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Shakira says she's 'surrounded by little boys' on 'The Voice'

Shakira may have found herself surrounded by a crowd of eager fans as she performed on the TODAY plaza on Wednesday morning. But these days she also spends plenty of time surrounded by familiar faces on "The Voice" — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Usher and Carson Daly, or as she calls them, the "little boys.""You know, there's a very serious aspect to game ... which is mentoring and helping new ta

Shakira may have found herself surrounded by a crowd of eager fans as she performed on the TODAY plaza on Wednesday morning. But these days she also spends plenty of time surrounded by familiar faces on "The Voice" — Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Usher and Carson Daly, or as she calls them, the "little boys."

"You know, there's a very serious aspect to game ... which is mentoring and helping new talent flourish," she told TODAY's Savannah Guthrie. "But there's also a very ... you know, it's playtime. I'm surrounded by little boys. They're like 13, each one of them. The mature one is Carson. He's, like, 16."

Before Shakira took to the TODAY stage, she met up with "the mature one" in the Orange Room and told him how motherhood has helped shaped her life and her approach as a "Voice" coach.

"One of the surprises that I've gotten from motherhood is that Milan teaches me so many lessons," she said of her 14-month-old son. "I've become a student of his in a way. He has taught me to let go of the reins a little bit and be more punctual."

Daly appreciated that ("Yeah, you're not late anymore!). But that's not the only way Milan impacts her work on "The Voice."

"As a mentor, I think that I find myself nurturing my mentees a lot," she explained. "I care about them a lot, like they were almost my children."

Shakira's son and her "Voice" kids keep her busy, but she still finds time for other things. She recently released "Shakira," her 10th studio album, and it's already topping the charts in 60 countries, including the U.S.

During her Wednesday performance on TODAY, the singer belted out two songs from that record, "Empire" and "Can't Remember to Forget You," as well as her classic hit, "Hips Don't Lie."

"The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.