| La Fama | |
| English Title: | 'The Fame' |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Rosalía featuring the Weeknd |
| Cover: | Rosalía - La Fama.png |
| Alt: | Rosalía (seen wearing a dress) faces towards the viewer and standing next to the Weeknd who is seen wearing a jacket sitting. Their faces are cut out, leaving behind burnt marks with a purple background. The artist's names and the song title is hand written in ink with the "M" represented as a broken heart. |
| Border: | yes |
| Album: | Motomami |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Recorded: | December 2018, January 2020 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | Bachata[1] |
| Length: | 3:08 |
| Composer: |
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| Lyricist: | |
| Producer: | |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Chronology: | Rosalía |
| Prev Title: | Linda |
| Prev Year: | 2021 |
| Next Title: | Saoko |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
"La Fama" is a song recorded by Spanish singer Rosalía, featuring Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on 11 November 2021 by Columbia Records as the lead single from her third studio album Motomami (2022).[2] The song was written and produced by both performers alongside El Guincho, Frank Dukes, Noah Goldstein, Sir Dylan, Sky Rompiendo and Tainy.
"La Fama" is a mid-tempo non-guitar driven bachata track with electropop and experimental elements. Its lyrics see Rosalía describing the seductions of fame as well as its superficiality and emptiness. The song was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who embraced its challenging way to produce bachata without its characteristic acoustic guitar. It received a nomination for Record of the Year at the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards.[3] The song's music video, directed by Director X and inspired by Robert Rodríguez' From Dusk till Dawn, accompanied the song's release, and depicts Rosalía as a bloodstone vedette.
Commercially, "La Fama" debuted atop the PROMUSICAE chart in Spain, becoming Rosalía's seventh number-one single in her home country and the Weeknd's first. Elsewhere, the song entered the top ten charts in Belgium, France, Mexico, Bulgaria, Panama, El Salvador and the US Hot Latin Songs. It also entered the Billboard Hot 100 and the Global 200, peaking at 94 and 34 respectively.
On 2 November 2021, to celebrate the three-year anniversary of the release of her second studio album El Mal Querer (2018), Rosalía revealed that her upcoming third studio album Motomami would be released in 2022.[4] [5] Earlier in October, during a meet and greet in Mexico, Rosalía revealed that the lead single from Motomami would be released in November.[6] Later in the month, she posted a snippet of a then-unreleased song on her TikTok account.[7]
On 8 November 2021, multiple advertisements were spotted in Buenos Aires that revealed the name of the single was "La Fama". It was also announced that the song would feature the Weeknd and that it was set to be released on 11 November.[8] Later in the day, Rosalía unveiled the trailer for the song's music video.[9] This marked the second collaboration between Rosalía and the Weeknd, following the remix of the Weeknd's 2019 single "Blinding Lights".[10] [11]
"La Fama" is a mid-tempo bachata track with electropop influences. In a statement for Rolling Stone, Rosalía noted that she "wanted to write, in my own way, a bachata with a little story around ambition. The challenge was also to compose a bachata song without using a guitar, which was able by chopping my voice. Taking as a reference the lyrics of Rubén Blades or Patti Smith and the songs of Aventura, I ended up writing a story of romance with fame."[12] [13] She also stated for Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that, after expressing her aim to write a bachata track, Romeo Santos reached out to the singer and sent her an extense playlist.[14] The composition of "La Fama" began in 2018 and was intended to be solo. However, the Weeknd hopped on the song in early 2020, before the recording of the "Blinding Lights" remix.[15]
The music video for "La Fama", directed by Director X, who also directed the music video for Rosalía and J Balvin's "Con Altura", premiered on 11 November 2021 alongside the single's release.[16] Filmed at the Aurora Banquet Hall in Tujunga, California, it features a cameo appearance from actor Danny Trejo[12] and is heavily inspired by the 1996 horror cult film From Dusk till Dawn. The typography featured in the video was inspired by the 1996 slasher film Scream.[17]
In the video, Rosalía, introduced by Trejo, performs at a dimly lit nightclub as "La Fama". She wanders out to the crowd until she notices the Weeknd sitting alone watching her performance. She seduces him onto the stage, where they embrace before Rosalía stabs him with a hidden knife.[18] She continues her performance while the Weeknd perishes. In the end, the audience applauds enthusiastically as Trejo is heard off-screen saying, "Be careful what you wish for".[19]
| Year | Organization | Award | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Heat Latin Music Awards | Best Music Video | ||
| Latin Grammy Awards | Record of the Year | |||
| LOS40 Music Awards | Best Spanish Song | |||
| Best Collaboration | ||||
| MTV Millennial Awards | Ship of the Year | |||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Collaboration | |||
| NRJ Music Awards | International Collaboration of the Year | |||
| Premios Juventud | OMG Collaboration | |||
| Premios Odeón | Song of the Year | |||
| Best Pop Song | ||||
| Premios Tu Música Urbano | Best Crossover Song | |||
| Video of the Year | ||||
| 2023 | Latin American Music Awards | Collaboration Crossover of the Year | ||
| 2023 | Premio Lo Nuestro | Collaboration Crossover of the Year |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Motomami.[20]
Publishing
Production personnel
Technical personnel
| Peak position | |
| Bulgaria (PROPHON)[21] | 6 |
|---|---|
| Colombia (National-Report)[22] | 56 |
| Ecuador (National-Report)[23] | 28 |
| El Salvador (ASAP EGC)[24] | 10 |
| Greece (IFPI)[25] | 31 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[26] | 73 |
| Lithuania (AGATA)[27] | 45 |
| Luxembourg (Billboard)[28] | 19 |
| Mexico (Billboard Mexican Airplay)[29] | 2 |
| New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[30] | 30 |
| Panama (Monitor Latino)[31] | 7 |
| Peru (UNIMPRO)[32] | 49 |
| Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan)[33] | 16 |
| Position | ||
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[34] | 98 |
|---|
| Position | ||
| Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[35] | 150 | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[36] | 9 | |
| France (SNEP)[37] | 11 | |
| Global Excl. US (Billboard)[38] | 160 | |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] | 55 |
| Date | Format | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various | 11 November 2021 | Columbia | [40] | ||
| Italy | 19 November 2021 | Contemporary hit radio | Sony | [41] |