Oral Fixation, Vol. 2

Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 is the seventh studio album and second English language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005, by Epic Records. After attaining international success with her third studio effort, Laundry Service (2001), Shakira decided to create a two-part follow-up record. She released the project as the follow-up to her sixth studio effort Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, with which she had attained international success five months prior. As co-producer, Shakira enlisted producers including previous collaborators Gustavo Cerati, Lester Mendez, Luis Fernando Ochoa and Rick Rubin to work alongside newer partners Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, Tim Mitchell and The Matrix.
Musically the album follows in the vein of her earlier works, the album is heavily influenced by Latin pop styles, and additionally incorporates elements of dance-pop, pop rock, and trip hop. Upon its release, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complimented it as her strongest project to date. The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 128,000 copies, the album was later certified platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold over 1.7 million units in the country. It additionally topped charts in Denmark and Mexico. To date, the record has sold approximately 8 million copies worldwide.
Three singles were released from the album. Its lead single, "Don't Bother", reached number forty-two on the US Billboard Hot 100. The second single, "Hips Don't Lie", peaked at number one in the country, becoming her first single to do so. The third and final single, "Illegal", peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs component chart. In December 2006, the albums were reissued as an expanded version, titled Oral Fixation, Vol. 1 & 2. The projects were additionally promoted through the Oral Fixation Tour, which visited several countries throughout 2006 and 2007.
Oral Fixation Vol. 2, with the singles "Don't Bother" and "Hey You," is an inspired, English re-recording of Fijacion Oral Vol. I. It fully manages to capture what has made this 29-year-old the leading female artist in Latin music.Her music has its roots firmly in salsa, and also from contemporary rock and added Middle Eastern rhythms to develop something that is truly original.
"The idea of making a double project was never planned or premeditated, it just happened. I found myself writing 60 songs and put myself on the mission of selecting my favorite ones, which happened to be 20. And those 20 songs formed this project, Oral Fixation Vol. 1 and 2."
– Shakira talking about both albums.
After attaining international success with her third studio effort, Laundry Service, in 2001, Shakira opted to create a two-part follow-up record. Having co-written nearly sixty tracks for Laundry Service, she put herself "on the mission of selecting  favorite ones" to record for Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 and its predecessor, the Spanish-language Fijación Oral, Vol. 1. While recording the project, Shakira worked with previous collaborators Gustavo Cerati, Lester Mendez, Luis Fernando Ochoa and Rick Rubin, and newer partners Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean, Tim Mitchell and The Matrix.
For the album, Shakira wrote all the lyrics, and the majority of the music. "To start seeing people's first reactions, and how people start relating to these songs and appreciating every single piece of work I have done over the past two years, is the best reward an artist can have after so much hard work," says Shakira. "I will not lie to you; it was not a path of roses. It was painful at times to come up with two albums, to write more than 60 songs and to fight my own insecurities and doubts." While speaking about the difference about expressing herself in Spanish and English, Shakira told, "When I express myself in Spanish, I find elements that help me express an idea in perhaps a different way than when I do it in English. There are different aesthetics, but there is a certain style to the way I write my own songs, a particular way of describing feelings and emotions that I have developed over all these years making songs. I have gotten in touch with my own gift - I am sure, 10 years ago, I was not half as good as I can say I am today, and I am still not good enough. There is a long way to go."