[3][4][5] Journalist and writer Leila Cobo included the song in her book La fórmula 'Despacito', which gathers the most emblematic hits of Latin music of the last 50 years.

[6][7][8] At the end of April 2018, Rosalía published a short documentary video to her social media accounts where she talked about her new album.

[citation needed] "Malamente" was written in the island of El Hierro and talks about a toxic relationship and how the woman knew that something wrong was going to happen in her life.

[9] The song forms the introductory part of its parent album's narrative arc, which is inspired by the 13th-century Occitan novel Flamenca.

The novel revolves around themes of gender violence and tragic romance; how a man falls in love with a woman and, because of jealousy, he locks her up in a tower.

[10] In September 2020, Billboard named "Malamente" the 32nd best Latin song of all time and stated that "Rosalía's contemporary, hip hop/electronic take on traditional flamenco was different from anything heard before.

Following the release of El mal querer the single would see a commercial boost that made the song jump 22 positions moving from 24 to its peak at number 2 in its 24th charting week on the issue dating November 11, 2018.

Rosalía later performed at Festival Cultura Inquieta in Getafe, near Madrid, at the Flamenco Biennial in Seville, and in Santiago de Compostela.

She also served as the opening act for Rozalén at Starlite Festival, in Marbella and for Juanes at the Hollywood Bowl, in Los Angeles.

On 31 October 2018 she offered a free concert sponsored by Red Bull at the Plaza de Colón, in Madrid in front of 11,000 people.

[21] On 11 November, she performed "Malamente" at Casa Patas, Madrid, an iconic place for flamenco artists and lovers.

Marked by its poetic symbolism, the video is considered a "visual poem" interpreted as omens for the failure of a love relationship.