Brittany Luce

Hello, hello.

I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.

Spanish artist Rosalia's new album, Lux, came out today, November 7th.

And the release, it has been causing a stir amongst fans and critics alike.

We're getting into it with writer and critic Bilal Qureshi and writer and critic Michelle Santiago-Cortez.

Welcome to the show, Michelle and Bilal.

Thanks for having us, Brittany.

So just some background here for those of you who may not be familiar with the princesa.

But a consistent critique of Rosalia and the music industry as a whole has been the blurred lines of who is or is not a part of Diasporic Latinidad.

Now, while I respect Rosalia's talent, her aesthetics are giving throwback Gwen Stefani, and not in the fun way.

Walk with me.

Rosalia is a Spanish pop star, Spanish as in from Spain, the European country, who got her start making flamenco music.

She sings predominantly in Spanish.

but shot to fame masquerading as a Latin American or Afro-Caribbean person.

Even though she's from the country that colonized those regions.

Back in the 90s and 2000s, Gwen Stefani was doing something similar with Indian, Japanese, Jamaican, and Chicana culture.

My sister left no stone unturned back in those days.

In Rosalia's case, she's doing long nails like the Puerto Rican reggaeton legend, Evie Queen, curled baby hairs, Caribbean slang, and lots of reggaeton beats.

She sometimes even slips into caricature in her performances.

Neck rolls, exaggerated gum chewing, and standing with a hand on her popped out hip.