Prior to my honeymoon last year, I spent about six months practicing Spanish with DuoLingo, making sure that at the least I could converse with the staff of our resort to order unlimited margaritas. While I failed in retaining any of the Spanish I'd worked so hard to learn, I did along the way discover a passion for Spanish-language music through its beautiful flamenco-style singing as well as its creative, energetic rap genre. In what was first a suggestion from a friend to listen to more Spanish-language music to synthesize the short lessons, I fell in love with the art.
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| Image courtesy of Rosalía |
I cycled through many different names in modern Latinx singers and rappers, but landed on Rosalía as the most interesting and investing voice of the pack. Her vibrato and delivery were unlike anything else I'd heard in popular music at the time, and continues to stand out. Her training in flamenco-style music at a very early age has impressed an importance of craft upon her later works, and despite her experimentation with new styles, still shines through today.
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| Image via Rosalía/YouTube |
While early into the album's rollout, and even in the period between 2018's El Mal Querer and today, many criticized her sudden sonic shift towards popular music. El Mal Querer, which helped break her into the mainstream, resides in a consistently tempered flamenco pop, rarely leaving the familiar soundscape of Rosalía's experience.
And though it is the new aural landscape in Rosalía's 2022 undertaking that originally interested me the most ("SAOKO" is a beautiful, discombobulated piece of music that I still can't get enough of), I found myself staying for her voice. "HENTAI" is the most passionate, moving track out of the sixteen on MOTOMAMI, and all the while discusses Japanese cartoon porn. There's beauty in her voice that hasn't been heard since we lost the likes of Jeff Buckley.
The album delves into the most sexual themes of Rosalía's career, she herself stating that it was by far her "sexiest" work. Even without a basic understanding or a translation of the lyrics (I myself am still working through many songs), listeners can understand these themes through sonics and tone. "LA FAMA" makes you want to shake your ass, it's just a fact of life.
This is not the last we'll see of Rosalía, either. In just the past four months, she's been seen working with Frank Ocean (hey, I made it a couple articles without mentioning him! Go me!) in the studio, she premiered a radio station in Grand Theft Auto V, played Saturday Night Live and a Tik Tok performance... She's committed to providing great pop music all the while staying true to her roots, and if anyone deserves the praise she's received lately, it's her.
In other news, MOTOMAMI is a front-runner for album of the year for me.
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