On her meticulously produced debut album, El Mal Querer, Rosalía proved her ability to swan-dive into música urbana without ever losing her flamenco roots. Now, she’s taking a deeper plunge, this time by offering fans another dimension to her voice and playing with a reggaeton-tinged beat on “Con Altura,” a massive flamencotón collaboration that includes another feature from reggaeton star J Balvin and Spanish producer-artist El Guincho.
This is a reunion for all three artists: El Guincho co-produced El Mal Querer, while Balvin featured Rosalía’s ethereal vocal loops on Vibras’ “Brillo” last year. Rosalía’s voice is the centerpiece of “Con Altura” – it unspools over minimal percussion, book-ended with quick verses and ad-libs from El Guincho and Balvin.
Lyrically, Rosalia makes references to mid-2000s reggaeton classics, like Hector el Father’s “Noche de Travesuras.” In a press release, she said the track was inspired by her childhood love of reggaeton. “‘Con Altura’ is an homage to the more classic and original reggaeton: reggaeton Playero. When I was younger, I loved listening to reggaeton and it could have been natural for me to make a song like this before, but I don’t like to force anything.”
Rosalía got fans excited by teasing the visuals on her Instagram on Wednesday. The video involves all three of them having a wild party on a plane (El Guincho is the pilot). In addition to her flamenco-inspired choreography, there are also some pretty serious fashion statements throughout the video that speak to her detailed aesthetic: There’s a shockingly red, flame-shaped bodysuit; a marabou-trimmed bustier, and a lime-green moment that makes the video ooze with color.
“Con Altura” also marks Balvin’s third major collab of the year. He teamed up with dancehall titan Sean Paul for “Contra La Pared” a few weeks ago and just before that, he dropped “I Can’t Get Enough” with Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco, and Tainy.
Watch the video below: