Colombian pop singer Shakira recently revealed in Morocco that she is interested in recording an album in Arabic.
"It would be a challenge to do an album in Arabic. I would first have to learn Arabic," she said. "I am completely open to that experience. ... At some point I would love that to happen in my life."
Born in Colombia of Syrian origin, Shakira said she grew up listening to the Arab world's premier divas of the 20th century, Egyptian Umm Kalthum and Lebanese Fairuz, reports the Gulf News.
The native Spanish speaker also admitted that she only speaks a few words of Arabic, including ateeni boosa or give me a kiss, provoking laughter among the mostly Moroccan crowd of journalists.