If you’d predicted that flamenco would be the most exciting thing to happen to pop music in 2018, you might have been told to gather up your ruffles and scram. But Catalan-born singer Rosalía, 24, makes even the castanets seem cool. She’s the Lorde of Latino pop, hitting the sweet spot between the folk traditions of palmas (handclapping) and pitos (finger snapping) and modern R&B production. And her latest singles, Malamente and Pienso En Tu Mirá, steamroll the language barrier with their slogan-heavy choruses, slinky rhythms and finger-clicking attitude.
Rosalía discovered flamenco, aged 13, in a village outside Barcelona. Her 2017 debut album, Los Ángeles, was a millennial take on the genre. For its live performance she sat on a stool accompanied by an acoustic guitar, all heavy-lidded intensity, her voice quivering. She has since described the experience of singing as “constantly fighting to get to [a] state of freedom”; when she does, her “whole body vibrates”.
This year, however, Rosalía has been reborn as a swivel-hipped pop performer. Her smash show at Barcelona’s recent Sónar festival featured a twerking dance troupe and catwalk-ready costumes. In May, she guested on reggaeton poster boy J Balvin’s song Brillo (Letra). And her forthcoming album, El Mal Querer, produced by tropicália beatsmith El Guincho, comes with visuals referencing motorbiking, matadors and manicures. With a combined 22m YouTube views, that Christine and the Queens-shaped crossover potential is Rosalía’s for the taking. ¡Olé!
