Shakira, 41, Latin music's most bankable and best-known female star, was open to the idea.
He's currently touring U.S. arenas for the first time, having sold out New York's Madison Square Garden in March; promoting the Spanish-language version of
Maluma: I felt very proud because this was an opportunity for me to learn.
Shakira: Thank you, Juan.
Shakira: I miss working with more Colombians in the studio.
Maluma: Ha! It can “even be pleasant.”
Maluma, what do you do to make her so happy?
Shakira: First of all, he calls me reina [queen] all the time.
Maluma: [Laughs.] That's the truth.
Shakira: When he called me reina the first time, I said, “We're off to a good start.”
Maluma: I've always said that there's one thing that differentiates us Colombians on a global scale: berraquera [loosely translated: grit, or guts].
Shakira: When a Colombian gets obsessed with something, watch out. Our history and the social factors we've been submitted to have turned us into resourceful people who had to survive and find their way in life.
Maluma: We come from a history where we've had to look for our bread, you understand me?
Shakira: The path to success has been longer, steeper, with more obstacles than if I had been born in Florida or New York City.
Maluma: From the onset.
Shakira: For a long time, the Americas looked at Anglo product.
Shakira: I might consider myself debris from the Latin explosion.
Shakira: It's not premeditated or calculated.
Maluma: I say what I think because that's the way I am.
Maluma: It's my idea.
Shakira: I don't feel like a sex symbol.
Maluma: I don't wake up in the morning, look at myself in the mirror and say, “
Maluma: I'm like a fan in love. I'm going to create a fan club for Gerard in Medellín. They invited me to see a match, but hopefully they'll invite me to train!
Shakira: I'm exhausted all day long, truth be told.
Maluma: Everything.
In 1995, Shakira broke through in the United States and Latin America simultaneously with Pies Descalzos, her major-label debut, which peaked at No. 5 on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart.
At just 18, the native of Barranquilla, Colombia, launched the Pies Descalzos Foundation, which promotes quality public education for children in Colombia, immediately after the release of her first album.
This summer's highly anticipated world tour in support of her last album, the Spanish-language El Dorado, will be her first live run in seven years. Starting in June, it will take her across the United States, Europe and Latin America.
“'Chantaje' was the first time I worked with a [woman artist].