Nov 2026
A salsa classic inside a global pop hit
Why Omar Alfanno’s name sits on the songwriting credits of Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Hips Don’t Lie
Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean
Panamanian songwriter Omar Alfanno wrote “Amores Como el Nuestro,” a salsa hit for Jerry Rivera in the early 1990s.
In 2006 Shakira and Wyclef Jean released “Hips Don’t Lie,” whose horn-driven groove draws on that earlier song — which is why Alfanno shares the songwriting credit. The single went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It is a good example of how a great song can travel: from a salsa record to one of the biggest pop songs of the 2000s.
