Rosalia: Reinventing Traditional Spanish Folk Music

It might seem odd to hear songs featuring aspects of traditional Spanish folk music grace international charts in the 2020s.

However, the work of one particular Spanish artist has been doing just that. Over the past three years singer/songwriter Rosalia has been consistently putting out music that channels the intense and passionate spirit of flamenco music from southern Spain.

Born in Spain’s Catalonia community to a family with no prior affinity towards music, Rosalia Vila Tobella was introduced to flamenco in her early teens by her peers who would blast the music through their customized car audio systems in her home town of Sant Esteve Sesrovires in Barcelona.

She was so moved by the music’s traditional soulful character that she immersed herself within the Catalan flamenco scene in hopes of hearing more and becoming part of the genre’s landscape.

Rosalia then met locally renowned flamenco teacher El Chiqui, with whom she would study for eight years. She would continue to study music at the academic level, and received a degree from Barcelona’s Catalonia College of Music.

Her 2017 debut album Los ángeles features very minimal folk instrumentation, with most songs containing little more than Rosalia’s reverb-drenched Spanish vocals accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Some would say it’s the ethereal nature of her singing that draws listeners in, many of whom may not even speak Spanish.

That isn’t to say that lyrics aren’t an important component of Rosalia’s music. Her second album El mar querer tells the story of a toxic relationship based on the famous authorless Romance of Flamenca written in the 13th century. This concept is presented using a style of music that features a unique blend of flamenco and modern R&B sensibilities.

Rosalia takes great pride in her work, and even presented El mar querer as her thesis for her flamenco degree in college. She has since gone on to perform at Coachella, and was the only musician to be named as one of Time magazine’s “New Generation Leaders”.

Rosalia enjoys presenting her music at festivals and venues where her style stands out. She performed at the Sonar electronic music festival in 2018, where she showed off her more electronic brand of alternative R&B flamenco music from her second album.

She has since collaborated with many notable electronic artists such as James Blake, Arca, and Oneohtrix Point Never, and also went on to become the first female Spanish artist to perform at the Grammy’s.

Rosalia is likely to continue making waves and bringing flamenco music to the forefront of the alternative R&B scene. Her ability to draw in non-spanish speaking audiences with her cathartic vocal delivery and fresh sounding arrangements means she’s likely going to enjoy mainstream success for years to come.  

She’s currently working on her yet-to-be-named third studio album, and has hinted at collaborating with alternative pop superstar Billy Eilish.