Rosalía Vila Tobella, or better known as just simply Rosalía, is the most recent Barcelona native who is putting a modern twist to flamenco music.
Rosalía's most recent album 'El mal querer' (The Bad Loving) is composed of eleven songs that are totally worth listening to. Each song is named, but are also in the form of chapters. For example, the first song in the album is Malamente (Cap.1 Augurio) and the rest of the songs are in the same format.
Each song tells a story and the following track is a continuation of that story. I think that's a pretty genius move, tbh.
Now you don't have to necessarily speak Spanish in order to enjoy Rosalía's songs, I think the beat of her songs does her justice. Better yet, Rosalía also features in a song by James Blake called "Barefoot in the Park." It is a beautiful song and I'll leave you to listen to it.
Rosalía recently released a song with J Balvin and El Guincho called "Con Altura." You better let this song flow and you'll be dancing any minute.
Given this, I think Rosalía is a dynamic artist because she is able to bring her own style into other artists' songs that are completely not-her-style. My favorite song out of her album is "Bagdad" which tells about a gypsy kind of girl who dances for Bagdad, which is a known striptease club in Barcelona. The melody is borrowed from Justin Timberlake's "Cry me a River."
Recently, Rosalía performed at Coachella along with J Balvin. She is currently doing an American tour and I wish I could see her, but the tickets sold out. Sigh.
Aside from Rosalía being a marvelous, unique singer, I think that she is a beautiful and humble artist who deserves more recognition. In a world where many artists attempt to be like the others, I think Rosalía is sparking up a revolution in the music industry.
That being said, it's time to update your Spotify and Pandora playlists and give Rosalía a listen!