9 December 2025: Spanish Tutor/LLA Jason’s Music Tip: Motomami by Rosalia
9 December 2025: Spanish Tutor/LLA Jason's Music Tip: Motomami by Rosalia
With Rosalía’s new album Lux releasing, I went back and listened to her previous album, Motomami, which was released in 2022. I have a bit of nostalgia for the album, as I was taking AP Spanish Language and Culture at the time, and music was one of the ways I was able to improve my Spanish and immerse myself in the language.
If you’ve heard Motomami, you would know that it may not have been the most friendly for a second-language learner such as myself to learn Spanish from. Still, when I learned the songs and what the lyrics actually meant, it was a rewarding experience. Not only did I learn a lot of new vocabulary, it helped get me accustomed to hearing an accent I would end up hearing a lot while I studied abroad in Spain a few years down the road. I even wrote about the fourth track from the album, “Bulerías” for the final paper of the flamenco class I was taking there!
In short, the song is about Rosalía affirming her flamenco roots while being able to explore other styles of music. Aside from “Bulerías,” some of my favorite songs from the album are “La Fama” ft. The Weeknd and “Delirio de Grandeza.” In “La Fama” Rosalía plays a caricature of fame, with all of its dangerous and treacherous qualities. “Delirio de Grandeza,” my personal favorite, is a deceptively somber song about a lost love, based on a 1968 song of the same name.
Perhaps one of the most striking qualities of Motomami is that it expands on preexisting genres, which happens to be Rosalía’s controversial specialty. For example, her music has faced controversy for taking from Spanish music genres outside of Spain. Additionally, the aforementioned “Bulerías” is a response to criticism that Rosalía’s music deviated too much from classical flamenco to be considered flamenco, despite her roots in the genre. To that end, the entire album can be seen as a rebuke of traditional genre norms entirely, owing to its experimental nature and Rosalía’s influence.
This album will always hold a special spot for me, as it was my first proper exposure to Spanish-language music. Of course, I’ve heard “Despacito” but this album was my first exposure to a tool that would help expand both my linguistic and cultural knowledge of Spanish. Since listening to Motomami back in 2022, I’ve been exposed to many different artists and genres in Spanish. At the time of writing this blog, I have not yet listened to Rosalía’s next album, Lux, but if the reviews are to be believed, I’m sure I’ll love it as much as Motomami.