Get To Know Rosalía
by Alessandra Guarneri
Rosalía Vila Tobella, better known as Rosalía, is a Spanish singer-songwriter who continues to be praised for breaking language and gender barriers in the music industry. After collaborations with some of the industry’s most popular artists, Rosalía’s fan base has grown immensely in 2019. Her most recent single, “A Palé,” generated well over 2 million streams on Spotify alone during the first week of its release. With over 6 million followers on Instagram and countless fans across all other social media platforms, Rosalía’s audience continues to expand and grow even towards the end of this year.
Since the release of her first full-length album, Los Angeles, in 2017, Rosalía has collaborated with people both within her genre and outside of it. Her work with other artists has been praised by award shows such as MTV’s Video Music Awards and has caught the attention of more people in the industry as a result. This includes the highly successful Pharrell Williams who has publicly invited Rosalía to work with him in his studio, although the two artists have yet to release anything together. In 2019, she also worked with Ozuna for their single "Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi” and with James Blake on his track “Barefoot in the Park.” Her collaboration with J Balvin has now reached over 300 million streams on Spotify alone. Rosalía’s success thus far has not gone unnoticed. She has received praise from respected artists in the industry such as Frank Ocean and Madonna already. And now fans are eager to see who she will collaborate with next.
Rosalía is multilingual, speaking Spanish, Catalan and English. The list of possibilities for collaborations has become almost endless for the singer-songwriter. Her work ethic is admired greatly by her fans. She wrote and recorded both of her released albums without the help of a record label. Rosalía is often praised for her ability to sing and perform, but many don't realize that she also produces, arranges and composes original music by herself. She plays keyboard, bass, guitar and knows how to produce her own tracks. By starting to focus on music at the age of 10 years old, she has become proficient in the skills she has attained over the years and continues to grow immensely as both a musician and songwriter.
It’s not a secret that Rosalía is breaking several barriers in the music industry. Her lyrics often revolve around women empowerment and her team consists of mostly females. This is something that she focuses on without forced emphasis or ulterior motives. It’s seemingly genuine with most of her family being on her professional team. She defies rules through her several talents and goals as an artist in a competitive industry. She has already performed at Coachella, Made in America and Lollapalooza, festivals that usually don’t focus on Latin/international acts, and became the third female Latin artist to ever perform at the MTV Video Music Awards this past August. She has credibility in a variety of genres, including pop and electronic music, and is making her way to becoming a more mainstream act instead of becoming stuck in one genre. Rosalía is credited as an arranger and producer on a few different projects, including Los Angeles, and remains focused on continuing her success in 2020. TIME magazine recently featured her on its list of “Next Generation Leaders” and stated that she has been referred to as a “complicated genius” and “rule-defying renegade” by critics. Thus, Rosalía is an artist that music fans should become familiar with prior to the start of next year.