Maps of Music

El Mal Querer (2018)

Where the lyrics of El Mal Querer take you, and where it was really made.

Recorded almost entirely in El Guincho's Barcelona apartment on a low budget, the album later won Album of the Year at the Latin Grammys.

Key places

Casa Arte on El Hierro (2018)

Recording site Casa Arte — Casa Arte on El Hierro is named among the studios used for the album. The pin sits at the town centre, not at the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

El Guincho's studio in Barcelona (2018)

Recording site Olympic Stadium (Barcelona) — The album was almost completely recorded in El Guincho's home in Barcelona, and El Guincho Studio is listed as a recording location there. The pin sits at the city centre, not at the building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• El Mal Querer: second studio album by Spanish singer Rosalía, and her first with original material
• Released 2 November 2018 by Columbia Records
• Written by Rosalía and co-produced with El Guincho
• Presented as experimental and conceptual
• Described as a romantic document that links flamenco melodrama to the storytelling of modern, woman-flexing R&B
• Follows the anonymous 13th-century Occitan novel Flamenca
• Served as Rosalía's baccalaureate project when she graduated from Catalonia College of Music with honors

Background

• Record cycle began in late 2016 as her baccalaureate project at Catalonia College of Music
• Made on an initial low budget while she was an independent artist
• Rosalía invested much of her own money, to the point of almost going bankrupt
• Concept developed with friend Ferran Echegaray, who proposed the Romance of Flamenca as the storyline
• Every song is a chapter of the story from the Occitan novel
• End of April 2018: short documentary video about the album posted to her social networks
• Single "Malamente" released 29 May 2018 before the album
• Other pre-release singles: "Pienso en tu mirá" and "Di Mi Nombre"
• Post-release singles: "Bagdad" and "De Aquí No Sales"
• Promotion included a Times Square billboard, Spanish festival shows, a sold-out concert at Plaza de Colón, the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards
• El Mal Querer Tour ran from March to December 2019

Recording

• Almost completely recorded at El Guincho's apartment in Barcelona
• Equipment used: a computer, a microphone and an audio interface
• Casa Arte on El Hierro is listed as one of the recording studios

Cover

• Visual aspect by Spanish-Croatian artist Filip Ćustić
• Visuals mainly inspired by contemporary paintings, including The Two Fridas, Ángeles y Fuensanta, Ophelia, Naranjas y Limones and La Maja Vestida

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life and career

• Rosalía Vila Tobella, born 25 September 1992 in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.
• Studied musicology at the Catalonia College of Music, graduating in 2017.
• Early interest in flamenco, especially after discovering Camarón de la Isla.

Debut and El mal querer

• Debut album Los Ángeles (2017) made with Raül Refree.
• Second album El mal querer (2018) mixed flamenco with pop and urban music; won a Latin Grammy for Album of the Year.
• Ranked 315th on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

International career

• Motomami (2022) embraced reggaeton; best reviewed album of 2022 on Metacritic.
• Lux (2025) fused art pop and classical elements; praised by critics.
• Thirteen number-one singles in Spain, the most for a local female artist.
• Two Grammy Awards, eleven Latin Grammy Awards, and a BRIT Award.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Received universal critical acclaim for its experimental production, the mix of flamenco with pop and urbano music, Rosalía's vocals and its visuals
• Metacritic average score of 89, based on five reviews
• The Guardian's head critic Alexis Petridis gave it the highest rating and praised Rosalía's vocals for their freshness
• Pitchfork ranked it the sixth best album of 2018; Philip Sherburne praised its mix of traditional and modern styles
• Some Spanish publications accused Rosalía of cultural appropriation over her use of gitano symbols
• Rosalía responded that the controversy was positive and that flamenco elements would always be present in her work

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone's 2020 update of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time named it the greatest Spanish-language album and placed it 315th overall
• Rolling Stone's 50 Best Concept Albums of All Time (2022) placed it best in Spanish-language and 10th overall
• Many critics saw rising popular interest in flamenco after its release

Records

• Reached the top of the Spanish charts
• Reached the top of the US Billboard Latin Pop Albums chart
• Second consecutive Premio Ruido win for Rosalía
• Since June 2021, holds the record for the longest-charting album in Spanish history
• At the 2019 Latin Grammy Awards, won Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album, Best Engineered Album and Best Recording Package
• With six awards, became the most awarded album by a female artist
• Won Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The Times Square billboard in 2018 made Rosalía one of the first Spanish artists to promote a musical project there.
• The single "Bagdad" interpolates "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake.
• Welsh singer Marina said Ćustić's artwork for this album inspired the cover of her 2021 album Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land.
• In 2021, contestants of Drag Race España recreated the album's looks in a special episode.
• Ćustić won the Latin Grammy for Best Recording Package in 2019 for the album's visuals.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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