Rosalía, 25, is a Catalan singer fusing the traditions of flamenco music, including palmas (handclapping) and pitos (finger snapping), with pop and R&B production to revitalise the Spanish genre for an international audience.
Malamente, the first single from her forthcoming album El Mal Querer, received over 25 million views on YouTube, with the follow up single, Pienso en tu mirá, racking up 18 million. While visiting the UK in October, the Barcelona-born artist was invited to perform on the BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland and performed at Village Underground in a show, described by The Guardian as ‘an evening of gloriously global pop’ in which flamenco was ‘dragged thrillingly into the 21st century’. Two days after her album was released, Rosalía performed at the MTV Europe Music Awards on a bill which also featured Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Halsey.