Maps of Music

Laundry Service (2001)

Where the lyrics of Laundry Service take you, and where it was really made.

Epic Records opposed releasing the album in English until Gloria Estefan argued with Sony Music's head, Tommy Mottola, and persuaded him to release it.

Key places

Criteria Studios in Miami (2001)

Recording site Criteria Studios — Laundry Service was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, a recording facility linked to this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Compass Point Studios in Nassau (2001)

Recording site Compass Point Studios — Laundry Service was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, a recording facility linked to this album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Laundry Service (Spanish: Servicio de Lavandería) is the fifth studio album and first English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira.
• Released on 5 November 2001 by Epic Records.
• Shakira wrote and produced the entire record under the guidance of Emilio Estefan, who executive produced it.
• Writing is predominantly about love; the title compares the fusion of love and music to water and soap.
• An eclectic pop rock record that draws on Andean and Middle Eastern music and incorporates dance-pop, rock and roll and tango.

Background

• Preceded by Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998), a commercial success in Latin America and Spain.
• Gloria Estefan encouraged Shakira to record songs in English, believing she could cross over into the anglophone pop market.
• Shakira was initially hesitant, then decided to learn English well enough to write songs in it.
• Epic Records, her label at the time, opposed releasing and commissioning the album, having wanted only a couple of English songs on a Latin record.
• Gloria Estefan argued with Tommy Mottola, then head of Sony Music Entertainment, and convinced him to release it.

Recording

• The first song Shakira wrote for the album was 'Objection (Tango)'.
• After that song she decided to write ten more and set up portable recording studios in rural Uruguay.
• Collaborators include Gloria Estefan, Lester Mendez, Luis Fernando Ochoa and Tim Mitchell.
• Shakira was the primary producer and supervised the development of the album closely.

Cover

• The cover was designed by Shakira herself.
• The title is tattooed on her arm in the artwork, alongside a star.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia.
• Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer and record producer, known as the "Queen of Latin Music".
• Signed to Sony Music Colombia at age 13; debut album Magia (1991) was not a commercial success.
• Breakthrough with Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998).
• English crossover album Laundry Service (2001) sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
• Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005) and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005) followed, with "Hips Don't Lie" becoming her first Billboard Hot 100 number one.
• Has written or co-written virtually all the music she has recorded.
• Holds four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards.
• Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (2024) topped Billboard Top Latin Albums, making her the first woman with number-one albums across four decades.
• Known for blending Latin, Western and Middle Eastern influences in her music and dance.

Philanthropy

• Founded Fundación Pies Descalzos (Barefoot Foundation) in 1997 to build schools for underprivileged children in Colombia.
• Became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2003.
• Appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2011.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Laundry Service received favourable to mixed reviews from music critics.
• AllMusic's Alex Henderson commended Shakira's songwriting in English and praised her blend of pop, rock, tango and Andean and Middle Eastern music.
• Billboard favoured the album's mix of musical styles and complimented Shakira's vocal talent.
• Entertainment.ie found the lyrics surreal and concluded the album could not be called a great album, while still crediting Shakira's star quality.
• The Guardian's Alexis Petridis lauded Shakira's originality and wrote that no one could claim the album was a groundbreaking work of art.
• Robert Christgau called it 'the Cher album Cher never made' and linked its sound to Middle Eastern styles.
• David Browne of Entertainment Weekly called the album the ultimate in crossover nightmares and said its genres made it sound confusing.
• PopMatters' Matt Cibula judged the album generic and speculated that the Estefans' involvement caused it.
• Rolling Stone's Ernesto Lechner praised her voice but said a battalion of producers and songwriters left her sounding downright silly.
• Vibe's Elizabeth Mendez Berry wrote that the record was rife with cliches, both musically and lyrically.

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork's Isabelia Herrera, in a 2020 review, called the album a formidable compendium of Shakira's sonic and corporeal world.
• Herrera wrote that the album laid the groundwork for Shakira's legacy as a pop chameleon.
• Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 176 on its 2025 list of The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far.

Records

• Topped the charts of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada and Switzerland.
• Reached the top five in Argentina, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
• Peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
• Certified sextuple platinum in Australia; quintuple platinum in Canada, Spain and Switzerland.
• Seventh best-selling album worldwide in 2002 according to the IFPI.
• Sold around 13 million copies by 2011; listed at number 172 in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200.
• Won Album of the Year at the 2002 ALMA Awards and Best International Album at the 2003 NRJ Music Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Gloria Estefan argued with Tommy Mottola to get the album released, after Epic had resisted a full English-language record.
• Shakira bought rhyming dictionaries, studied Bob Dylan's lyrics and read poetry to learn to write in English.
• The album was reissued worldwide in November 2002 as Washed and Dried, with alternative versions and a bonus DVD.
• A Spanish bullfighter, El Juli, sued Shakira over footage of his performance used in the 'Te Dejo Madrid' video without permission.
• Tower Records Argentina banned sales of Shakira's albums after the 'Underneath Your Clothes' video showed her boyfriend Antonio de la Rua.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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