EL MAL QUERER

It's not enough that rising Spanish star ROSALÍA ingeniously blends traditional flamenco with contemporary pop on her second album—she also gets a narrative based on medieval literature in there, too. Inspired by Flamenca, a 13th century book about a woman imprisoned by her jealous fiancé thought to be the first modern novel, each of the 11 songs on this collaboration with producer El Guincho (Pablo Díaz-Reixa) serves as a “chapter” of a running story about a doomed relationship. ROSALÍA went through the album track by track with Beats 1.

MALAMENTE (Cap. 1 Augurio) “It’s a premonition—this moment when you know in the beginning of the story how it’s gonna end, but even then you go and do it. I was trying to compose a song everybody could understand, doing experimentation with electronic sound but also connected with my roots and flamenco. It’s combining these worlds.”

QUE NO SALGA LA LUNA (Cap. 2 Boda) “This song is about commitment and that feeling you get when you get in a relationship with somebody. Sometimes you lose something of yourself in the process. It's the dark side of getting engaged—it's something beautiful but at the same time, there's another part, right?”

PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ (Cap. 3 Celos) “It’s ‘Thinking About Your Gaze.’ This was a song that started from a sample of Bulgarian voices. I did the bassline on an island in Spain, El Hierro. I was so inspired in this place.”

DE AQUÍ NO SALES (Cap. 4. Disputa) “It’s the most aggressive part of the record...and one of the most risky. I wanted to use the motorcycles in this song with this crazy rhythm that combines [chapters] three and four. Khalid told me he liked the song—I would love to do music with him.”

RENIEGO (Cap. 5. Lamento) “It’s a traditional melody from flamenco. [Spanish singer] Camarón was singing with an orchestra; he created the arrangement. I think it sounds very magical.”

PRESO (Cap. 6 Clausura) “You can hear Rossy de Palma’s voice—she’s an iconic actress from Spain. You can feel the experience in her voice. It’s heavy, you know?”

BAGDAD (Cap. 7 Liturgia) “I was very inspired by an erotic club in Barcelona called Bagdad and by ‘Cry Me a River’ by Justin Timberlake. He heard the song and said, ‘Yes, you can use the melody’; I was so excited because he never approves anything.”

DI MI NOMBRE (Cap. 8 Éxtasis) “It’s a very flamenco vibe, very traditional, [but] the structure is very pop. It’s about this connection between two people; the sexual moment. The lyrics—'Say my name, say my name'—I'm such a big fan of Destiny's Child. [It's] paying tribute to all these artists I heard when I was a teenager. ”

NANA (Cap. 9 Concepción) “This is a traditional flamenco melody used when you have a child you’re trying to make fall asleep. I was very inspired by what James Blake does—the space and the production he uses in his songs. I feel like in 50 years, people in universities will study him.”

MALDICIÓN (Cap. 10 Cordura) “We’d been working with Pablo on the production and composition for a year and a half, and I didn’t like it enough. Then: This Arthur Russell sample—I think it’s perfect in this moment.”

A NINGÚN HOMBRE (Cap. 11 Poder) “The last song of the record is the first I composed. Pablo was very excited by it and we saw that we sound good together, so I was like, ‘Let’s do the entire record together.’ It’s about the power of a woman.”