El mal querer


El mal querer is the second studio album by Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía, released on 2 November 2018 through Sony Music. The album was written by Rosalía and co-produced with El Guincho.
Presented as experimental and conceptual, revolving around a toxic relationship, the album was inspired by the anonymous 13th-century Occitan novel Flamenca. The concept was thought-out by the singer herself and friend Ferran Echegaray.
Promotion prior to the album release encompassed the release of three singles: "Malamente", "Pienso en tu mirá"—both accompanied by viral videos due to their elaborate aesthetics and poetic symbolism— and "Di mi nombre". Two other singles, "Bagdad" and "De aquí no sales", were released after the album's release to promote it. Other promotional initiatives included the display of a billboard on Times Square, as well as live performances at several Spanish festivals, the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards.
The album received critical acclaim for its experimental production, the use of flamenco elements and Rosalía's vocals. It became a commercial success, reaching the top of the Spanish Charts and the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart. Following the release of the album, the first four singles were in the top ten of the Spanish Singles Chart at the same time, with "Di mi nombre" becoming her first number-one single.
At the 19th Latin Grammy Awards, "Malamente" was nominated for five awards including Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Short Form Music Video, Best Urban Fusion Performance and Best Alternative Song, winning the latter two, and at the next year's ceremony, the album won for Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album and Best Recording Package, while the song "Pienso en tu mirá" was nominated for Best Pop Song With six awards, it became the most awarded album by a female artist. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Background and release

The album was originally supposed to be released in November 2017, with the lead single "Malamente" preceding it in July 2017. For unknown reasons, the album was delayed by a full year, even though mixing, engineering, and mastering had already been done since August 2017. As of what the vinyl edition of the album says in the credits, the album was recorded in Spain between January 2017 and July 2018. It was mastered in various studios in Los Angeles.
At the end of April 2018, Rosalía published a short documentary video to her social networks where she talked about her new album. She said: "Everything I have I am leaving it here; I'm in the red, I'm risking a lot. This project is what I've always wanted to do, I've been thinking for a long time about making an album like the one I'm going to release. The flamenco inspiration is still there but, at the same time, it is something else." Three days after the international release of the song "Brillo", composed by herself and in collaboration with Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin, the Barcelona-native singer announced on her social networks that she was going to release a new single in the coming days. Finally, on 29 May 2018, "Malamente" was released. Rosalía confessed that El mal querer is actually her final bachelor's degree project, graduating from flamenco studies.

Music

El mal querer is a flamenco pop, experimental pop and Latin R&B record that mixes flamenco music with contemporary urban sounds drawn from pop and reggaetón. Critics noted the experimental tendencies in the production.

Critical reception

El mal querer was widely acclaimed by music critics; at Metacritic, the album received an average score of 89, based on five reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for The Guardian, head critic Alexis Petridis highly commended the album, giving it the highest rating and describing it as "the calling card of a unique new talent." He praised Rosalía's vocals for giving the album "a head-turning freshness", noting that her singing style "is audibly rooted in a different musical tradition to the usual styles in which pop vocalists perform."
Pitchfork ranked El mal querer as the sixth best album of 2018, with Philip Sherburne complimenting its combination of traditional and modern styles, and praising Rosalía's voice, saying, "Whether breathy or belting, she's as commanding a presence as Spanish-language pop has encountered in ages—less an ambassador for flamenco than the inventor of her own fascinating hybrid."
Conversely, Rosalía has been accused of cultural appropriation by some Spanish publications, due to her use of gitano symbology. She is from Catalonia, which has underlying "cultural and political tensions" with Andalusia, the home of flamenco. Paula Ibieta of Phoenix New Times cited "the questionable nature of Rosalía's aesthetic and use of Andalusian slang". Rosalía has responded that the controversy is positive, and that flamenco elements will always be present in her work.

Year-end rankings

Tour

The Spanish singer embarked on her first big festival tour, which she named "El Mal Querer Live", from March to July 2019. The tour began on March 29, 2019 in Buenos Aires, as part of the 2019 Lollapalooza Argentina music festival. Rosalía later visited Chile, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Portugal, among others, as well as the United States where she took part in the Coachella and Something in the Water festivals. The singer also visited her home country, Spain, where she performed at the Primavera Sound, O Son do Camiño, Noche Blanca, BBK Live and Doctor Music festivals. Rosalía also performed at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival.

Track listing

All tracks produced by Rosalía and El Guincho.
Notes
Credits adapted from liner notes.

Certifications