7 things to know about Rosalía, one of Vogue’s January 2021 coverstars
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Spanish pop star Rosalía has been everywhere this year, and don’t expect that to change in 2021. The “Con Altura” hitmaker is the fourth of Vogue‘s January 2021 cover stars, and she shared details on her new album R3 in her cover story interview.
Rosalía quickly turned into a fashion icon, and she makes athleisure look extremely stylish. But outside of using her social media to show off her fashionista side, she also sees it as a way to lift others up — especially women. She has been very vocal about how men dominate the music industry, and women don’t see the same opportunities. “How many people talk about how Victoria Monét writes songs the way she does; how many people talk about Missy Elliott producing her own music?” she told Vogue. “I hope with all of my heart that the new generation of women open a path up so that things are different… I’ll always render that figure of a strong woman before anything.”
Rosalía told the magazine that she has been using her quarantine time wisely and focusing on completing her new album. “This is the moment, I think, where everything is flowing, I’m finishing the songs, and it feels different than the beginning of the year,” she said. “Now I’m closing the cycle of these recordings, and I’m really happy with them.”
Rosalía has many collaborations with famous artists, she effortlessly blends flamenco with reggaeton and hip-hop, and she’s pretty tight with Kylie Jenner. If you’re new to the world of Rosalía, here are 7 things you probably didn’t know about the singer-songwriter.
She has collabs with some of the biggest names in the industry
If you haven’t heard of Rosalía, you’ve probably been living under a rock or playing the same songs over and over on repeat. Many people started listening to her music after she released her hit song “Con Altura” with J Balvin and El Guincho. The music video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 2019 for Best Latin and Best Choreography, making her the first Spanish winning-artist at the awards show. Director X directed the video, and the song is extremely catchy.
She also has collabs with Travis Scott (“TKN” and “Highest in the Room Remix”) as well as her songs “Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi” with reggaeton superstar Ozuna, “Barefoot In the Park” with James Blake, “Relación Remix” with Daddy Yankee, Sech, J Balvin and Farruko and “La Noche De Anoche” with Bad Bunny. She recently jumped on the spicy remix of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” to celebrate the first anniversary of its release.
In June, she revealed that she has a collaboration with Billie Eilish and Finneas in the works too. “During these two last weeks, I have been trying to finish the Billie Eilish collab,” she previously said in a Beats 1 interview. “I think it’s getting quite closer. I think that the arrangements, I think that yesterday I finished the arrangements. I feel like the production, the sound design is almost done, so I just need that Billie maybe sends the vocals and they send me the ideas that they want to add because we are there.”
She can speak three languages
Rosalía is fluent in English, Spanish and Catalan (spoken by many in eastern Spain). She sings in Catalan in her 2019 single, “Millonária.” Most of her other songs are performed in Spanish, but she does dabble in some English lyrics in “Blinding Lights Remix” and “Highest In the Room Remix.”
Kylie Jenner calls Rosalía her wifey
Since gaining international fame, Rosalía has become extremely close friends with Kylie Jenner. Even if you’ve never downloaded a Rosalía song, you’ve definitely heard it in a Kylie Cosmetics swatches video on Jenner’s Insta Stories. The pair declared that they were each other’s wives during the singer’s concert (remember those?) last January at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Jenner watched from the VIP section and danced and sang the night away. She recorded parts of her set and captioned the videos “my baby,” “my wife,” and “she’s taken.” She also shared a photo of the two backstage with the ring emoji as the caption. Rosalía posted the same photo to her Instagram account and captioned it, “I said yes,” with the ring emoji. The “Malamente” singer was on Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian and Kim Kardashian’s Instagram Stories earlier this week when they got together for what looked to be a pre-Christmas celebration.
She started on reality TV
Rosalía appeared in the talent competition, Tú Sí Que Vales, when she was 15. She sang the classic song “Como En Un Mar Eterno” by Hanna, but she didn’t advance to the next round, even though she made some audience members cry. The judges thought differently, and one even told her that she “needed to give more personality and more voice.” She sang part of Alicia Key’s “No One” and tried to woo the judges one more time with “Leave” by Jojo, but it didn’t work. “I came here to accept criticism and learn from professionals like you, and I accept your opinion,” she said, being the queen she truly is.
She narrates Harry Styles’ music video for “Adore You”
Yes, that extended “Adore You” music video is narrated by none other than Rosalía. Harry Styles is the only person on the Isle of Eroda, and Rosalía introduces us to it all. She told Billboard that Harry is a good friend of hers and explained how the idea came about. “He explained to me that he had this song and this video that was very special,” she said. “I saw the idea, and I loved the idea. I feel so grateful that he counted on me. So I was there trying to use my best English accent as possible…It was a beautiful video…I love him, I love his music. I think he’s an amazing, super-talented musician.”
She performed during Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 2 show
If you watched Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty Vol. 2 show that premiered in early October, then you watched the Spanish singer perform “Relación” and “TKN.”
She’s committed to uplifting women
Rosalía’s entire team is made up of women, and we stan! Her team includes her managers Rebeca León and her mother Pilar Tobella, her sister and creative director Pili and choreographer Charm La’Donna. She told Harper’s Bazaar that she feels like it’s “very important to always help and empower more women.” She feels inspired to spread the women empowerment message because she feels like there isn’t enough of that in the industry.
“There’s not enough conversation about women [creating] amazing stuff in our industry, the music industry,” she told the outlet. “There are so many songwriters that people don’t know about. There’s so many producers that people don’t know about. When I was growing up making music, there were not enough references for me.” Rosalía said that she won’t stop until she sees “the same number of women as men in the studio.”
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