Eight Years of Obsession with Rosalía: Flamenco, Diaspora, and the Evolution of a Pop Star
By
Sohini Desai
Summary
A personal essay reflecting on the author's eight-year obsession with Rosalía, sparked by the belief that flamenco has South Asian origins. The piece weaves together music criticism, cultural analysis, and memoir as the author traces Rosalía's evolution from flamenco purist to global pop star, while grappling with questions of cultural appropriation, artistic authenticity, and the diasporic connections between Romani, Indian, and Spanish musical traditions.
Source
DefectorEight Years of Obsession with Rosalía: Flamenco, Diaspora, and the Evolution of a Pop Stardefector.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledI watched her dance—using her feet to strike the ground, making an instrument of her body, raising her arms in intricate flourishes—and I thought … I've seen this before. It looked so Indian to me.
Me: 'Romani people are from Rajasthan and there is no flamenco without Romani people!' Him: 'Bitch, you can't even spell
I hadn't listened to much flamenco, if any at all, until my roommate Jake introduced me to Rosalía.
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