On the phone from her Palm Springs hotel room, Rosalia is audibly hyped up.
Less than 24 hours earlier, she slayed her second Coachella performance.
It was crowded, she says giddily, like double from the weekend before.
Credit: Sony
People were singing the songs.
It was amazing to experience.
Last month alone, Rosalia released a single with James Blake, and another with J Balvin.
Rich Fury/Getty Images
I want to keep growing as a musician.
I want to keep making records.
I want to keep improving as a songwriter.
Thats what its all about to learn, you know?
Rosalias quest for knowledge began so long ago she cant even remember exactly when it started.
As a young girl growing up in Barcelona, she sang constantly, she says.
Id sing the things that I heard on TV or the radio, just repeated.
I didnt know why, I just did it.
At 10, she confided in her mother that she wanted to study music.
Five years later, she began taking courses, soon concentrating her studies in flamenco.
When you start studying this music, you see that there are so many different little styles.
You never finish learning it.
At 17, she started composing her own songs.
Its been a long journey, she says of her studies under Chiqui.
Its follow-up,El Mal Querer, is both a culmination and a rebirth for Rosalia.
Sonically, though, the record takes cues from everywhere.
Bagdad opens with a disarming sample of Justin Timberlakes hit Cry Me a River.
When I make music I make a run at do something that people can relate to.
In the end I always think that making music is about sharing.
That is the main goal.
SinceEl Mal Querers November release, many are crediting it with bringing Spanish flamenco to a whole new generation.
But my music comes from flamenco, she says.
Shes very unique, and Ive never seen someone like that.
Her energy and her creative mind are so genuine and strong.
The pair have a song due out later this year.
I dont know another way to do it.
This story appears inEntertainment Weeklys special double music issue.
you might buy it on stands now, orhere.
