Rosalía Doesn’t Want to Take It Easy

Rosalía’s Bold Approach on “Lux”

On her intense and expansive new album, Lux, Rosalía pushes the boundaries of pop music. Unlike many contemporary artists who fit into mainstream pop molds, Rosalía takes a unique and daring path.

Pop Trends and Contrasts

Today, many artists embrace polished pop personas. For example, Taylor Swift, once known as a “tortured poet,” now calls herself a “showgirl” after releasing a concise album with hits co-produced by Max Martin and Shellback. The year’s breakout act may be Huntr/x, a fictional girl group from the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters. Demi Lovato revisited her club roots with the superficial track “Fast” on her album titled It’s Not That Deep. Even Machine Gun Kelly, the rapper turned rocker, experimented with pop by performing his song “Cliché” in a boy-band style, though he faced heavy ridicule.

“It’s a pop song, man,” MGK explained in an Instagram reel addressing the reaction to his video.

Rosalía’s Distinct Identity

Rosalía stands apart in this landscape. She is a classically trained flamenco singer from Spain who gained global recognition in 2018 with El Mal Querer. This album featured delicate and innovative flamenco-pop blends and doubled as her thesis project at the prestigious Catalonia College of Music.

Rosalía’s work on El Mal Querer was both a creative breakthrough and an academic achievement.

Summary

Rosalía defies mainstream pop trends by blending flamenco tradition with experimental sounds, marking her as an exceptional force in today’s music scene.

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The New Yorker The New Yorker — 2025-11-07