Is Shakira’s breakup the messiest celebrity split in recent memory? Her viral single suggests yes

In less than a week, the music video for Shakira’s new single, “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” has amassed more than 152 million views on YouTube. Searches for “Renault Trivago,” a car mentioned in the lyrics, are up 733 per cent, while “Rolex,” also name-checked, is trending on Twitter. A dance routine to the song is sweeping TikTok.

The secret behind the song’s viral success? It’s an utterly scathing and rather glorious diss track, aimed straight at Shakira’s ex, the Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué. The couple’s split, which was initially announced in June 2022 with the usual “we’ll always care deeply for each other” sort of celebrity PR-speak, has taken a dramatic turn for the vicious since the track dropped. (Shakira and Piqué, who never married, were together for 11 years and share two kids.)

Produced by Argentinian DJ Bizarrap, the song is an evisceration of Piqué set to a leisurely electro beat. “A she wolf like me isn’t for guys like you,” Shakira sings in Spanish, a nod to her 2009 album “She Wolf”: “I was out of your league, that’s why.”

So far, so standard for a self-empowerment heartbreak anthem — until the barely veiled jabs at Piqué kick in. Since the split, Piqué has publicly moved on with student Clara Chia, now 23, but there’s some question about when the new couple got together.

Some of the spiciest (if definitely not feminist) digs are levelled at Piqué’s choice of paramour. “I’m worth two 22-year-olds,” sings Shakira, 45, in the third verse. “You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo,” the latter being an entry-level car made by Renault. “You traded in a Rolex for a Casio.”

In an attempt to look like a good sport/capitalize on the publicity, however bad, Piqué seized the moment by showing up at an event driving a Renault Twingo; he also recently signed a sponsorship deal with Casio.

Elsewhere in the song, Shakira sings, “You left me with your mom as a neighbour,” referencing the fact that the couple’s home in Spain is connected to a house where Piqué’s family lives. In case Shakira’s feelings on the matter weren’t entirely clear, the Daily Mail reported that the Colombian hitmaker put a Halloween witch doll on a balcony facing in the direction of her ex’s mother.

It turns out that Shakira has been Easter-egging this simmering rage for a while now. The music video for “Te Felicito,” a 2021 single with Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro, features Alejandro’s head on a platter in a fridge, alongside some jars of preserves. When asked about the startling scene, Shakira told “This Morning” that she opened that fridge to “find the truth.”

Why is this relevant? Shakira reportedly figured out Piqué was cheating on her when she discovered empty jam jars in the fridge; Piqué (and her children) are not jam people.

While the term “diss track” finds its origins in hip hop, the practice of lyrical disembowelment cuts across all genres. “How Do You Sleep?” by John Lennon is a 1971 proto-diss-track aimed squarely at Paul McCartney. “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon? A diss track that probably still haunts Warren Beatty every time he sees an apricot scarf.

In 2023, however, we’re seeing a new flowering of these sorts of songs among female singers. Miley Cyrus’s new single, “Flowers,” is broadly viewed as a takedown of her ex, Liam Hemsworth. Released on Hemsworth’s birthday, it vaguely interpolates Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” which the couple danced to at their wedding. You could argue that Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” Billboard’s current No. 1 single, is a diss track aimed at the singer herself, powered by her own self-loathing. (Certainly “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” off Swift’s latest album, “Midnights,” is a diss track aimed at John Mayer, because 2010’s “Dear John” just wasn’t quite brutal enough.)

While the benefits of releasing a diss track about the father of your children are debatable, it’s certainly been a boon to Shakira’s career, a revenge that’s particularly sweet given the singer’s recent remarks to Elle about putting her career on hold to support Piqué.

Financially, the single is a remarkable success. Spanish newspaper Marca reported that Shakira has made more than $700,000 off the YouTube video alone, a sum that will go a long way toward those legal fees Piqué (allegedly) left her with. All in all, it’s quite the mic drop.

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