Rosalia Moves to the Head of the Class With the Dazzling ‘Motomami’: Album Review
18.03.2022 - 17:41
/ variety.com
Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorBarcelona-born singer Rosalia seemed to progress ahead of her own albums: While her debut was essentially the straight traditional flamenco she spent years learning, and the second saw her fusing that style with more contemporary sounds, her guest appearances (with artists ranging from J Balvin, Ozuna and Bad Bunny to the Weeknd, Billie Eilish and Travis Scott) and her recent singles have seen her fully embracing innovative, envelope-pushing sounds ranging from reggaetón to hip-hop to pop.It was all prelude for the wildly diverse “Motomami,” which brings her roaring into now — it’s as musically innovative an album as we’ve heard in the past year. It finds her delivering on all the promise and innovation that those releases suggested and plenty more as well, while still keeping the sound rooted in her stunning voice (and singing entirely in Spanish).
There have been many songs and albums that are generally in this innovative-pop-and-hip-hop lane, but it’s hard to think of any that are based around such a jaw-droppingly talented singer. The album is largely a mix of bangers and ballads, with multiple other styles interspersed between.
There are hard beats, throbbing bass wild effects, soaring melodies, distant orchestras and heart-rending singing, sometime all in the same song. It never stays in one place for long.There’s no shortage of A-list collaborators: The Weeknd (singing in Spanish!), James Blake and Q-Tip all make cameos, and there’s a murderers’ row of co-producers and co-writers: longtime collaborator El Guincho, Pharrell Williams, Tainy (J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Cardi B), Frank Dukes (Drake, Post Malone, Camila Cabello), Michael Uzowuru (Beyonce, Frank Ocean, Donald Glover), and Dylan
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