Rosalía, the singer from Sant Esteve Sesrovires near Barcelona who has shot to international fame over the last twelve months, was one of the big winners at the Latin Grammys yesterday, walking away with three awards, including Album of the year for El mal querer.
Besides album of the year, her ambitious conceptual triumph El mal querer, which mixes traditional flamenco with modern urban sounds, won Rosalía a gramophone statue emblazoned with her name for Best contemporary pop vocal album. She also shared Best urban song for Con altura, her collaboration with J Balvin.
An artist who takes great care over every aspect of her presentation, beyond just her music, El mal querer won two further awards for her collaborators: best packaging design for Man Mourentan and Tamara Pérez, and best engineered album for El Guincho, Brian Hernández, Jaycen Joshua and Chris Athens.
"I'm in shock, it's the last thing I expected, I swear to God," she exclaimed, moved. "Thank you very much to all the people who support my music. I'm working hard to measure up to your support," she added.
Her three prizes tie her for the night's biggest winner with Alejandro Sanz, from Madrid. He collected the prizes for Record of the year and Best pop song (for Mi persona favorita with Camila Cabello) as well as for Best long-form music video for Lo que fui es lo que soy.
Just behind them, recognised twice each this year, were Juan Luis Guerra, Tony Succar, Pedro Capó, Kany García and Andrés Calamaro. Best song went to Pedro Capó, Gabriel Edgar González Pérez and George Noriega for Calma, whilst the veteran Colombian star Juanes had been nominated Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year.
The ceremony, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Latin Grammys, wasn't free from controversy. Some artists, including J Balvin, called for a boycott of the awards over their lack of recognition for reggaeton, possibly the most popular Latin genre of the moment.