In the run up to the release of her single “Aute Cuture,” and its scream-worthy video clip, nails have framed Rosalía milieu as much as they have her face – flanked in arched flamenco paws during her much-lauded, impeccably choreographed concerts. The Spanish singer has even taken to staging interviews while getting her 10’s done, as she did when she took (our beloved ex-music editor) Isabelia Herrera over at the Fader on a ride through her creative past, present, and future. In the story, Diosalía’s tech affixes nails that “now have so many rhinestones on them that they resemble talons,” as Herrera puts it. “I feel like Ivy Queen would be proud.”
You would only know this if you have sported (or had your jugular threatened by) acrylics, but they are as dangerous as they are lovely. Where else in modern day society is one allowed to install weaponry directly onto our bodies? No wonder some of our most on-beat divas have centered them in their aesthetic (yes of course, Ivy Queen. See also Leikeli47’s 2018 tour de force, the Acrylic LP.)
Such martial aesthetic is at the heart of the video for “Aute Cuture,” whose audio the chanteuse has already debuted for fans at several live appearances. Its clip was engineered by a pair of chrome aesthetic giants with experience in staging fight scenes; Bradley and Pablo, who choreographed the Migos’ “MotorSport” video that served as a flashpoint in the Cardi-Nicki feud. And the nail design was crafted by Juan Alvear (who goes by NailsbyJuan).
Here, they work with Rosalía’s own concept to create an appealing vision of femme kill pre-party — there’s no fight scene here, but you get the sense that the primping powerhouses in the singer’s gang are willing to wield gold claws to bad ends. “In the business of beauty, things aren’t always pretty,” intones the clip trailer’s lovely narrator — in English, the language itself serving as a sign that Rosalía’s going full mercenary on the worldwide music industry.
Watch the video here: