Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical child prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish language speaker and also speaks English, Portuguese and Italian. She also sings in Classical Arabic.