La Isla Bonita is Madonna's 1987 single from True Blue, and it was her first serious move into Latin pop. Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch wrote an instrumental demo, which Madonna developed by adding lyrics and several Spanish lines. The song uses flamenco guitar, Latin percussion and maracas. It reached number one in several countries, including the UK and France, and became Europe's top-charting single of the year. Its music video, which plays with a Catholic woman and a flamenco dancer, drew both praise and criticism over cultural appropriation.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.