The French philosopher Gilles Deleuze said in The Fold that continuous metamorphosis was the most defining attribute of the Baroque, with the cathedrals of the 17th and 18th centuries as irrefutable proof of his theory. Everything folds, unfolds, and refolds, he elaborated in his monumental reflection published in the late 1980s. And, without realizing it or intending to, he was anticipating nearly four decades ahead of the phenomenon that would come to shake Latin music. Without the need for any architectural construction, a cathedral has now risen on the foundations laid by Lux.
"When I was making this album, I was thinking about cathedrals. Trying to make an album that sounds like a cathedral haha I don't know if I succeeded, I suppose just trying is enough for me," wrote Rosalía last Saturday, in her hurried style that accompanies her sparse Substack posts, on the day that marked exactly one year since the release of her fourth album. The term could be just another religious addition to Lux, but what if the Spanish star's cathedral desire was nothing more than the metamorphosis of an entire system with an album that accumulates references, layers of sound, and languages without reservations? And what if, in addition, that metamorphosis were occurring in a style, the Latin one, that is not prone to mutation?
For two decades, reggaeton and urban music have been advancing relentlessly without major changes, conquering the entire American continent, from Canada to the southern cone of Argentina. Until their own Baroque arrived, and experimentation became the method of action. "The reggaeton phenomenon has been around for a long time, and we have huge hits like Despacito by Luis Fonsi or many others, but when Bad Bunny arrives, he brings it back to its most real version, and Rosalía completely takes it off script and starts innovating with everything. They are the ones introducing lyrical elements that connect deeply with a more modern audience," details Alejandro Mejía Abad, general director of HYBE Latin America and general director of Warner Music Mexico for a decade, in a meeting with EL MUNDO during BIME, the music congress held in Bilbao two weeks ago.
Rosalía and Bad Bunny, the two big names in Latin music and also the main disruptors of its industry. The Puerto Rican turned his exploration of the folk music genres of the continent and his native island into music that could be heard at any corner of the world, regardless of language. The Catalan has transformed an opera, infused with flamenco, into the forefront of Latin pop and, along the way, has erased the boundaries between folk, urban, electronic, or academic music until they became a whole. "Definitely, the door has already been opened to disruptive projects, and Rosalía and Bad Bunny are the two main exponents of this movement, but other artists are starting to do it too. This shows you that music that is not purely urban, which has been popular for years, also works well. With these two, it has been proven that if you are a Spanish-speaking artist, you don't have to make urban music to get streams and sell tickets," explains Carlos Abreu, manager at United Talent Agency, which represents both internationally.
Let's reference the main category of Album of the Year at the Latin Grammy Awards to be held this Thursday night, where Rosalía -who has already won with El mal querer and Motomami- is the favorite with Lux. Of the ten albums nominated for the award, only one is pure urban, and with nuances. La vida era más corta, by Milo J, traverses trap but also explores traditional Argentine rhythms. In that same trend, Karol G and Anitta have dived into their latest works. In the eclecticism, we can point to Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso -the other major nominees of the night-, Mon Laferte, or Rawayana. And that list expands with many other cases, beyond the Latin Grammy: Latin Mafia is another example that can be cited in South America, and Rusowsky, Judeline, or Ralphie Choo serve for Spanish music. "We are talking about artists who do neither reggaeton nor pop, who have opted for more alternative music, and who are recognized in the highest categories," notes Abreu. He continues: "We have two artists at an extremely high level of innovation, who are selling tickets at a historic level in the case of Bad Bunny and selling out worldwide in the case of Rosalía. They are the ones who have broken the category of Latin music, demonstrating that within that category, all genres in Anglo music fit. That this is being recognized is very important because it implies that Latin music is being made at the highest level right now."
All the industry experts consulted cite Rosalía as one of the main drivers of this change, with her constant sonic twists. Motomami already represented in 2022 a first push in the renewal of reggaeton with the use of Asian rhythms that had not been introduced in the Latin market until then and are now commonplace. Lux is a more radical step because it has made a style that is at the opposite extreme of what mainstream Latin music has been until now hegemonic. "I'll explain it with a small metaphor. Rosalía is an avid mountaineer, and in that jargon, those who open routes that did not exist before on the slopes of a mountain are called expert climbers. They are the ones who put crampons on the rock and make it easier for those who come behind to continue climbing with the risks that entails. That is what Rosalía is for the Spanish music industry," details Daniel Gómez Sánchez, musicologist from the Complutense University of Madrid and author of Rosalía, universo creador, the biography in which he analyzes the transformations the Catalan has undergone throughout her ten-year career.
One of the great values attributed to Rosalía is, in fact, finding the music that should accompany each vital and social moment being experienced. After the lockdown of the pandemic, Motomami channeled the vital need that the population had to enjoy, play, dance, and connect with a uninhibited side, and she did so by breaking away from what was known as Latin. In a world that is often said to be mired in existential void, searching for references to cling to and with a need to consume cultural products that are identified as authentic and original, Lux appeared, which, far beyond the religious, responded to all those questions and introduced rhythms that the industry had not even considered. "What separates Rosalía from other proposals is that, although they are risky bets, there is a conjunction between risk, her identity, and her authenticity. Lux is a change in the rules of the game, but it is because it comes accompanied by a vital need to empty oneself and be a receptacle for new inspiration. There is nothing in her that is random experimentation; everything is authentic. And with that, she has put the music industry in check, marked a before and after, and left record labels without arguments to not bet on proposals that are totally innovative, disruptive, and that integrate folklore," emphasizes Daniel Gómez Sánchez, who defines her as "a true alchemist of music capable of abstracting any style to bring it to the present."
And this has even surpassed the Latin sphere. Artists from the new wave of British neosoul like Sienna Spiro cite the Catalan artist as a reference for their work. The same goes for the Irish rock band Fontaines DC, who just collaborated with her on Where is Gone?, or U2, who have dedicated a song from their upcoming album, Carnaval de luz, to her. Additionally, many European festivals are now also featuring Latin artists in their lineups, driven by the impact that artists like Rosalía and Bad Bunny have had. Bad Gyal performed at the latest edition of Roskilde, one of Denmark's major festivals, and Tokischa took the stage at Maiden Voyage, which takes place every August in London. "All of this has happened because people were exposed to Spanish-language music that they could dance to, enjoy, and party with, and that opened the door for artists to explore more in music and collaborate with each other to pursue their true tastes," says Carlos Abreu. He is complemented by Juan S. Arenas, recently appointed president of HYBE Global Label Services, the division of the company dedicated to supporting the growth of its artists in international markets: "One thing that is happening is that cultures are connecting more and more, and new things are being brought in from producers who have worked with Bad Bunny, Rosalía, Drake, or Justin Bieber. Every day we will see more mixed groups or artists. It no longer matters where you are from; you just have to make your story connect with your followers. Today, stories connect more than language. And it is a reality that content in Spanish, from Rosalía or Bad Bunny, is connecting with everyone."
Alejandro Mejía Abad, with his extensive experience in the Latin industry, defines another change that is recently occurring alongside the projects of Bad Bunny or Rosalía. "Five years ago, everyone was fighting to sign the artist who had a viral song on TikTok; virality at that time represented success. Now, going viral has ceased to be a pursuit because what matters is the connection with fans from authenticity. And that's where we all in the industry need to be," says this executive from HYBE Latin America.
These are the foundations on which Rosalía's Baroque cathedral has been built.