
A piped in sample of Jerry Rivera's "Como El Nuestro" accompanies Jean in the chorus. In it, he takes notice of a shy Latina girl, who mostly hangs around a table with her friends, moving sensually on the dance floor. He's ready to learn Spanish to impress her. He immediately thinks of the phrases he was taught long ago in a high school class and television: "You're pretty" and "my house is your house."
"I never really knew that you could dance like this/She makes her man wanna speak Spanish/Como se llama, bonita? Mi casa, su casa."
In Oritz'ssection, she says the way he swings around on the floor leaves her breathless. She asks him to dance the conga with her.
"And I'm on tonight/You know my hips don'tlie/And I'm starting to feel it's right/All the attraction, the tension/Don't you see baby, this is perfection."/blockquote>
Jean's section remains the same except he's removed the slang. ("digging it" is now "taking it")" Hey girl, I can see your body moving/ And it's driving me crazy/And I didn't have the slightest idea/Until I saw you dancing/And when you walk up on the dance floor/Nobody cannot ignore the way you move your body, girl/And everything so unexpected, the way you right and left it/So you can keep on taking it."
The chorus is sung again.
Shakira repeats her part of the first verse with a few changes. She says they should dance to a slow song first to let the fire inside themselves burn a little longer."And I'm on tonight/And I am starting to feel you boy/Come on let's go, real slow/Don't you see baby asi es perfecto/Oh I know I am on tonight my hips don't lie...Shakira, Shakira."
In the second verse, Shakira says his moves are carnal and robust. She knows he has intentions of wooing her and she can't resist him."Oh boy, I can see your body moving/Half animal, half man/I don't, don't really know what I'm doing/But you seem to have a plan/ My will and self restraint/ Have come to fail now, fail now/See, I am doing what I can, but I can't so you know/That's a bit too hard to explain."
The former pre-chorus is sung again with genuine Latin flourishes."Baila en la calle de noche/Baila en la calle de dia/Baila en la calle de noche/Baila en la calle de dia."
The chorus is sung again.
In the bridge, Jean changes "Havana" to "Colombia."Then, He says that the eyes of Barranquilla danced." Senorita, feel the conga, let me see you move like you come from Colombia/Mira en Barranquilla se baila asi, say it! (The eyes of Barranquilla danced)/Mira en Barranquilla se baila asi(The eyes of Barranquilla danced)."
Jean adds a rap into the song. In it, he says that Shakira is hot. Then, he references his former group, The Fugees which makes zero sense and has nothing to do with her. He promotes his own music, saying he's been around since Tupac Shakur was in the Digital Underground. Then, he says his songs give people enjoyment and the government should back off. He says that his band has become smarter and richer over the years."Yeah, she's so sexy every man's fantasy a refugee like me back with the Fugees from a third world country/I go back like when 'Pac carried crates for Humpty Humpty/I need a whole club dizzy/Why the CIA wanna watch us?/Colombians and Haitians/I ain't guilty, it's a musical transaction /No more do we snatch ropes/Refugees run the seas 'cause we own our own boats."
Shakira sings her first and second verse again.
At the end, Jean says again, "no fighting, no fighting."
Shakira and Jean wrestle for control of the song. Unfortunately, Jean wins. He keeps nearly everything the same while she fights to put her own stamp on it.
Shakira rewrites her verses and maintains the original tone. However, she adds some thought to them. She's quietly sexual and instinctive about her attraction. It's more than the dance it's what she feels rising inside of her. Nonetheless, they don't fit with Jean's predictable lyrics.
Her vocals are limited. She's whispery and meek, which is uncharacteristic of her. Only when she speaks Spanish does she command attention from Jean.
The muddled arrangement is a compromise gone wrong. First, there's the sample and the standard R&B beat. Out of nowhere, there are rumbling horns. Then, it's the R&B beat and rumbling horns combined together, making for an erratic bridge.
Shakira's trademark quirkiness and individuality is wiped out and she's reduced to an insignificant, forgettable part.
The aimless "Hips Don't Lie" is a waste of Shakira's talents.
Thanks to ACE for the sample correction.
