The Spanish star is releasing her next album, MOTOMAMI, in March.
A new i-D cover story, featuring Rosalía, reveals that the singer-songwriter has been in a New York studio with Frank Ocean. In the interview, Rosalía says she was spending time in the studio trying to “reconnect with the energy” that allows her to create.
The cover story suggests that Rosalía has become more comfortable with her vulnerability in the process, and this could be due to the Blonded singer’s encouragement. “There was one time that he said a line and I never forgot it,” she says. “And then weeks or even a month after, I wrote the album’s opening track Saoko, and I remembered that line. And I said, ‘Frank me dice que abra el mundo como una nuez.’ – Frank tells me to open the world like a nut. – What’s beautiful is that it can mean whatever you need it to mean. And for me, it makes sense. The song is all about transformation.”
Saoko, released earlier this month, features the aforementioned lyric: “Frank me dice que abra el mundo como una nuez”.
There’s been rumours that the two have been working together. Rosalía has previously said that she’s a fan of Frank Ocean’s work, and a collaboration between them would “sound like fire”. In a video interview with Billboard in 2020, she said, “Frank, let’s do it.”
In September, there were rumours that Frank Ocean had been “shopping a new album“. The album would be the follow-up to 2016’s Blonde. Last Christmas, the artist returned to his blonded RADIO show with an episode on grief. During the episode, Frank shared new music and a conversation with Dutch athlete Wim Hof.