Music is a language in itself and the songs have their own soul, every song has its soul.Collection: Music
When I was a teen, I would draw a really, really long line around my eyes with eyeliner, like Lola Flores.Collection: Teen
I love flamenco. It's very difficult music to sing. But I think of any genre as a snow globe - you don't admire it for its stillness. You have to shake it up and see how it explodes.Collection: Music
Knowing how to dress is an art.Collection: Art
Flowers are divine, they have divine qualities that I adore. And they also connect me with femininity.
I don't force things. I can have a wish, and then I let God lead me on the path, bringing me what I need - and always trying to be alert to receive it.
I'll always identify with the image of a strong woman. I believe that in what I do and in my sense of self, there's a vindication of women. There's power.
I started from zero. Nobody in my family is connected to the industry. Not a single contact in the music industry or in the entertainment industry.
Flamenco is the most honest and visceral music. You have to be sincere when you sing it. If you're not, it doesn't work.
Guajira, colombiana, milonga, rumba - all these styles are flamenco. They're part of the musical tradition in my country, and they are in Latin America too.
I grew up in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, a small village near Barcelona. My house was near the countryside, so there was a lot of nature, and at the same time my village is surrounded by factories. That conditioned me a little bit.
I am rooted in flamenco. At 13, I fell in love with it, but I couldn't sing it. To sing flamenco is like being a kind of opera singer. You have to learn how.
There's a lot of magic in voices. I love voices that are very old, very gravelly, very deep. I like metallic voices; I like velvety voices. The voices of children.
When I sang in bars and weddings, where you have to fight to be heard, you gain incredible humility.
I like to do things in my own way and have my own personal language, but I can't control how it's received.
I'm increasingly conscious of the fact that, even when we know a lot, there's an element of blind faith. For things to work well, you have to surrender to the moment. This is especially true of writing, producing and truly giving it all in a performance.
I'm going to have to keep fighting until I find the same number of women in the studio as there are men.
I have no prejudice about which music is better. I listen to Vivaldi. I like Nick Cave. I love Travis Scott, James Blake, Lola Flores. Music can serve many functions. And so I listen to everything!
I wanted to have absolute control over my music - from the chords and the voicings of the songs to the arrangements and the production.
My favorite flamenco singers, they're not trying to look pretty. They're trying to put truth in what they do, in the way they express themselves. Sometimes that's not beauty, but it's beautiful.
In my home there was a garden and many trees, and I remember growing up without fear. Everything was very steep amongst the trees and I remember running up and down always trying to go faster. I would go so fast that there would be a trail of my steps that I would leave behind.
My mother always had flowers at home, they were always there. In the garden, on the table, fresh flowers. I think I relate flowers to the women in my life.
Flamenco is the reflection of the street. It's that thing that's so beautiful, that comes directly from the people. It has so much truth, tragedy, falling in love, falling out of love, flamenco has it all. You can learn so much, that's why it's so incredible and so beautiful.
I have so many references in my head - flamenco, classical, Latin, too many. I come in and put it all on the table, with no prejudice, and just start working, working, working.
It is very important that people understand how important flamenco is to the Gypsy community. There have been some amazing Gypsy artists. It's important that we give visibility to that, but at the same time people have to be fair and recognise that Paco de Lucia was the biggest guitar player in this style of music in the world and he wasn't Gypsy.
When an artist becomes pop, it's because the people choose it. Yes, you can have that dream to be a big pop star, but it's the audience that puts you in that position. I never had a paid marketing campaign, it was never like that.
When I began to record 'El Mal Querer,' I didn't have a label or a team. It was just my family - my mother and my sister - and my friends.
It's a lot more interesting to dig into the popular music from where I'm from than adhere to some kind of standardized global pop.