Shakira Reflects on 'Very Rough Year' After Gerard Piqué Breakup: I 'Put Up with So Much Crap'

Shakira wasn't going to let a "very rough year" get in her way on the road to her latest record-breaking song.

The music star, 46, caught up with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, where they discussed her single "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" and how she linked up with collaborator Bizarrap for the project.

"The thing with this song is it has become an anthem for so many women out there. I've had a very rough year after my separation, and writing this song has been so important to me," she said, nodding to her June 2022 split from longtime boyfriend Gerard Piqué.

"It's been a healthy way to channel my emotions."

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Gerard Piqué and Shakira

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The song helped Shakira break 14 Guinness World Records and the lyrics seemingly allude to the split, its aftermath and Piqué's, 36, current girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti. In it, she sings "You go around saying you're a champion / And when I needed you / You gave your worst version."

"After we put out this song, I really felt like I don't even have fans out there," Shakira said on Fallon. "I have a sisterhood of women who have been through the same things that I have been through, who think the way I think, who feel the way I feel, who had to put up with so much crap the way I had to."

"And you know, I did write the song for me," she said. "But also, I feel that it was meant to be — and probably for so many women out there that needed a forum, too, and a voice to represent them in so many ways."

Shakira added during the discussion that it was her and Piqué's son Milan, 10, who encouraged her to work with Bizarrap.

"He told me, 'Mom, you've got to collaborate with Bizarrap. You have to get on a song with Bizarrap, because you guys are gonna be No. 1,'" Shakira told Fallon. "And he sent a voice note to my manager, Jaime. He said, 'You got to put my mom together with Bizarrap on a song because they're going to be No. 1.' And he was right."

Bruce Glikas/WireImage Shakira and Gerard Piqué

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Shakira, who also shares Sasha, 8, with Piqué, announced her separation from the soccer star last June after first confirming their relationship in March 2011. They initially met on the set of her music video for "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)," which served as the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

"We regret to confirm that we are separating," the couple said in a joint statement. "We ask for privacy at this moment for the well-being of our children, who are our maximum priority. Thank you in advance for your understanding and respect."

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Since then, Piqué went Instagram official with girlfriend Clara Chia Martí, 23, in January, while Shakira has released three tracks seemingly addressing the split. Another is a collaboration with fellow Colombian star Karol G titled "TQG," where they sing about watching a former partner move on.

"Seeing you with the new one hurt me / But I'm already set by myself," Shakira sang in Spanish. "What we lived I forgot / And that's what offended you / That even life improved me / You are no longer welcome here / I saw that your girlfriend threw at me / It doesn't make me angry, I laugh."

And in the chorus of her latest global smash with Bizarrap, Shakira declares in the song, "I'm too good for you, and that's why you're with someone just like you."

"I wish you luck with my supposed replacement / I don't even know what happened to you," she sang. "I'm worth two of 22 [year old] / You traded a Ferrari for a Twingo / You traded a Rolex for a Casio / You're going fast, slow down / Lots of time at the gym, but your brain needs a little work too."