
Rosalía
Photo: Sam Wasson/Getty Images
Rosalía Cries A Literal River In "Bagdad"
Back on Nov. 15, Rosalía took home her first two Latin GRAMMY Awards for "Malamente," the lead single from her sophomore album El Mal Querer, showcasing the wide appeal of her unique pop-infused and hip-hop-inspired take on classic Spanish Flamenco music. Fast-forward to Dec. 4, when the rising star dropped the fourth single from the album, "Bagdad," complete with another stunning visual accompaniment. The song builds off the beat from Justin Timberlake's 2002 GRAMMY-winning classic "Cry Me A River," so it seems only fitting that Rosalía would fill an entire room with her tears.
In her Tweet announcing the video, she shares (in both Spanish and English) that it is, "For all those who were heartbroken and drowned in their sorrow."
The video, directed by French artist Helmi, shows Rosalía donning a long blonde wig and red spandex bodysuit in a dimly lit adult entertainment club, with approximately three minutes of the video dedicated to her sobbing in the bathroom until it fills completely with her tears. While the video is stylistically simpler than her others from the album, in which she highlights plenty of Spanish cultural subjects, it too finds inspiration from her native Barcelona, with religious undertones and the inspiration of a specific club, also named Bagdad.
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In a track-by-track of the album, Rosalia told Beats 1 about the inspiration behind the song, which shines through in the video, and about her excitement that Timberlake approved her interpretation of on his song. "I was very inspired by an erotic club in Barcelona called Bagdad and by 'Cry Me a River' by Justin Timberlake. He heard the song and said, 'Yes, you can use the melody'; I was so excited because he never approves anything."
"Cry Me A River" was Timberlake's second single released as a solo artist, from his debut solo album Justified. Both the single and the album earned him his first GRAMMY wins at the 46th GRAMMY Awards, where he took home Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album for each, respectively.
Timberlake has made news recently for having to unfortunately postpone shows on his Man Of The Woods Tour due to bruised vocal chords. Hopefully he sees a speedy recover after some rest and doesn't have to cry anyone any rivers in the meantime.
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