Manuel Malou was born in Cuenca, Spain. He became one of the leading performers of flamenco rumba. He refers to rumba as “the authentic Spanish pop.”
Malou’s successful breakthrough in the Spanish music scene took place in the mid-1970s. At the time, he formed a duo called Los Golfos together with his brother Jorge. The rumba song “Qué pasa contigo tío” was a hit in 1976.
Starting in the 1980s, Manuel Malou recorded solo albums such as Extraños seres (1990), where he ventured into flamenco fusion. He continued in that direction with albums such as Corazón caliente (1993) and Mixa cooltura (1997), which led to a series of tours in Spain, England, Germany and Canada.
At the end of 2005 he settled in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), where he took up music again and founded the record company Papi Records, both a recording studio and a publishing house. In Cartagena de Indias he also opened a popular café bar concert venue called La Quemada.
In 2010 he returned to Madrid and recorded Todo por la rumba, returning to his rumba roots. After living two years in France he returned again to Madrid to finish Arranca y vámonos. In 2018 he released Unomundo, a musical mixture that Malou defined as electro rock & rumba world. On his album Otra voz (2021), he switched over to pop and rock.
Malou also worked as producer of artists like Peret, El Fary and Andy & Lucas. Additionally, he has collaborated with Manu Chao, Orishas, Carlos Núñez and Niña Pastori.
In 2021, Malou was selected to perform at the Miradas Flamenkas showcase in Madrid.
(headline image: Manuel Malou – Photo by Fernando Quintela)
Discography:
Malou (Polydor, 1990)
Corazon Caliente (WEA, 1993)
Mixa Cooltura (BMG, 1997)
Eléctrorock & Rumba (Mixa Cooltura, 2003)
Todo Por La Rumba (Papi Records, 2011)
¡¡Arranca Y Vámonos!! (Papi Records, 2014)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.