Motomami

by Rosalia

Overview

A positive quality of life during the 21st century has been the rapid dissolution of longstanding cultural divisions. With increasing frequency, the notion of duality itself is giving way to more fluid reflections of identity in human interaction and artistic expression. No album highlights this quite like Rosalia's Motomami. Even its binominal title celebrates this duality: "Moto" refers to the primal side of femininity, while "mami" reflects a gentler, earthier maternal aspect. This record, using many producers, offers the expression, appearance, and explosion of binaries in contrasting energies. Motomami is at once jarring, jagged, dissonant, experimental, yet sweet, tender, nurturing, and celebratory; it embodies these contradictions without trying to create a harmonious whole. The aesthetic (not stylistic) peers of this release include the Beastie Boys' Ill Communication, Cafe Tacuba's Reves/Yo Soy, Moby's Play, Bjoerk's Volta, and Mexican Institute of Sound's Politico. Rosalia ranges across genres -- stripping, appending, and juxtaposing them in conflicting ways, from reggaeton, flamenco, cumbia, trap, and hip-hop to electro, indie, jazz, and more. "Saoko" is a sound clash of reggaeton and electro with a rapped lyric about radical transformation. The bridge offers an avant-jazz piano breakdown before colliding rhythms return to surround her. "Candy" begins a cappella with Rosalia using the discipline of flamenco to roll the syllables around in her mouth before letting them drip out amid crisscrossing reggaeton beats and a driving sample from Burial's "Arcangel." "La Fama," a duet with the Weeknd, offers his lithe, emotionally pleading voice in an electro-cumbia structure; it is sensually humid and loopy. On "Bulerias," Rosalia returns to hardcore flamenco, but updates it. Traditionally syncopated handclaps are displaced temporarily by layered beats and atmospheric synths, as a male chorus registers chanted assent. Organic handclaps replace synthetic beats to claim the center as the singers' subtly manipulated voices join together in power. On "Hentai," a raunchy romantic ballad offers Rosalia's warm, studied vibrato transformed via electronica into an alien one with robotic inflection. Its final 40 seconds erupt in zippered beats that add weight to its erotic expression. "Diablo" commences with a flamenco melody and delicate piano before industrial-strength reggaeton beats explode upfront as she sings about God and material corruption. Rosalia channels opera in "Delirio de Grandeza" atop jazzy son and bolero in an homage to Caribbean salsa. The production juxtaposes fragments from Cuban crooner Justo Betancourt's 1968 romantic single of the same title to a sampled verse from "Delirious" by Soulja Boy. Rosalia's emotionally authoritative vocal on the dolorous electric piano closing track, "Sakura," sounds like it was recorded live in an arena. Her control -- especially of her falsetto -- is canny as she compares her time as a pop star to the brief life of a cherry blossom. Motomami is as provocative and risky as it is creative. It showcases Rosalia as a master, twisting together the contradictory strands of Latin and Anglo pop with traditional and vanguard forms and fresh sounds into a gloriously articulated radical approach that makes for obsessive listening. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	05/13/2022
Label:	Columbia
UPC:	0194399949511

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rosalia   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Piano,Vocals,Keyboards,Spoken Word,Finger Snaps,Vocals (Background)
The Weeknd   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Tokischa   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Chencho Corleone   Primary Artist
Cory Henry   Organ
James Blake   Piano,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Vocals (Background)
L.a. Session Singers   Choir/Chorus
Michael Uzowuru   Bass,Drums
Jose Alvaro Ibanez   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Kaan Gunesberk   Synthesizer
Larry Gold   Strings
El Guincho   Bass,Drums,Keyboards
Carolina Hernandez   Vocals (Background)
Diego Montoya   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Jacob Sherman   Piano
Samueliyo Baby   Vocals (Background)
Juan Diego Valencia   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Sky Rompiendo   Drums
Pharrell Williams   Percussion
Q-Tip   Vocals (Background)
Frank Dukes   Synthesizer
Noah Goldstein   Bass,Synthesizer,Drum Machine
Juan Carlos Grilo Mateos   Vocals (Background),Handclapping
Juan Jose Jaen Arroyo   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Macario Ibanez Diaz   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Nicole Esteller   Vocals (Background)
Olivia Pirez   Vocals (Background)
Roland Gajate Garcia   Drums,Percussion
Rosalia Aguilera   Vocals
David Rodriguez   Multi Instruments
Dylan Patrice   Bass,Drums,Piano,Synthesizer
Carolina Pirez   Vocals (Background)
Francisco Manuel Valencia Vargas   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Giselle Haley   Vocals (Background)
Irrita El Indio   Vocals (Background)
Jacqueline Taylor   Vocals (Background)
Jose Manuel Angulo Pena   Handclapping,Vocals (Background)
Soytiet   Vocals
Tayhana   Bass
Tainy   Bass,Drums

Technical Credits

Alejandro Ramirez   Composer
Fred Jerkins III   Composer
Manolo Nieto   Composer,Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Caroline Shaw   Vocal Arrangement
Juan Orengo   Lyricist,Composer
Cory Henry   Composer
James Blake   Composer,Producer
Brian Hernandez   Engineer
Michael Uzowuru   Beats,Composer,Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Jose Alvaro Ibanez   Arranger
Kaan Gunesberk   Composer
Rosalia   Arranger,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Vocal Producer,Vocal Percussion,Vocal Arrangement
Traditional   Composer
LaShawn Daniels   Composer
Chris Gehringer   Mastering
El Guincho   Producer
Urbani Mota Cedeno   Composer,Lyricist
William Norwood, Jr.   Composer
Daniel Gomez Carrero   Lyricist
Jacob Sherman   Composer
Zach Pereyra   Mixing Assistant
Sky Rompiendo   Producer
Anthony Vilchis   Mixing Assistant
Tokischa Altagracia Peralta   Lyricist
Larry Gold   Composer
Chad Hugo   Composer
Pharrell Williams   Beats,Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Kamaal Fareed   Composer
Frank Dukes   Composer,Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Manny Marroquin   Mixing
Noah Goldstein   Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins   Composer
Jose Miguel Vizcaya Sanchez   Composer
Juan Jose Jaen Arroyo   Tap Dancing
Macario Ibanez Diaz   Arranger
Pilar Vila Tobella   Lyricist
Raul Ocasio   Additional Production
David Rodriguez   Composer,Engineer,Vocal Producer,Additional Production
Carlos Querol   Composer,Lyricist
Pablo Diaz-Reixa   Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Michael Larson   Engineer
Dylan Patrice   Producer,Vocal Producer,Vocal Arrangement,Additional Production
Higinio Marfil Ruiz   Engineer
James W. Manning   Composer,Lyricist
Jorge Luis Delmonte   Vocal Producer
Soytiet   Composer,Lyricist,Producer
Tayhana   Producer
The Weeknd   Producer
Juan Luis Morera   Composer,Lyricist
Abel Tesfaye   Composer
Adam Feeney   Composer
Shin Kamiyama   Engineer
Marcos Masis   Composer
Tainy   Producer
Dylan Wiggins   Arranger,Composer,Vocal Arrangement
Justin Quiles   Composer
William Bevan   Composer
Alejandro "Sky" Ramirez   Composer,Lyricist
Tyler Murphy   Engineer
Teo Halm   Composer,Additional Production
Sean Matsukawa   Engineer
Rauw Alejandro   Composer
Nick Leon   Additional Production
Jeremie Inhaber   Mixing Assistant