

But Balvin’s been on tracks this year with Selena Gomez, Sean Paul, Ozuna, Bad Bunny (with whom he recently surprise-released a whole album), and many others, and none of those videos have come close to the reach of “Con Altura.” Something else is contributing to the song’s breakout success, and that something is Rosalía Vila Tobella. On YouTube, where Spanish-language pop has been the dominant musical force in recent years, “Con Altura” has ascended to a higher plane.Ĭhalk up some of the song’s success to Balvin, a transcontinental superstar whose videos routinely surpass 100 million views and occasionally climb into the billions. “Con Altura” been viewed 300 million more times than the “Old Town Road” video and still claims a bigger tally even if you add the official audio for the Lil Nas X/Billy Ray Cyrus smash. It’s the most viewed video of the year by a female artist in all of planet Earth. “Con Altura,” her nimble dembow banger with El Guincho and Colombian reggaeton hero J Balvin, surpassed 500 million YouTube views this week. And with a slew of new singles this year, she has left no doubt about her desire to be not just one of the best artists in the world, but the biggest.
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She proved as much in a series of music videos as captivating and distinct as the album. They were making pop music, and Rosalía was very much a pop star. It was as heady as you wanted it to be - check that Arthur Russell sample on “MALDICIÓN – Cap.10: Cordura” - but Rosalía and her co-producer El Guincho were not just crafting canny genre exercises to be dissected by cultural anthropologists. It’s just that good.Īs Julianne Escobedo Shepherd explained in her insightful review, Rosalía’s album was an extension of the global bass scene that emerged a decade ago, in which producers began updating their countries’ traditional folk music for the modern dance floor. Even if imitators somehow manage to turn the album’s singular style into trend fodder and its tics are subsumed into the mainstream until they no longer stand out, El Mal Querer itself will remain of those records capable of upending someone’s entire musical universe. The songs are not just forward-thinking but timelessly great. If anything, its charms have only been amplified through repeat exposure. Now that the shock of discovery has worn off, the album has lost none of its luster.

Swooning vocal theatrics straight out of ancient Andalusia morphed into lithe, breathy Auto-Tune runs.Įl Mal Querer was fresh, and more importantly, it has endured. A melody from Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River” became the foundation for an operatic ballad that seemed to never stop ascending. Palmas that hit like accented letters, agile nylon-stringed guitar runs, and a grandly weeping string section merged seamlessly with airy synth pads and booming minimal beats. The Catalonian singer Rosalía’s second album was truly unique, alchemizing traditional flamenco with futuristic R&B in a manner that felt both natural and visionary. At this late date it’s rare to encounter music that truly sounds like nothing else, but El Mal Querer pulled it off last year.
