Photo Credit: Roger Kisby
Rosalía is a singer and songwriter who gained popularity after producing music that brought a refreshing take to traditional flamenco. After several popular collaborations, the artist has gained international attention. Rosalía Vila Tobella was born on September 25, 1993 in Barcelona, Spain. No one in her family participated in any form of artistry, but Rosalía became hooked to flamenco music when she was 13-years-old and made her first attempt for the spotlight when she competed on the television show Tú sí que vales at 15-years-old. After advice from her longtime mentor, Jose Miguel Vizcaya, Rosalía attended a music academy. Several years later, she transferred to The Catalonia College of Music. Rosalía’s talent combined with her teacher’s guidance primed her to take an active role in music. She then performed at small local bars and weddings to gain fans.
The young vocalist participated in several festivals and performances throughout 2013. The following year she was the lead singer at the prestigious concert hall, Palau de la Musica. Rosalía’s collaborations with the theatrical group La Furadels Baus and flamenco singer Miguel Poveda, created a growing number of occasions to gain attention and for listeners to become fans. Rosalía released a music project titled El Nino in 2015 with Raul Refree as the producer. In June 2016, she partnered with rapper C. Tangana on the single, “Antes de Morirme.” The song was featured on the TV show soundtrack for Netflix’s Élite and gained international recognition.
On February 10, 2017, Rosalía released her debut album titled Los ángeles. The album features Rosalía’s striking vocals and Raul Refree as the guitarist. Spoken in Spanish, Rosalía sings about death throughout 12-tracks on the conceptual album. The vocals and guitars range between a soft and slow tempo to a hard and fast tempo. Los ángeles received a lot of media success throughout the year. In May of 2018, Rosalía was featured on reggaeton artist J Balvin’s “Brillo.” At the end of the month, she released the single, “Malamente.” The song gathered international attention for its combination of flamenco and pop. A new song, “Pienso en tu Mira” came to airwaves in July and created even more fan excitement. El Mal Querer was released on November 2, 2018. Produced by El Guincho, El Mal Querer combines traditional flamenco style with pop. Composed of 11-tracks, the album topped the US Billboard Latin Pop chart as well as several other outlets.
Rosalía released “Con altura” featuring J Balvin in March 2019. The song was an international success. The follow up single, “Aute Cuture” became another fast pace single that featured a reggaeton rhythm while the track “Milionaria” brought more pop-based fans to the artist. In August 2019 the hit single “Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi” featuring Ozuna was released and the song charted several international charts.
Continuing the trend of international attention, Rosalía released several singles in 2020. “Juro Que” reintroduces the flamenco-fusion style that garnered the artist so much attention. The ballad single “Dolerme” made its debut during COVID-19 and acts as an emotional check-in for Rosalía. In May, she released her collaboration with Travis Scott on the song “TKN.” The single became the first from Rosalía to get on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Rosalía’s rise to international fame and her increasingly gaining recognition have shown how passionate this artist is to her craft. Through formal training, innate skill, and a hypnotic style, Rosalía is on track to continue to take over the airwaves. Rosalía has opened another path for music to travel bringing flamenco to the rest of the world.
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