"A Ningún Hombre" (officially "A NINGÚN HOMBRE - Cap.11: Poder"; Spanish for "to no man") is a song performed by Spanish singer and songwriter Rosalía. A fan favorite, the song is the final track off the singer's second studio album El Mal Querer, which was released on November 2, 2018 through Columbia Records. It was produced by El Guincho and co-produced by Rosalía herself. The track has been streamed over 20 million times since its release.[1]

"A Ningún Hombre"
Song by Rosalía
from the album El Mal Querer
WrittenDecember 2016
ReleasedNovember 2, 2018
GenreMinimal
Length1:35
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Audio video
"A Ningún Hombre" on YouTube

Background and composition

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In 2017, Rosalía graduated from flamenco studies at the Catalonia College of Music in Barcelona. She presented her bachelor's degree project El Mal Querer, written by herself alongside Pablo Díaz-Reixa and ex-boyfriend Antón Álvarez, at that time and earned her a graduation with honors.[2] The project was presented to Columbia Records the next year and was revamped and commercialized in November 2018 worldwide. The project is presented as a musical representation of the 13th century Occitan novel Flamenca, whose author remains unknown. This romance is about a young girl who marries a man who locks her up in a tower after discovering she has a lover and, in major part, because of jealousy and also due to the woman's undeniable beauty, which he is afraid of sharing.[3] After her lover finds her and kills her husband in "Maldición", Rosalía makes a statement about celebrating her independence, abuse of power and swearing that she will never forget how badly she has been treated.[4] Being a little over a minute and a half, the song is the second shortest track in the album or the shortest track in it the interlude isn't counted.

Critical and commercial reception

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The final track of El Mal Querer was very well received by critics. The Guardian stated that "A Ningún Hombre" is "a pretty visceral experience where her voice is powerful and gutsily emotive".[5] The track peaked at the 35th position of the PROMUSICAE chart without being a single or a promotional track and lasted on it for three consecutive weeks.[6] 5 other album tracks entered the chart. The song was the inspiration for many protestors who attended the International Women's Day March in 2019 and 2020 in many parts of Spain and Latin America.[7]

Live performances

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"A Ningún Hombre" was performed during some shows in Spain and London in the summer of 2018 as well as during her El Mal Querer worldwide tour, which ran from March to December 2019. She also performed the track during the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards in Newark alongside "Yo x Ti, Tu x Mi" and "Aute Cuture".[8]

Credits

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Charts

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Chart (2020) Peak
position
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[10] 35

References

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  1. ^ "Rosalía takes the world by storm with 'El Mal Querer'". WRBB 104.9 FM. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  2. ^ "Rosalía confiesa que 'El mal querer' va sobre "un amor oscuro"". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  3. ^ Navarro, Fernando (2018-11-13). "Por qué 'El mal querer' de Rosalía es una obra maestra". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  4. ^ "El Mal Querer de Rosalía, canción a canción". www.culturaocio.com. Europa Press. 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  5. ^ Petridis, Alexis (2018-11-01). "Rosalía: El Mal Querer review – flamenco-pop star is a formidable new talent". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  6. ^ "spanishcharts.com - Spanish charts portal". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  7. ^ "Las canciones de Rosalía, protagonistas de las manifestaciones del 8M". Flooxer Now (in Spanish). 2020-03-09. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  8. ^ "Rosalia & Ozuna's Performance At The 2019 MTV VMAs: Watch". Billboard. 2019-08-26. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  9. ^ "Try the TIDAL Web Player". listen.tidal.com. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  10. ^ Música, El portal de, A NINGÚN HOMBRE (CAP.11: PODER) - Rosalía | EPDM, retrieved 2020-06-05