I don't truly speak Spanish but I can give it a go.
Y se va a quemar, si sigue ahí / And it will burn, if it continues like thisLas llamas van al cielo a morir / The flames rise to die in the sky Ya no hay nadie más por ahí / There is nobody left around hereNo hay nadie más, senta'íta dando palmas / There is nobody anymore, sit (?) and clap your hands
Por la noche, la sali'a del Bagdad / In the night, the exit (?) of BagdadPelo negro, ojos oscuros / Black hair, dark eyesBonita pero apena' / Beautiful but only...Senta'ita, cabizbaja dando palmas / Sit (?), head bent clapping handsMientras a su alrededor / While around herPasaban, la miraban / They pass, look at herLa miraban sin ver na' / They look at her without seeing anythingSolita en el infierno / She's alone in hellEn el infierno está atrapa' / In hell she's stuckSenta'íta, las manos las juntaba / Sitting (?), she put her hands togetherQue al compás por bulerías / To the rhythm of BuleríasParecía que rezaba / She seemed to pray
Junta las palmas y las separa / She joins her hands and separates them
De las luces / From the lightsSale un ángel que cayó / Comes out an angel who fellTiene una marca en el alma / He's got a mark in his soulPero ella no se la vio / But she hasn't seen itSenta'ita, al cielo quie' rezarle / Sit (?), in the sky who prays to him/her (?)Prenda'ita de sus males / Ignited by her vicesQue Dios tendrá que cobrarle / So that God will have to cover her
not sure about all of it obviously
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:43 (five years ago) link
woes, rather than vices
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:46 (five years ago) link
Actually, she's probably the one burning (first line). Maybe it's an execution.
― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 November 2018 14:50 (five years ago) link
There's a hefty interpolation of Jolene in one song as well.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:01 (five years ago) link
It took a couple listens to fix my malamente expectations, but this album is astonishingly good! I can't even isolate favored songs at this point. I can see why monotony called it "meditative" (as opposed to "banging" I think?), but it can also be quite dramatic in what I assume is a traditional flamenco vein, as on Reniego.
To Matt's point, I would love to see the consistently striking way the production handles acoustic space and vocal/sound arrangement catch on elsewhere. I thought JES's pitchfork review was v good--the "global bass" framing struck me as odd at first but thinking of this as a rooted-in-the-local antidote to generic pan-global trop-house is interesting.
― rob, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:10 (five years ago) link
A lot of pan-global trop-house/Spotify pop has a tendency to fill up every single available bit of space, this uses a not dissimilar sound palette in a much more imaginative way.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 8 November 2018 15:14 (five years ago) link
❤️”Di Mi Nombre”❤️
― breastcrawl, Friday, 9 November 2018 12:42 (five years ago) link
I know she's the subject of significant controversy in Spain given her use of flamenco and Andalusian tropes generally as a woman from Catalonia.
These seem to cover it pretty well, re: Gypsy culture and Andalusian culture:
- https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elespanol.com%2Fcultura%2Fmusica%2F20180531%2Fgitanos-atacan-rosalia-usa-simbolos-pestanas-postizas%2F311468865_0.html&edit-text=&act=url
- https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmagnet.xataka.com%2Fpreguntas-no-tan-frecuentes%2Frosali-apropiacion-que-se-acusa-malamente-robar-cultura-gitana-andaluza&edit-text=&act=url
The original articles were on El Español and Magnet.com. I can't speak much Spanish, but the translation reads OK, apart from google often printing 'she' as 'he'.
A couple of quotes:
"The Gypsy activist Noelia Cortés believes that Rosalia 'uses the Gypsies as something cool to incorporate into her disguise, but she does not care socially' [no le importamos socialmente hablando]." – (El Español)
"Rosalía's own roots offer another complex variable to analyze appropriation: the Castilian-speaking culture of the Baix Llobregat [in the province of Barcelona], composed mostly of second and third generations of immigrants from Andalusia, Murcia or Extremadura, has certain affinities with that of their ancestors, whether on a musical level or in some dialectal aspects. The same happens with tracksuits or car tuning: they are characteristic elements of the poligonera culture, so associated with the Barcelona red belt.
"What the controversy reveals, in any case, is the penetration of the identity debate and theories about racial identities and historical discriminations in Spain. And also the complexity and subtlety of many readings about the cultural products that will come in the future." – (Magnet.com)
― sbahnhof, Friday, 9 November 2018 22:05 (five years ago) link
During the controversy earlier this year, she posted a playlist of flamenco songs that comprise the lyrics and melodies on the Los Ángeles album. Aqui va esta playlist como regalo de reyes, donde podréis encontrar de donde aprendí los cantes que aparecen en Los Ángeles, con las letras y melodías que componen el disco. Que la disfrutéis!!🎁✨☺https://t.co/OPAVqBTewG
Aqui va esta playlist como regalo de reyes, donde podréis encontrar de donde aprendí los cantes que aparecen en Los Ángeles, con las letras y melodías que componen el disco. Que la disfrutéis!!🎁✨☺https://t.co/OPAVqBTewG
"Malamente" won a UK Video Music Award for best pop video.
― sbahnhof, Friday, 9 November 2018 22:30 (five years ago) link
this is not my fav album of a payo ex/appropriating flamenco this year. the relationship between gitano culture and spanish culture is more interesting to me than this music, which leans hard on these signifiers. the magnet article has the sort of weaselly equivocation I've seen before on this topic
also:
The theoretical appropriation of Rosalia works and works well at the narrative level when the intent is directed towards the gypsy culture: the ethnic group has been socially and legally persecuted for five centuries, and although today there is no formal discrimination, the gypsies still live apart in many ways. cities and in permanent social exclusion. It is probably the only Spanish historical case to which the American racial narrative fits.
hmmm
― ogmor, Friday, 9 November 2018 23:28 (five years ago) link
the relationship between gitano culture and spanish culture is more interesting to me than this music, which leans hard on these signifiers
What did you think of Mala Rodriguez's last single/video? (She actually is gitana.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKJE4-9qRIk
― grawlix (unperson), Saturday, 10 November 2018 01:08 (five years ago) link
this is a good album
― j., Saturday, 10 November 2018 02:51 (five years ago) link
I like her singing and prefer the intensity & energy of that track to the cooler detachment of rosalia. as per matt dc, the way the claps work with the glossier sound are what's most striking to me about rosalia, & I wld imagine other ppl will lift that trick
― ogmor, Monday, 12 November 2018 10:28 (five years ago) link
i love this album but man i'm so excited for her to drop her new shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAVZ5tXL6lU
― monotony, Monday, 3 December 2018 11:30 (five years ago) link
as if to further illustrate this ^ - new video for "bagdad" features a bit of "lo presiento" at the beginning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2WOIGyGzUQ
― monotony, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 11:00 (five years ago) link
This review (from The Nation, of all places) was very interesting to me because I usually don't pay attention to lyrics, but the author makes it clear how crucial they are to this album:
https://www.thenation.com/article/rosalia-flamencos-new-album-el-mal-querer-review/
― grawlix (unperson), Tuesday, 18 December 2018 13:01 (five years ago) link
Missed this thread; discovered her (2) albums via end-of-year lists. Absolutely love them... her voice!
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Tuesday, 18 December 2018 19:27 (five years ago) link
Way into both of these albums as well.
― ... (Eazy), Friday, 28 December 2018 05:39 (five years ago) link
https://www.stereogum.com/2027027/rosalia-oneohtrix-point-never/news/
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Friday, 28 December 2018 16:03 (five years ago) link
Entertaining and slightly nerdy analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgHXFTgaVT0
― octobeard, Monday, 31 December 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
I'm updating the thread for no other reason than I still enjoy checking her different performances so much. Maybe I'm crazy but I still feel like she has this spectrum of moods that each of her songs works with and that make me scream art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLWfMPPh1F8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRph0jV4mO4Someone tell how I left out this song from my top25, oh yes, it's partly because of the others.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 21:39 (five years ago) link
Also she said she'd love to collab with Dua Lipa and that'd be ultimate sexiness, so fingers crossed.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 21:41 (five years ago) link
“Di Mi Nombre” is still my favorite of hers.
― breastcrawl, Wednesday, 16 January 2019 22:00 (five years ago) link
This is cool, first time I've seen a vid of her performing. I'm so into El Mal Querer
― i stan corrected (morrisp), Wednesday, 16 January 2019 23:09 (five years ago) link
she's going to be on the james blake album out tomorrow
― monotony, Thursday, 17 January 2019 06:44 (five years ago) link
And since you mentioned it. We hear her first, as we should. I'm not familiar with James Blake, but he makes me think of Anthony. Nice duo.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LkoaO8-z6I
― Nabozo, Saturday, 19 January 2019 21:17 (five years ago) link
Delicious actually. And incredible delicate performance. Her parts (my amateur translation):
Agujerito del cielo - Little hole in the skyCuelando el brillo de Dios - letting in the brilliance of GodUn rayo cayó en tus ojo' - a beam struck your eyeY me partió el corazón - and split my heartAgujerito del cielo - Little hole in the skyDíctame por dónde ir - instruct me where to goPara yo no equivocarme - so that I do not get it wrongY así ver mi porvenir - and thus see my future
Ya tengo to' lo que quiero - I already have al' that I desireYa no puedo pedir má' - I cannot ask for mo'Cuando te tengo a mi la'o - When I have you by my sid'Lo pasa'o se queda atrá' - The pas' is left behin'Si te apartan de mi vera - If they separate me from your sideY te tuviera que encontrar - And if I had to find youHasta allá te encontraría - I would find you up thereComo el río va a la mar - As the river goes to the sea
― Nabozo, Saturday, 19 January 2019 22:06 (five years ago) link
new collab with J Balvin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7bfOZek9t4
I definitely prefer "Brillo," their collab from the J Balvin album, but it's always fascinating to hear Rosalia in the context of club music.
― Neus Anneus (voodoo chili), Thursday, 28 March 2019 17:32 (five years ago) link
Grabbed a ticket for her SF show. Sold out in in less than a few hours last week.
― octobeard, Sunday, 31 March 2019 03:00 (five years ago) link
Just a short North America tour this time-- West Coast plus NYC and 1 Canada show
Need to listen to "Brillo" again, think I recall liking it. x-post
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 31 March 2019 18:16 (five years ago) link
I don't think there's anything "fascinating" about it. Rosalía's own music is fascinating. This is generic bullshit - literally any female voice could have been punched into that track. Ugh.
(I hate J Balvin's music in general, though.)
― grawlix (unperson), Sunday, 31 March 2019 19:51 (five years ago) link
Yeah, same reaction here.
― ... (Eazy), Sunday, 31 March 2019 20:33 (five years ago) link
anyway, here she performs Con Altura live (along with "El Presiento)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e9lCXT1xLs
she's a huge pop star--she's gonna do pop tracks. obviously her own stuff is gonna be more interesting than her collabs, but i do think she adds some stuff that generic singer x would not, like how she subtly subverts the synth melody in the pre-chorus.
― Neus Anneus (voodoo chili), Monday, 1 April 2019 21:22 (five years ago) link
ugh i mentioned this upthread but i am very very thirsty for "el presiento", "aute couture / esto esto enciendo", "santeria" and all these other unreleased songs she's teased live
the new song is fun, not her best ever obviously but if it turns out to be a hit i'm all for it
― monotony, Tuesday, 2 April 2019 00:15 (five years ago) link
well, my thirst ^ is about to be partially quenched... "aute cuture" is out tomorrow
estáis ready????? AUTE CUTURE 💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼💅🏼 30/5 pic.twitter.com/jFEKzdR4Cl— R O S A L Í A (@rosaliavt) May 28, 2019
― monotony, Tuesday, 28 May 2019 21:22 (five years ago) link
Estoy ready!Meanwhile, she’s also done a song for the Game of Thrones album:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2OxVKUf8a4Rosalía ft. A.Chal • Me Traicionaste
― breastcrawl, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 05:29 (five years ago) link
https://variety.com/2019/music/news/rosalia-spanish-flamenco-singer-superstar-1203227213/
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 15:00 (five years ago) link
"con altura" is awesome you guys are crazy
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 29 May 2019 15:48 (five years ago) link
yeah i agree, but still not as good as Brillo
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:02 (five years ago) link
I was too harsh on “Con Altura” on the Rolling Afro-Latin Music thread - I actually like it fine, but it’s not nearly as good as the El Mal Querer singles (or indeed “Brillo”).
― breastcrawl, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 17:37 (five years ago) link
only rosalía song i've heard other than "con altura" is "malamente" and i think they're on a similar level (i.e. both quite enjoyable)
"aute cuture" teaser is intriguing
― dyl, Thursday, 30 May 2019 02:07 (five years ago) link
Dyl, you should listen to El mal querer, stat!
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Thursday, 30 May 2019 02:10 (five years ago) link
hah i think i will :)
― dyl, Thursday, 30 May 2019 02:14 (five years ago) link
i also don't agree that "con altura" could just be any other female vocalist in duet w/ j balvin ... there's a certain presence, confidence, and command of the moment that carries a direct throughline from i.e. "malamente." the song is not as good if it's becky g or karol g or whoever. i think the video makes this clear as well... it's very much a more conventional pop video but it has her stamp all over it.
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 30 May 2019 02:19 (five years ago) link
brillo is super dope too tho
banger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLFUhty8EF4
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday, 30 May 2019 16:55 (five years ago) link
hell yeah
― rob, Thursday, 30 May 2019 17:13 (five years ago) link
she is p much a genius
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:17 (five years ago) link
Took me a few plays, but I like this track a lot -- a banger for real! (I'm straight-up dancing here in my "open plan" office environment)
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Friday, 31 May 2019 18:18 (five years ago) link
so is she shifting away from her flamenco influence
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Monday, 3 June 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link
Like if this were track 5 on, say, a random Selena Gomez CD, I'd skip it every time. It's an unremarkable song to me, guess I'm not hearing what I should.
What really gets me about Rosalía is that she has an amazing voice (as I recently reconfirmed by revisiting El Mal Querer), but she chooses not to "use it" now... she sings in this pinched tone... idk
― degenerative AI (morrisp), Monday, 30 January 2023 22:37 (one year ago) link
it's funny the song "LLYLM" made me think of in terms of production was selena "bad liar" at least in terms of the bulk structure under the verses. but rosalia is an infinitely better artist than her in every facet and my feelings about those two songs are reflected in that
― J0rdan S., Monday, 30 January 2023 23:27 (one year ago) link
― degenerative AI (morrisp), Monday, January 30, 2023 5:37 PM (forty-nine minutes ago)
i feel this... i have a huge gripe w/ "la fama" bcuz she sings it w/ this really flat affect on record & then when you see her do it live there's so much more emotion in her vocals & it changes everything about the song for me. the official version of her performance on "SNL" has been taken off youtube for some reason but there's still bootlegs on there that spell this out. otoh i think the parts on motomami where she really lets her voice go really standout for reasons of scarcity but i get where you're coming from
― J0rdan S., Monday, 30 January 2023 23:31 (one year ago) link
i hope she goes more in this direction, i would personally very much welcome a rosalia club anthem.
― ꙮ (map), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 02:24 (one year ago) link
At least I don’t hate it like I hate Chicken Teriyaki. This is alright… not a winner for me but certainly not bad. She can do way better.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 06:02 (one year ago) link
It’s growing on me though… wouldn’t be surprised if I end up with regret for underrating it on first listens. Already happened to me with Motomami.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 06:05 (one year ago) link
aiming for a bigger audience is hardly cynical; it's just good business. you want to play arenas and reach a worldwide crowd, people gotta sing along to your choruses.
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 31 January 2023 07:06 (one year ago) link
A week more of listening sees me coming around on this song as a casually enjoyable pop track, if not anywhere near the many heights of motomami
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 7 February 2023 22:36 (one year ago) link
Aka moka was right
drinking her "transformation"-flavoured Coke and I do not taste transformation of any sort
― Murgatroid, Monday, 6 March 2023 19:27 (one year ago) link
her EP with Rauw Alejandro is out today
― Murgatroid, Friday, 24 March 2023 18:52 (one year ago) link
like it a lot, tho she completely overpowers him vocally
― deadmauZedong (voodoo chili), Friday, 24 March 2023 20:24 (one year ago) link
also, they are apparently engaged!
the Beso video makes that pretty clear!
― rob, Friday, 24 March 2023 23:11 (one year ago) link
they have been an item for some time now and have shown admirable restraint by keeping away from each other’s recent albums
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl), Friday, 24 March 2023 23:14 (one year ago) link
I have the impression Rosalía's has used her higher soprano range more and more in the last years and it's now one of my favorite aspects of her performance, the way she lets her voice thin to flute-like sounds, and the contrasts she finds with piano etc. For example the first 40 seconds of Beso = wow.
Song is good enough to post I think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXQQAsIhHMwRosalia - Beso
― Nabozo, Sunday, 26 March 2023 11:20 (one year ago) link
It's a very good chorus
― Nabozo, Sunday, 26 March 2023 11:23 (one year ago) link
Ok I've listened to this all day. This song radiates happiness.
― Nabozo, Sunday, 26 March 2023 14:30 (one year ago) link
New single/video. It's pretty good. I need to listen to it again without the video to see if it holds up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F84pjEryeC0
― but also fuck you (unperson), Thursday, 8 June 2023 23:11 (one year ago) link
I listened to it without the video, can confirm. Good lil tune.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 9 June 2023 00:32 (one year ago) link
Hard to watch that video favorably, in light of how cool & creative her videos was were.
― Day 1 fan (morrisp), Friday, 16 June 2023 03:32 (one year ago) link
The new song (a collaboration with Björk as a legal benefit for some Icelandic villagers who are suing fisheries for environmental damage) is pretty good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jsi2Tgvx6A
Backstory:
Björk and Rosalía have joined forces to release a powerful new single “Oral.” Produced by the artists alongside Sega Bodega, “Oral” marks the first collaboration between Björk and Rosalía. It aims to shed light on the alarming cruelty, and severe environmental and ecological consequences of open-pen ocean salmon farming in Björk’s native country, Iceland.“Oral” dates back two decades - first written by Björk between 1997’s Homogenic and 2001’s Vespertine, the track was lost to her archives after feeling like it wasn’t the right fit for an album. Björk rediscovered the song after being reminded of its name while on tour in Australia in March 2023, the same month a report was released about the devastating impact of poorly regulated, Norwegian-owned commercial salmon farming operations on Iceland’s native ecosystems.After deeply resonating with the cause, and as a passionate campaigner and protester for much of her life, Björk enlisted Rosalía to help bring the song to life and in turn raise awareness of the issue. The cruel practice of open-pen farming, introduced to Iceland after Norwegian businessmen began purchasing fish farms in the country’s fjords, involves intensively farming fish by penning them into open water nets that are anchored in natural waterways, where the fish are kept enclosed until they reach marketable size. This accelerates the fish’s development and, in many cases creates genetic mutations in the salmon’s DNA, as well as being a breeding ground for a number of parasites and diseases. The industry in Iceland has grown tenfold since 2014, producing under 4,000 tones to 45,000 in 2021, with it now estimated that the annual production could be up to 106,500 tonnes. Iceland has the largest untouched natural area in Europe, and the waste and pollution associated with open-pen farming threatens to permanently damage its entire ocean ecology. Lack of regulation and the industry being largely unsupervised has also meant that thousands of these genetically altered, diseased salmon regularly escape the pens and swim upriver to Iceland’s highlands, where devastating genetic mixing occurs and endangers the future of Iceland’s wild salmon population.Proceeds from “Oral” will be used to support a legal case against the fisheries, brought forth by residents of the town of Seyðisfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland.
“Oral” dates back two decades - first written by Björk between 1997’s Homogenic and 2001’s Vespertine, the track was lost to her archives after feeling like it wasn’t the right fit for an album. Björk rediscovered the song after being reminded of its name while on tour in Australia in March 2023, the same month a report was released about the devastating impact of poorly regulated, Norwegian-owned commercial salmon farming operations on Iceland’s native ecosystems.
After deeply resonating with the cause, and as a passionate campaigner and protester for much of her life, Björk enlisted Rosalía to help bring the song to life and in turn raise awareness of the issue. The cruel practice of open-pen farming, introduced to Iceland after Norwegian businessmen began purchasing fish farms in the country’s fjords, involves intensively farming fish by penning them into open water nets that are anchored in natural waterways, where the fish are kept enclosed until they reach marketable size. This accelerates the fish’s development and, in many cases creates genetic mutations in the salmon’s DNA, as well as being a breeding ground for a number of parasites and diseases. The industry in Iceland has grown tenfold since 2014, producing under 4,000 tones to 45,000 in 2021, with it now estimated that the annual production could be up to 106,500 tonnes. Iceland has the largest untouched natural area in Europe, and the waste and pollution associated with open-pen farming threatens to permanently damage its entire ocean ecology. Lack of regulation and the industry being largely unsupervised has also meant that thousands of these genetically altered, diseased salmon regularly escape the pens and swim upriver to Iceland’s highlands, where devastating genetic mixing occurs and endangers the future of Iceland’s wild salmon population.
Proceeds from “Oral” will be used to support a legal case against the fisheries, brought forth by residents of the town of Seyðisfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Tuesday, 21 November 2023 16:56 (ten months ago) link
More comments about the song on the Bjork 2017 album thread
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 20:19 (ten months ago) link
good song with a better video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxXY_hR_wzo
― Murgatroid, Friday, 16 August 2024 01:48 (one month ago) link
Good. With Tove Lo and Max Martin on the keys
― abcfsk, Friday, 16 August 2024 11:15 (one month ago) link
I don't know how many of you besides j0rd and I went to see her on the Motomami Tour but does anyone else regularly still think about that show, esp when they go see another pop star
― Murgatroid, Thursday, 19 September 2024 23:16 (three days ago) link
I unfortunately missed the tour but was wowed by all the video footage I saw from it. I keep waiting for her to tour again but also am worried she will be playing bigger halls and I will be lucky to get an overpriced nose bleed seat.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 20 September 2024 03:42 (two days ago) link