Mar 21, 2022
Motomami by Rosalía | Album Review
An expansive, and intimate album full of artistic and expressive freedom
In the 3 years since her last album El Mal Querer, Rosalía has become a household name in Spanish music. Expanding into the mainstream scene by collaborating with Reggaeton hitmakers such as Bad Bunny and J.Balvin, as well as linking up with James Blake and Oneohtrix Point Never to name a few. Her style of mixing traditional flamenco with a flare of experimental pop made Rosalía’s music stand out among her contemporaries, and has certainly earned her the acclaim she’s rightfully deserved.
With this increased popularity, it made the hype for her forthcoming album all the more exciting. Where would she take her sound next now that she’s on her way to becoming a global superstar? The answer: completely in the left field. On this new album MOTOMAMI, Rosalía brings us into her world the way she intended. Opening up herself more while stretching her experimentation to a wide array of genres it’s oftentimes hard to fit this album into a singular sound. The result is an album that is brash, playful, and intensely intimate.
MOTOMAMI is expansive when it comes to its production. Namestays in Latin music such as El Guincho, Sky as well as prominent producers like Pharell Williams work together to create this album’s sound. Plucking the best parts of Caribbean music, Reggeaton, Flamenco, and exploring beyond their limits. Songs like “DIABLO” and “LA COMBI VERSACE” match their low-key dembow beat with some unconventional, atmospheric synths that would fit nicely at a Gotham City nightclub. The minimalist “HENTAI” shakes things up with spurts of distortion and thundering percussion.
When MOTOMAMI decides to get weird, however, is where the album truly shines. The opener “SAOKO” juxtaposes its sinister beat with some free-jazz. “CUUUUuuuuuute” samples an iconic TikTok before diving headfirst into a frenzy of glitched-out electro and pitched-up vocals in the same vein of an ARCA song. The title track “MOTOMAMI” makes use of The Neptune’s signature 808 and flips it over its head, the end result turns the song into a collage of bass.
I also can’t forget to mention Rosalía’s voice throughout the album. Her vocal range is impeccable. The way she belts her heart out on the album’s ballads such as “SAKURA” conveys a real sense of emotion. On the more hyper cuts of the album, she plays around with her tone employing heavy autotune and pitch shifting very similar to that on Frank Ocean’s Blonde. She manipulates all over MOTOMAMI in ways that make it feel right with the album’s production.
Lyrically, MOTOMAMI is not nearly as complex as the 13th-century inspired El Mal Querer, but it doesn’t have to be. The entire concept of the album jumps back and forth between Rosalía’s extravagant side (the ‘MOTO”) and her personal desires like love and family (the “MAMI”). She doesn’t shy away from showcasing the very extremes of these two sides to her. She’s upfront and bold with a badass attitude on “SAOKO”, she expresses her femininity in a fun way with “CHICKEN TERIYAKI” and “BIZOCOCHITO”. She even teams up with Dominican rapper Tokischa to flaunt their love for money and fashion on “LA COMBI VERSACE” (“I dress like a bride but I’m not your wife, Valentino tennis shoes, Moschino biscuit Sapphire choker with navy blue diamonds.”). It’s a side of Rosalía we’ve never heard before, and it’s quite endearing to hear her explore this side of her personality. One that’s brash, funny, and unapologetic.
On the other end of the spectrum, the album unpacks her deeper feelings of love and intimacy. They range from the innuendo-tinged “HENTAI” (a surprise considering her past material) and falling out of love on “CANDY” and “LA FAMA”. The latter is a bachata-influenced track with a surprise appearance from The Weeknd. She even yearns for a second chance with songs like “DELIRIO DE GRANDEZA” (“I hope with just time that you’ll come back looking for an illusion of love And you’ll come back to me, I hope so.”). These bouts of lost love turn into ballads of gratitude like on “G3 N15”, where she explores the relationship she has with her family. It ends with a voice mail from her grandmother reminding her that family is and will always come first.
Album closer “SAKURA”, named after the cherry blossom of the same name, has Rosalía look inward at her own success. Cementing the fact that being a pop star will never last, she’ll keep on risk-taking artistically until it means there’s something to lose, at least she can look back and laugh at it when she’s older. It's an ending that I think solidifies MOTOMAMI as a whole, this idea of risk-taking and presenting yourself in a way that is wholly unique, regardless of what others may think.
To say I was impressed with MOTOMAMI would be an understatement, I’m still in awe at how this whole album feels, and just how drastically different it is to contemporary pop music, and Rosalía’s discography almost entirely. I might be going on a limb here, but Rosalía could potentially carve an entirely new path for musicians (especially in the Latin scene) to experiment further and introduce new and weird elements into their sound, while also not needing to be overly complex in their concepts.
With that, I feel pretty confident in giving MOTOMAMI a 9/10. The album presents an artist that isn’t afraid to shed her layers and showcase more of her personality. When the album wants to get fun and playful, it does so extremely well. When things start to become more personal and nuanced, Rosalía showcases a side to her that encourages a sense of freedom. To allow oneself to fully express themselves emotionally, and the end result makes for one of the best albums I’ve heard so far this year. Although it strays away from her traditional flamenco roots to a slight pivot in reggaeton and electronica, she handles that shift very well. MOTOMAMI is an album that fully encompasses who Rosalía is, and what she has in store for the future.
Essential Tracks: SAOKO, CANDY, LA FAMA, CHICKEN TERIYAKI, HENTAI, BIZCOCHITO, G3 N15, MOTOMAMI, DIABLO, CUUUUuuuuuute, LA COMBI VERSACE, SAKURA
Stream MOTOMAMI: Apple Music | Spotify
