"Dare (La La La)" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is ...

from her self-titled tenth studio album ''

'' (2014). The song was first released to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

in Italy on 24 April 2014, as the third single from the album and was later released in a remix bundle in the United States via

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The song was co-written by

, Jay Singh (J2),

Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...

, Mathieu Jomphe-Lepine,

Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...

Cirkut Henry Russell Walter (born April 23, 1986), known professionally as Cirkut, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He has co-produced and co-written for Dr. Luke, Katy Perry, Becky G, Ava Max, Nicki Minaj, R. City, The Weeknd, Kesha, Ciar ...

, Raelene Arreguin and John J. Conte, Jr. while the production was handled by J2,

, Shakira,

and Billboard. The song is an

uptempo A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song built over drums and chants. A Spanish-language translation of the song titled "La La La" was also released. A reworked version of the song titled "La La La (Brazil 2014)" was released on 27 May as the second theme song for the '' 2014 World Cup Official Album''. This was Shakira's second time singing a theme song for the FIFA World Cup (the first being in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

); she also sang the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

theme song, "Hips Don't Lie/Bamboo" (featuring Wyclef Jean), which was a remake of her worldwide hit "

Hips Don't Lie "Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop and reggaeton song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released by Epic Records in 2006 as the second single from the reissue of Shakira's seventh studio album, ''Oral Fixa ...

". The song included new lyrics and features Brazilian musician

Carlinhos Brown Antônio Carlos Santos de Freitas, known professionally as Carlinhos Brown (Brazilian Portuguese: /kaʁˈlĩɲus bɾaw̃, -iɲuʃ/, 23 November 1962), is a Brazilian singer, percussionist, and record producer from Salvador, Bahia. His musica ...

. The version was praised by music critics and fared well commercially. An accompanying video was directed by Shakira's long time collaborator Jaume de Laiguana, the music video is influenced by Afro-Brazilian heritage and tribal imagery and features cameos from a variety of football players including

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Sain ...

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when h ...

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...

James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...

and

Eric Abidal Eric Sylvain Abidal (; born 11 September 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left-back or centre-back. In his career, he played mainly for Lyon and Barcelona, winning 18 trophies with both teams combined, including t ...

, Shakira's boyfriend

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

and their son Milan. Both versions of the song are Shakira’s only collaborations with Dr. Luke.

Background

After the success of her ninth studio album, ''

Sale el Sol ''Sale el Sol'' ( en, The Sun Comes Out, italic=yes) is the ninth studio album by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira, released on 19 October 2010, by Epic Records. The album marks a return to Shakira's signature Latin pop sound after the e ...

'' (2010), Shakira revealed in November 2011, "I've begun to explore in the recording studio whenever I have time in Barcelona and here in Miami. I'm working with different producers and DJs, and I try to feed off from that and find new sources of inspiration and new musical motivation. I'm anxious to return to the studio." In 2012, it was reported that Shakira was shooting the video for the tentative-first single "Truth or Dare" in Lisbon, Portugal. However, due to Shakira's pregnancy, the song was not released. Later, in March 2014, Shakira explained to ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' that, "It's been two-and-a-half years of making songs, trashing them, doing them again, doing eight versions of each song, having a baby, doing ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', coming back to the studio, reconnecting with my songs".

Release and remix

After a 2012 leak of the filming of the first version of the video, speculation arose that the song would be her comeback single. The song was finally premiered in March 2014, prior to the album release, in the

Activia Activia is a brand of yogurt owned by Groupe Danone (Dannon in the United States) and introduced in France in 1987. As of 2013, Activia is present in more than 70 countries and on 5 continents. Activia is classified as a functional food, designed ...

launch commercial for the "Dare to feel good" campaign, directed by Jaume Delaiguana. After release the first two singles from the album, "

Can't Remember to Forget You "Can't Remember to Forget You" is a song recorded by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira from her fourth English and overall tenth studio album, ''Shakira'', featuring Barbadian singer Rihanna. Shakira began planning to make new music in 2011; w ...

" and "

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

chose "Dare (La La La)" as third single. The song was first released to

in Italy on 28 March 2014. Only on 12 May 2014 the song was officially released worldwide with

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

remixed by Chuckie and Chus & Ceballos. On 20 May, the song was released in Germany as double single with the "La La La (Brazil 2014)" version. The

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

version was officially released on 27 May to impact radio stations, features Brazilian musician

. In the United Kingdom the song was released on 28 May. About a year after its release, the original recordings of the song, in both English and Spanish, were leaked in HQ on SoundCloud, entitled "Truth or Dare" and "Adentro" respectively. The two versions are extended out to 4:43 (which was the original length when the song was announced) with an extended intro and outro. The two versions have Shakira's voice more pronounced during the "La la la" chorus and a slightly different instrumentation.

Composition

"Dare (La La La)" is an

dance track that contains Brazilian beats and takes influence from

electro house Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...

, with a Spanish version of the song also recorded for the album. The song is built over big drums, and chants. The song was originally named "Truth Or Dare (On The Dancefloor)". The shooting of the music video was leaked in 2012 with half of the song being leaked in LQ. Since the leak fans took

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

making trending topics for

to release the song. The singer announced the official track list of her 10th studio album

in 2014 and the song was featured on the track list with a new title "Dare (La La La)" and a Spanish version titled "La La La". The song fully leaked one day before the European album release date. In January 2014,

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

announced that the official song for the tournament will be "

We Are One (Ole Ola) "We Are One (Ole Ola)" is a song recorded by Cuban-American rapper Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull for ''One Love, One Rhythm – The 2014 FIFA World Cup Official Album'' (2014). It is the List of FIFA World Cup songs and anthems, official song of the ...

" by

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...

and

Claudia Leitte Cláudia Cristina Leite Inácio (; born 10 July 1980) is a Brazilian singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2002 as the lead vocalist of the Axé music group Babado Novo. The group achieved a string of consecutive diamond- ...

. A customized version of the song "Dare (La La La)" by

, who provided the official song of the 2010 tournament, will be used as a secondary theme song. Shakira featured Brazilian musician

for a re-worked version of the song which is entitled "La La La (Brasil 2014)". The song is included on the Latin American, Spanish, and international deluxe editions of the album and features new lyrics for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. The song was first released as a CD in Germany on 23 May 2014, shortly after the single was sent to Contemporary Hit Radio in Italy on 28 May 2014, the following day the single was released for digital download in the United Kingdom. Upon release "La La La (Brazil) was met with positive reviews from music critics. Digital Spy praised the song's music video and production in particularly the song's "chants" and drums", the publication also placed the song at number six on their list of "8 World Cup Anthems of 2014". The online publication Idoltor praised the song and its "catchy" composition.

Music videos

The music videos for "Dare (La La La)" and "La La La" (Spanish version) were premiered on 7 May 2014 via Shakira's VEVO channel on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. A portion of the recording of the chorus part video was leaked in mid-2012, proving the video was recorded before Shakira got pregnant, and a leak of nearly half the song followed. The videos were recorded in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Both versions were directed by

Anthony Mandler Anthony Mandler (born April 18, 1973) is an American film director, music video director, television commercial director and photographer. As a music video director, his most notable and frequent collaborator is Rihanna. The two have worked on s ...

. The original music video sees Shakira dancing whilst wearing a black leather bra top and a matching maxiskirt, the video continues with Shakira dancing up a multicolored awl and on top of a building. The video also features street parties and crowds, with carnival themes. Online publication Idolator praised the video saying, the video is a "typical Shakira fashion" based around "an exotic location, bizarre dance moves and her now trademark stroll through a field," they further more praised the carnival scenes which "suits" the song. The music video for the World Cup version was premiered on 22 May 2014, which was directed by Jaume de Laiguana, who had previously worked with Shakira on a variety of music videos including "

Don't Bother "Don't Bother" is a song performed by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, taken from her seventh studio album and second English-language album, ''Oral Fixation, Vol. 2''. The song was released on 11 October 2005, by Epic Records as the lead si ...

", "

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

", " Loca", "

", " Rabiosa". The song's accompanying video was produced with

in support of the

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

's School Meals Program. Shakira and Activia donated funds to support the program. On 30 May 2014, Spanish version of the video was premiered. The video is a "consciously surreal video" that takes influence from Afro-Brazilian heritage with tribal imagery, combining capoeira and footballer moves for an "artsy athletic displays". After the release of the video, it came to light that the video featured nearly shot-for-shot recreations of French artist WoodKid's video for his song "Iron". WoodKid denied having given permission to use these images in the video. During the video Shakira balances a ball wearing a long black skirt. The video includes footballers

and

. Shakira's then-boyfriend

and their son Milan appear in the video as well. 40 days after release the video hit 200 million views, and as of October 2020, it has received over 1.2 billion views.

Live performances

Shakira performed the song for the first time on 10 July on a Brazilian show called ''

Fantástico ''Fantástico'' (originally known as ''Fantástico: O Show da Vida'', Portuguese for ''Fantastic The Show of Life'') is a Brazilian weekly television news program broadcast on Sunday nights on Rede Globo since August 5, 1973, created by José Bo ...

'', which aired on 13 July 2014, the same day that Shakira performed the song at the 2014 World Cup

Closing Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, confirmed by

and herself. The song was also included as part of the

El Dorado World Tour The El Dorado World Tour was the sixth world tour by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira, in support of her diamond certified eleventh studio album, '' El Dorado''. Comprising a total of 54 shows, the tour visited Europe, Asia, North America ...

setlist in 2018.

Track listing

CD single - Original version #"Dare (La La La)" - 3:06 CD single - Brazil 2014 version #"La La La (Brazil 2014)" (featuring

) - 3:17 Spanish CD single - Original version #"La La La (Spanish version)" - 3:06 Spanish CD single - Brazil 2014 version #"La La La (Brasil 2014) panish version (featuring

) - 3:17 European CD single #"Dare (La La La)" - 3:06 #"La La La (Brazil 2014)" (featuring

) - 3:17 Remixes #"Dare (La La La) huckie Remix - 4:20 #"Dare (La La La) hus & Ceballos Brazil Fiesta Remix - 4:45

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles RCA Records singles Shakira songs Songs written by Shakira Songs written by Dr. Luke Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Cirkut (record producer) Songs written by Billboard (record producer) Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Song recordings produced by Cirkut (record producer) Song recordings produced by Billboard (record producer) FIFA World Cup songs Music videos directed by Anthony Mandler