Whenever, wherever, Shakira will speak out
What pop star is heading to Europe and the Middle East with a peace message, will be collecting shoes from fans to give to needy Third World children and has been hanging out with a Nobel Prize-winning novelist?
Nope, it’s not Bono. This is Shakira.
The singer, who has featured an antiwar video segment in her shows since November, is disturbed that so few of her young pop peers are speaking their minds about current events, whatever their positions may be.
“The tendency is to think that entertainment should be separate from politics, that people should forget about the conflicts in the world,” says Shakira, 26, who spoke to Pop Eye recently from a tour stop in Lima, Peru. “And I don’t agree with that. Artists and people who are listened to by other people should be the first ones to speak out and to make their voices felt. If we don’t do it, then who?
“Otherwise we’ll have an oblivious generation of young people who care if their pants are in style or about new makeup tendencies -- very superficial and hollow youth. This world belongs to us and it’s our responsibility to take care of it.”
A big part of this attitude might be attributed to the global perspective that comes from her part-Lebanese heritage and her upbringing in Colombia. This mix comes into play as her tour swings through Latin America before heading to Europe, Dubai, Cairo, Istanbul and Beirut.
The latter part could be in jeopardy if the U.S. launches a war against Iraq. “We’re all hoping the war won’t happen,” she says. “I’m thinking optimistically.”
Key for Shakira is not just talking about issues, but also taking action. To that end, she’s been working with tour co-sponsor Reebok on a program to help the youth of Colombia. The shoe company has already donated 10,000 pairs of shoes to Colombian children and in Europe the effort will take a new tack.
“What we’re going to do is another program with the same purpose, where people can give their old shoes, and then Reebok is going to repair them and we will give them to the poorest children in Colombia,” she says.
After that, Shakira plans to take some brief time off before starting work on a new album.
Oh, the Nobel laureate? That’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a Colombian who became friends with Shakira after interviewing her for a magazine article five years ago. He and his family came to see the singer’s recent concert in Mexico City (where he has lived for many years), and the two lunched together the following day.
Rickie Lee enters Furniture business
Another artist moved by current events to combine art and activism is Rickie Lee Jones, who not only is working on a new album, but also is starting a label and has launched a Web site geared toward promoting independent art, political consciousness and charity participation.
The album, due in summer, will be the singer-songwriter’s first of new songs since 1997’s “Ghostyhead.” That one was inspired by such trip-hop acts as Portishead, but the new material, she says, is rooted in an earlier era of pop politics.
“I listen to a lot of Curtis Mayfield and I feel so connected to that time in our music, when black activism was galvanizing our musical community,” says Jones, 48. “As I went to make the album, a lot of what I wanted to say was political and to not speak about what’s going on was impossible. I thought I had really good people’s footsteps to follow in -- like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues.’ ” Jones enlisted such musicians as Ben Harper, New York avant-jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and Los Angeles new music vets Mike Watt and Nels Cline.
It will be the inaugural release from Furniture for the People, Jones’ new label, for which she is currently in negotiations for a distribution deal.
She’s hoping to make albums with L.A. singer-songwriter David Kalish and longtime friend Syd Straw, who coined the label’s name. But her plan is to have the label be just one facet of her new Web site, www.furnitureforthepeople.com.
“When it’s all up and running, it could be a kind of collective,” she says. “I can produce artists who can’t get contracts but are worthwhile -- obviously cheap records. And I can also sponsor specific charities, like an orphanage in Haiti that I’ve been interested in.”
Jones is not shying away from pointed commentary. The Web site features explicit antiwar sentiments. Ultimately, though, she wants a balance.
“You could put this political site up, but the only way to fight things you oppose is by doing a good thing,” she says. “While there is war, you’re helping an orphan in Haiti. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Small faces
* The Allman Brothers Band, Edwin McCain and Blues Traveler’s John Popper are among the acts featured on “The Benefit Concert Vol. 2,” recorded in 2000 at Gov’t Mule guitarist Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas jam at an Asheville, N.C., club, with proceeds from the show and two-CD album, due May 6, going to Habitat for Humanity. Haynes, who is featured solo acoustic and with his band on the set, also teams with McCain, Popper and Kevn Kinney for a version of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” ...
* After making its debut album with techno master James Lavelle producing, the London band South has turned more rock, with Dave Eringa (Manic Street Preachers, Idlewild) producing the follow-up, due June 17. The band, scheduled to appear April 26 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, will also guest on Lavelle’s second UNKLE album, due in the summer.