Music
Plus One
The 11 best Rosalía songs
As Rosalía steps into her Mundo Nuevo with a new tour announced for 2026, we count down her best tracks
Rosalía is, undoubtedly, one of her generation’s most ambitious artists. A tireless creative who has never done things by halves, the Spanish superstar’s breakout 2018 album El Mal Querer doubled as her flamenco degree thesis. Four years later, its electrifying follow-up, MOTOMAMI, stretched between disparate genres, covering everything from reggaetón to left-field pop, glitchy R&B and even gospel.
Somehow, her recently-released fourth record, LUX, is her boldest project yet. Singing in an astonishing 13 different languages to tell stories of female saints, the 15-track collection is not only a late contender for album of the year but an absorbing antidote to the current age of passive algorithm-based consumption.
For anyone who has been following the classically-trained Catalan artist from her early days through to her audience-widening collaborations with megastars Björk, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd, the fact that her most recent offering is a masterpiece will come as no surprise.
It’s been incredibly tough to narrow down, but here are Rosalía’s top 11 songs.
11. ‘Barefoot In The Park‘ (with James Blake)
(2019, Assume Form)
Aside from her own discography, Rosalía has also been the shining star on songs by many of the biggest names in music. She brought sophistication to Travis Scott and Lil Baby’s rap apocalypse ‘HIGHEST IN THE ROOM’, conjured the otherworldly ‘Opal’ with Björk, and spearheaded Arca’s experimental ‘KLK’ — all proof that she can twist her artistry in seemingly endless ways. But, as far as her collabs go, it’s ‘Barefoot In The Park’ with James Blake (from his album Assume Form) that wins out. Over an eerie electronic soundscape, their ethereal vocals fit perfectly together — a match made in music heaven.
10. ‘CUUUUuuuuuute‘
(2022, MOTOMAMI)
Worlds away from the laid back flamenco of her debut, Rosalía returned four years later with the provocative and gritty ‘MOTOMAMI’. Packed with experimental wins (the genre-blending ‘BIZCOCHITO’ almost made this list too), the record frequently demonstrates her evolution as an artist keen to keep pushing things forward. The strangely transfixing ‘CUUUUuuuuuute’, which changes gears several times, is entirely unique.
9. ‘CHICKEN TERIYAKI‘
(2022, MOTOMAMI)
A song with this title has no right to be anywhere near as infectious as this. But, thanks to its playful rhythm, engine revvs and, of course, the contagious titular refrain repeated in seductive fashion, it cleverly swerves gimmick territory. Far from it, in fact: ‘CHICKEN TERIYAKI’ is one of the most memorable and audacious moments from Rosalía’s third album MOTOMAMI.
8. ‘DI MI NOMBRE (Cap.8: Éxtasis)’
(2018, El Mal Querer)
Embracing flamenco, palmas (clapping) and piano, the third single from Rosalía’s boundary-pushing debut album – which was based on the anonymous 13th-century Occitan novel Flamenca – gave her her first number one song in Spain. Telling the story of a woman in a toxic, controlling relationship, the title translates to “tell my name” – a compelling rediscovery of power.
7. ‘SAOKO‘
(2022, MOTOMAMI)
Nobody can criticise Rosalía for ever playing it safe. With transformation being its lyrical focus, MOTOMAMI‘s innovative opening song makes this immediately clear. A bold sonic fusion of jazz, reggaetón and rap – three genres that, on paper, you wouldn’t necessarily put together, she called the process of creating ‘SAOKO’s beat “as fun as driving a Lamborghini”. Not only does this energy translate to the recorded version, the title comes with a knowing wink – it refers to Puerto Rican slang for “outstanding rhythm”.
6. ‘DESPECHÁ‘
(2022, MOTOMAMI)
Again tackling a new style – Dominican merengue and mambo – this TikTok-dominating one-off single became a summer party-starter primed for holidays and carnivals — so big, in fact, that it attracted a feature from the biggest rapper in the world at that time, Cardi B. Praising its “minimalistic bliss”, Pitchfork summarised ‘DESPECHÁ’s’ vibey appeal perfectly: “two chords, a perfect groove, even a giggle or two: kiss-offs don’t come much breezier”.
5. ‘Con Altura‘ (with J Balvin and El Guincho)
(2019, single)
Teaming up with the reigning king of reggaetón to create her homage to the genre’s roots was an expert move as it resulted in Rosalía’s first international hit. With an enthusiastic J Balvin having sent his verse less than 24 hours after receiving the demo, the rolling earworm ‘Con Altura’ – which boasts perfusion from her longtime collaborator El Guincho – was astronomically successful. Not only did it reach number one in six countries, it also won a Latin Grammy Award and the music video clocked up over a billion views.
4. ‘Divinize‘
(2025, LUX)
Stripping away the layered context of LUX, many of the record’s songs are full of crushing heartbreak. This is channelled in cinematic, show-stopper ‘Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti’, but it’s the pounding claustrophobia of ‘Divinize’ – on which Rosalía’s gorgeous falsetto almost cracks – that encompasses such vulnerability most powerfully. A tear-jerker worthy of every award going.
3. ‘Reliquia‘
(2025, LUX)
Getting one half of masked electro magicians Daft Punk on board to work on a track is no easy feat. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo has often been credited in pop music alongside his former duo partner Thomas Bangalter, for the use of samples, but on the elegant and emotional ‘Reliquia’ from LUX he is credited as a “composer and songwriter”. While the entire string-led piece is stunning, it’s the dramatic switch up in the final 25 seconds that really stops you in your tracks. After a second of near-silence, sheets of paper blow in the wind, giving way to a fast-paced clubby beat where driving drums and vocal chops abruptly end things on a different note.
2. ‘Berghain‘
(2025, LUX)
Surely the first classical song to go viral on TikTok, ‘Berghain’ (apparently not named after the Berlin techno club) is a convention-challenging opera epic. Having enlisted Icelandic icon Björk – who she previously collaborated with on ‘Oral’ – as well as fellow outlier Yves Tumor, and the London Symphony Orchestra, the lead single from her LUX set the internet ablaze – with some genre purists even debating the song’s categorisation. As they say, all press is clearly good press, however, as ‘Berghain’ has clocked up 50 million Spotify streams in just one month.
1. ‘MALAMENTE (Cap.1:Augurio)‘
(2018, El Mal Querer)
Topping our rundown is the song that made Rosalía not only a star, but one of the most unique artists of her generation. The catalyst for flamenco’s modern comeback, its fresh fusion with pop led to five Latin Grammy Award nominations. It’s easy to see why: from the opening handclaps, ‘MALAMENTE’ sounded like nothing else. In fact, its tireless appeal led Billboard to name it among the defining songs of the decade.
