Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music Colombia in 1990 when she was only 13 years old.[26] The songs are a collection made by her since she was eight, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment. The album was released in June 1991 and featured "Magia" and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially, as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide.[21] After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record. Though she was little known outside of her native Colombia at the time, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was the then 20-year-old Ricky Martin,[26] whose initial prominence had come from his membership in Menudo.
Shakira's second studio album, titled Peligro, was released in March, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. The album was better received than Magia had been, though it was also considered a commercial failure due to Shakira's refusal to advertise or promote it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.[26] In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV series The Oasis, loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985.[27]Since then, the albums have been pulled from release and are not considered official Shakira albums but rather promotional albums. Shakira originally recorded the song "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" (later released on her album Pies Descalzos) for the compilation album Nuestro Rock in 1995, released exclusively in Colombia.[28] The album Pies Descalzosbrought her great popularity in Latin America by the hit singles "Estoy Aquí", "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" and "Dónde Estás Corazón".[26] Shakira also recorded three tracks in Portuguese, titled "Estou Aqui", "Um Pouco de Amor", and "Pés Descalços".