LUX

"Lux", the fourth studio album from the Spanish performer, Rosalía, is clearly the true definition of world music. This collection of orchestral pop, which took almost three years to complete, boldly expresses ideas involving feminine transformation and spirituality through a variety of languages and musical styles. In the process, Rosalía has crafted an album that is cutting edge and rhythmically complex.

Before she even really began this project, Rosalía spent an extensive period of time learning how to properly sing in various dialects before using Google to help translate her lyrics into each of the fourteen specific languages while also utilizing professional translators. The eighteen tracks on "Lux" (which means "light" in Latin) are separated by four musical movements with many songs inspired by a female Saint.

Recorded in London, Barcelona, Seville, Saint-Rémy, Miami and Los Angeles while featuring production assistance from some of the current top producers working in pop music today like Caroline Shaw, Dylan Wiggins, Noah Goldstein, Pablo "El Guincho" Díaz-Reixa and Pharrell Williams, "Lux" is truly a transcendent work of art. In this era of largely disposable, facile pop music, what Rosalía accomplished with this progressive album through dedicated innovation and incredible endurance is an impressive feat, proving she is an artist on a completely different playing field.

The first single, "Berghain" (which contains lyrics in German, Spanish and English) is about losing one's self to a lover's toxic behavior and features the Icelandic pop artist, Björk and American musician, Yves Tumor. The song was well received, charting high on the pop charts throughout Europe and even appearing on the US chart. Rosalía has recently announced the Lux Tour which will begin in March and will have her traveling across the globe through September to promote the album.

NEW SOUNDS

ANITTA

Anitta, the trilingual pop star from Brazil, is poised to make her mark on the international stage with her fifth album, "Versions of Me". With one of the top American pop-music producers, Ryan Tedder on board as executive producer, the twenty-nine year old performer born Larissa de Macedo Machado covers a variety of sounds, ranging from reggaetón, alt r&b and electro-pop, to create songs that will certainly appeal to a world-wide audience.

This adventurous collection expertly displays Anitta's skill and versatility, moving comfortably to take us on a musical journey from Brazilian funk to Spanish reggae to English-language pop. To aid Anitta on her quest for pop-music domination, she has enlisted several guest artists from the worlds of hip-hop and r&b to appear on the album which includes Saweetie, Ty Dolla Sign, YG, Khalid and Cardi B.

And the album art of "Versions of Me", which features the singer in different stages before and after several plastic surgery procedures, has sparked a bit of controversy yet Anitta embraces the image, stating that while her face may have been altered, her insides remain the same.







ROSALIA

Another musician setting out to conquer the world is Rosalía. This Spanish pop artist's work is far more offbeat, merging flamenco, pop and reggaetón together in unexpected ways. Rosalia Tobella began her career in music formed in traditional flamenco, studying at the Catalonia College of Music as a teen. In 2016, she met musician and producer, Raul Refree who caught her during a live performance in Barcelona. Rosalía was signed to Universal Music with she and Refree going to work on her debut, "Los Ángeles", a concept album that featured death as it's central theme and used several forms of classic flamenco music. The album was well received and for the 2018 follow-up, "El Mal Querer", Rosalía teamed-up with musician, El Guincho on an album that was far more experimental in sound and concept yet helped take her to the next level of major success in Latin pop music.

Now for her third album, "Motomami", Rosalía has crafted what she says is her most personal album to date. Using reggaetón as a musical base, the singer mixes in unexpected musical elements like electro-beats, avant-jazz and rap while lyrically expressing themes involving love, sexuality and heartbreak. And while Rosalía has found great success with this album as a crossover artist, she has achieved this on her terms, not feeling compelled to perform her music in English. Even The Weeknd, who provides vocals on the track, "La Fama" sings in Spanish.

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

Gloria Estefan had the number one song in the U.S. during this week back in 1989 with "Don't Wanna Lose You". This was the debut single from the album, "Cuts Both Ways" which was the first record to only feature her name after years of fronting the Latin band, Miami Sound Machine.

At this point, Estefan was one of the biggest pop artists in the world and this album (which would go on to sell over four million copies) would help keep her at the top. This classic love ballad, written by Estefan, would become one of her most popular songs, reaching the top-ten in seven countries and earning the Cuban-born singer a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Estefan even recorded a Spanish-language version of the song, "Si Voy a Perderte" which also reached number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.

It was during the tour for "Cuts Both Ways" that would seriously alter the singer's life. While on her tour bus near Scranton, PA., a semi-truck crashed in to it during a snowstorm which left Estefan critically injured. The accident required emergency surgery and titanium rods were implanted in her to stabilize her vertebral column. It took almost a year of painful physical therapy but Estefan made a full recovery and went back on the road to finish the tour.