Shakira recently told The Sunday Times that she sacrificed her career for her former partner, soccer star Gerard Piqué, who is the father of her two sons. While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on March 25, she said she was only able to create her new album because he was no longer “dragging me down.”

The new album, whose Spanish title translates to Women No Longer Cry, is her first in seven years, and it’s already been RIAA-certified seven times Platinum. Shakira told Jimmy, “I’ve been putting out music here and there but it was really hard for me to put together a body of work. I didn’t have time. It was the husband factor.”

While Shakira and Piqué were never married, they were together for 11 years.

“Now I’m husband-less. Yeah, the husband was dragging me down,” she laughed. “Now I’m free! Now I can actually work!”

Explaining the title of the album, Shakira said, “It’s men’s turn now. For too long we have been sent to cry with a script in our hands and without an end, just because we are women. We have to conceal our pain in front of our kids, in front of society. We have to heal in a certain way.”

“I don’t think anyone is supposed to tell us how to heal,” she added. “Now women decide when to cry, how to cry and until when.

Shakira also revealed that her sons, Milan and Sasha, appear on the album, singing on a song called “Acróstico.” Shakira said after they did the song, “they wanted to be on the video, and now they’re asking for royalties!” 

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