When the ravages of Alzheimer’s leave an elderly woman marooned in painful memories of October 1950, her grandchild comes up with a creative strategy.
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Reggaeton violated by the new conquistadors
The genre that has historically been a voice for black resistance against strict racial hierarchies, oppressive social structures and police brutality is now increasingly being “white-washed," writes ELLEN REBECCA BISHELL
TRUE AND FAKE? Johnny Ventura and fans in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in 2015 and Rosalia at the MTV EMAs 2018
New releases from Simone White, Brass Funkeys, and Souad Massi
SUE TURNER is compelled by a history that shows how far a country can turn in on itself to collude with abuses of power
RON JACOBS is persuaded by the parallel drawn between Charles Manson and Donald Trump
In this comparison of Britain pre- and post Thatcher, WILL POMORE applauds the analysis, but distrusts the solutions offered
MARIA DUARTE defends a solid, late-career Spielberg conspiracy flick that calls for empathy in a hostile world
SPANISH singer Rosalia’s new album, Motomami, has received a lot of media attention for its melding of “every sound at her disposal.” Grounded in her flamenco background, the album sways from pop to jazz, is inflected with hip-hop and reggaeton beats and even features elements of bachata and salsa.
Rosalia rose to mainstream visibility in 2018 when her studio album El Mal Querer (The Bad Loving) landed in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. But the recent comparison by academics of Rosalia’s rise to fame with the “evolution of reggaeton from its Afro-Caribbean roots to a genre with global cachet” speaks to the silencing of the music’s rich socio-cultural history.
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This is a remarkable set of hop hip, salsa, reggae, soul, cumbia and traditional Mexican music finds TONY BURKE