Rosalía leads the Latin-pop crusade of the 20’s through chart topping breakthroughs into the American zeitgeist. Albums like Un Verano Sin Ti have shown mainstream audiences how profoundly diverse and unique the urbano-Latino scene has evolved; music from Bad Bunny, Ozuna, and Karol G shouldn’t be labeled as solely Reggaeton. In MOTOMAMI +, Rosalía chaotically soars through a discombobulating tracklist, filled with many highs and off beat interludes where we see the singer dive into sincere personal insight. MOTOMAMI + is an album that speaks to an exhausted fan-base, while replenishing the yearn for fresh new sounds in Latin-pop.
It was astounding to see how much of this project consisted of interluding beats. Rosalía fluctuates between diary-entry song style that promotes a fearless hype to her person. Directly after the first two songs, “SAOKO” and “CANDY,” MOTOMAMI + manically traverses through Bachata (“LA FAMA”) and folky Spanish silhouettes (“BULERÍAS”). “BULERÍAS” resonates as the genesis of classical sound and modern mix, coming together in solidarity of older sounds being valuable to the Latin zeitgeist. This set of songs is one of the album’s defining characteristics on why it’s worth listening to.
“CHICKEN TERIYAKI” is MOTOMAMI +’s synthesis for the front cover track. Rosalía’s dance anthem embodies her raw and uncut emotional mindset in reflection to her status. “Y si la fama es una condena, pero dime otra que the page la cena,” idealizes the singer’s success in music empowerment to hit up the New York jewelers and figuratively own the city. I commend this song for the degree of quality in production, timely melodies, and fresh lyrics which offers an extended look into her personality.
“HENTAI” slowly continues the allusion to Rosalia’s motor-bike fandom. At first glance, the singer’s voice is noticeably strong and fierce. Her vocal pitch collides with the song’s impactful production, utilizing mere explosives and brooding bass lines. I believe this track solidifies the singer’s signature manic love quarrels. “BIZOCHITO” alleviates the dark tensions of the former by delving into summer lollypop beats, that empowered fans are sure to idolize through quirky car rides. As explained, Rosalía’s diary entry of an album condones the fusion of contrasting sounds. Organ-like synths push her senses to fresh ballads like “G3 N15,” where the singer stretches her vocal pitch as tight as Spanish helms. This track’s quality in sorrowful melody, embellished with the dramatic prose of funk, re-establish these familiar conflicting elements of happiness in sad times.
The album’s title song takes a break from the destructive ride. The stumpiness and bounce trap beats contextualize the singer’s dance-flow; it’s a solid contender for live performance track in my opinion. At this song mark, all the energies pronounced in this project synthesize the singer’s main goal, which I’ve assumed to be a surreal dive into her consciousness. The remaining half of MOTOMAMI + consists of hole-in-the-wall, cavity rave beats that produce infectious hip-sways to the motion of the beats and rhythm. It’s interesting to see how innovators of reggaeton reinterpret the signature dance beat. “CUUUUuuuuuute” and “LA COMBI VERSACE,” are no exception to the idealized Latin-pop sounds of this era, which are major peaks for this project.
“Thank Yu :),” celebrates the effort-inducing work she showcases in this project. “DESPECHÁ,” what I’d configure is the project’s encore, contextualizes Rosalía’s worth to the urbano-Latino movement. These golden flows and rocky chords produce replayability I can’t forget.
Rosalía is a young star who is having fun dictating how she interprets singing and songwriting. The singer’s voice radiates throughout the album with addicting festivity, and it’s these instances that impressed me the most. This album is triumphant in surpassing colloquial roadblocks that Latin artists come across when reaching mainstream audiences. MOTOMAMI + is Rosalía being herself and feeling good about it under a take-it-or-leave-it umbrella. Because of how off-beat this album’s progression plays, I wouldn’t categorize it as a must-listen; although, I believe the peaks and nuances Rosalía provides show proof of what makes today’s Latin-pop sensation something to be reckoned with.