walking upstream…
Rosalía
Rosalía Vila Tobella trained for years in traditional flamenco cante before detonating it against reggaetón, R&B, and glitchy pop production, turning one of the world's most rigorous vocal disciplines into a 21st-century pop language. Her 2018 album El mal querer, built around a medieval Occitan novel and conservatory-honed quejío, made her a global star without asking her to sand down the tradition's rough edges. She has since restlessly reinvented herself across Motomami and Lux, pulling reggaetón, opera, and electronic experimentation into orbit around a voice she keeps rooted in flamenco discipline.
the sound in question
2018
MalamenteRosalía
walk the tributaries ↓
Camarón de la Isla1970s · Flamenco / Nuevo Flamenco
Rosalía has pointed to Camarón de la Isla as a foundational reference point for her cante, and the connection is explicit on record — 'Con Altura' name-checks keeping Camarón 'en la guantera' (in the glove compartment) — and her raw, ornamented vocal attack throughout El mal querer draws on the same quejío-heavy phrasing Camarón brought into modern flamenco.
listen: upstream & here
1981
Como el AguaCamarón de la Isla
2019
Con AlturaRosalía
listen forCue up Camarón's 'Como el Agua' and then Rosalía's 'Con Altura' back to back — you can hear the same melismatic curl and rasped edge in her upper register, even with a reggaetón beat standing in for Paco de Lucía's guitar.
James Blake2010s · Electronic / Soul / UK Bass
Rosalía has called Blake's 2011 self-titled debut one of the most impactful records of her life, singling out its production minimalism and free song structures — the negative space, pitched-vocal manipulation, and willingness to let a song stop and restart shape stretches of Motomami much the way they shape Blake's early work.
listen: upstream & here
2011
The Wilhelm ScreamJames Blake
2022
HentaiRosalía
listen forPlay Blake's 'The Wilhelm Scream' next to Rosalía's 'Hentai' — both strip everything back to a single voice over piano and low bass, daring the silence to do as much work as the notes.
La Niña de los Peines1920s · Flamenco / Cante Jondo
Rosalía has named La Niña de los Peines among the cantaoras she studied during her musicology training, and it shows in how she treats the bare, heavily ornamented cante passages that interrupt her pop production — vocabulary Pastora Pavón helped codify as flamenco's most influential 20th-century female voice.
listen: upstream & here
1930
Tientos (Salomón con ser tan sabio)La Niña de los Peines
2018
MalamenteRosalía
listen forListen to La Niña de los Peines work a single syllable across a dozen notes on the tientos 'Salomón con ser tan sabio,' then hear Rosalía open 'Malamente' the same way — bare voice and palmas — before it dissolves into 2018 production.