In her latest appearance on The Tonight Show, Shakira affirmed that she is enjoying her new freedom after separating from her husband.

Photo: TODD OWYOUNG/NBC

Appearing on The Tonight Show, Shakira told host Jimmy Fallon that the end of her marriage to Gerard Piqué had given her the freedom to explore more fulfilling paths.

“I don’t have time because of the husband factor” – Shakira explains about being able to focus on her creative endeavors – “I don’t have a husband now. Yes, the husband pulled me down. Now I’m free. Now I can actually work.”

With that burden lifted from her shoulders, Shakira made her first full-length studio album in seven years – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.

“While writing each song, I am rebuilding myself” – Shakira shared in a statement when the record was first announced – “When I sing them, my tears turn into diamonds, the hurt mine turns into strength.”

In its review of Shakira’s album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, Rolling Stone wrote: “On Las Soones Ya No Lloran, Shakira finally turns the page on the past two stormy years and reintroduces herself – no not as soccer mom Shakira, nor as heartbroken Shakira but as international pop icon and undefeated champion Shakira.”

With this album, Shakira was able to approach healing and reshape her overall narrative on her own terms. She said on The Tonight Show: “For too long, we have had to cry with a script in our hands with no end in sight just because we are women. We have to hide our pain in front of our children and in front of society. We have to heal in some way.”

“I don’t think anyone can show us how to heal” – she continued – “I think now women are the ones who decide when to cry, how to cry and for how long.”