“La fama”: why the new bachata by Rosalía and The Weeknd causes controversy

Can a Spanish and a Canadian dabble in Dominican bachata?

That is what some are wondering after the singer Rosalía released a few days ago the video clip of her latest song – “La fama” -, which she performs with The Weeknd and which is the first preview of her new album – “Motomami ”- which will be released in 2022.

The video clip, which In less than a week it already has more than 13 million views on YouTube, it has been very well received by the followers of Rosalía, who became known to the world in 2018 with her flamenco fusion album “El mal quer”, and who in recent years has delved into different Latin rhythms such as reggaeton.

Despite this, there are those who have accused the Catalan singer of “cultural appropriation”, for making her own a musical genre -bachata- of Dominican origin, in collaboration with a Canadian musician whose first language is not Spanish.

“If Rosalía really wanted to experiment with bachata, Why didn’t you use your platform to present a Dominican bachata artist? If I just wanted to work with The Weeknd, I could have made this a regular pop song with a flamenco influence, “wrote Johanna Ferreira in a recent article on the publication. Popsugar Latina.

“The song could have featured any of the greats of bachata like Juan Luis Guerra, Frank Reyes, Elvis Martínez, Raulín Rodríguez, Zacarías Ferreíra or Luis Vargas. It could even have been a collaboration with Romeo Santos and Aventura like Bad Bunny did with ‘Volví’ (…).

But instead, Rosalía, who has continued to receive criticism for occupying a space in Latinx musical genres that originated with black Latinx artists, once again chose not to use his platform to put a Dominican artist”Ferreira wrote.

Remezcla also published an article about it when Rosalía presented a preview of “La fama”, in which she assured that “many fans of the genre (bachata) are not delighted that a Spanish artist, especially one who has been singled out in the past, is entering a traditional style ”.

In social networks, opinions are divided.

“I don’t understand what the point of doing a bachata with The Weeknd is. I could have done it with a Dominican singer … if the idea was to globalize bachata and not just make numbers, “wrote a user on Twitter.

Instead of thanking Rosalía and The Weeknd for increasing the popularity of bachata in the world so that all bachata artists benefit, some choose to criticize Rosalía. The haters hate!another user wrote.

Some Internet users have recalled that Rosalía recently released the song “Linda” with the Dominican artist Tokischa and that he has shared a bachata playlist under the title “bachateame” on his Spotify profile, which includes his favorite songs of the genre.

“I respect bachata”

Rosalía herself recently explained in an interview where the inspiration came from to compose “La fama”.

“I have the luck that [el cantante de origen dominicano] Romeo Santos gave me playlists with classic bachatas (…) and it inspired me a lot. Adventure was always a reference for me. And I really wanted to make a bachata. (…) I have a lot of respect for bachata and I have done my version of it ”, said the singer.

Rosalía also told in a recent interview with the Spanish edition of the magazine Rolling Stone that his new album not only has influences from bachata, but also “from dembow, champeta, flamenco, hip-hop or piano melodies”.

The singer also explained that the Dominicans Tokischa and Rita Indiana have collaborated on her new album.

Latin artist?

It is not the first time that Rosalía has been involved in a controversy over her identification with Latino culture.

In 2019, the fact that the MTV Video Music Awards included her in the Latin music category and that numerous media in the United States referred to her as a “Latin” artist sparked a lot of comments.

Rosalía, who started her career in the world of flamenco, has ventured into reggaeton with great success with songs such as “With height”, in collaboration with the Colombian JBalvin and the also Spanish El Guincho; “Me x You, You X Me”, which he performed with the Puerto Rican Ozuna, or “Last night’s night”, junto a Bad Bunny.

At the time, in an interview with Billboard, Rosalía assured that her culture is Spanish, but that she feels “100% Latin”.

“When I go to Panama or when I go to Mexico, I feel at home. So yeah I feel Latina”.

In her own country, the Catalan artist received some criticism from those who accused her of “Cultural appropriation” for singing flamenco, a genre traditionally associated with the gypsy population and especially with the native of southern Spain.

“I am very clear about where flamenco comes from, that music belongs to all of us and that it has nothing to do with a racial or territorial issue. Above all, I do things from love and respect, ”said Rosalía in an interview.