When we think about Brazilian music, most people think about Samba or Bossa Nova. But it is so much more than that and MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) is a very good example to prove that point. The concept of Brazilian Popular Music as a musical genre starts in the ’60s with strong influence from the cultural, artistic and political precepts of its historical context. At that time, many artists started to gain visibility, such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Chico Buarque and others.
However, nowadays the idea of MPB is larger and hybrid. So here are eight artists from the ‘New MPB’ that you should give a chance to:
- Anavitória
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The duo Ana Caetano and Vitória Falcão, known as Anavitória, is making success since 2016 with songs like “Trevo (Tu)” (featuring Tiago Iorc, who is considered a kind of a godfather of the duo), “Fica” (featuring the country duo Matheus e Kauan) and “Singular”. Today, five years later, the girls are still making success and recording songs with big artists such as Nando Reis, Rubel, Duda Beat, Vitor Kley and others.
- Silva
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Silva released his first album in 2012 but it was only in 2016 that he focused on his work in MPB, when he launched a tour in which he sang songs by Marisa Monte, who is also from the MPB. Silva is now a big name of the Brazilian music scene and has songs with singers like Ivete Sangalo (“Pra Vida Inteira”), Anitta (“Fica Tudo Bem”) and Ludmilla (“Um Pôr do Sol na Praia”). Silva also has solo songs like “A Cor É Rosa” and “Duas da Tarde”.
- Tiago Iorc
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Tiago Iorc is a singer and composer who became known for singing in English. His song “Nothing but a song” was the first one to make success. However, his songs in Portuguese — “Coisa Linda”, “Amei Te Ver” and “Tangerina” (featuring Duda Beat) — are the most popular ones. From 2018 to 2019, Iorc took a break from his career, until he released a surprise album named “Reconstrução” which had a great repercussion.
- Johnny Hooker
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Johnny Hooker is one of the singers from the LGBTQI+ movement that is making more and more success in the Brazilian music scene. He mixed genres such as MPB, Pop, Rock and “Brega” (it is like a Forró with the influence of Electronic music). Hooker’s most popular songs are “Amor marginal”, “Flutua” (featuring Liniker, another singer from the LGBTQI+ scene) and “Volta”.
- Duda Beat
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Duda Beat mixes MPB, Pop and R&B with “Sofrência” which is a style of music about suffering and loving dissolution. Her best successes translate this theme, as we see in the songs “Bixinho”, “Bédi Beat” and “Chega” (featuring Jaloo and Mateus Carrilho). Beat also has partnerships with Tiago Iorc (“Tangerina”) and Anavitória (“Não Passa Vontade”).
- Gilsons
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The Gilsons are a trio of musicians composed by José Gil (son of Gilberto Gil), Francisco Gil and João Gil (both grandchildren of Gilberto Gil). They launched their career during the pandemic in 2020 and their work is considered being incredibly sensitive as it connects with many of listeners’ emotions. Their songs “Love Love”, “Várias Queixas” and “Vento e Alecrim” are very good options for the days that you need refuge and comfort.
- Agnes Nunes
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Agnes Nunes is considered being the new revelation of MPB. The young artist is praised by names like Caetano Veloso, Seu Jorge and Elza Soares. Agnes has references such as Nina Simone, SZA, Rihanna, Sabrina Claudio, Beyoncé and Elza Soares. By the end of 2020, Nunes photographed her first magazine cover for Glamour. Some of Agnes Nunes’ successes are the partnerships with the rapper Xamã (“Escorpião” and “Cida”), and Tiago Iorc (“Pode Se Achegar”).
- Bonus: Emicida, Criolo, Flora Matos e Baco Exú do Blues
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In this topic we have four amazing artists who mixed MPB with Rap (or Rapped) and Hip Hop: Emicida, Criolo, Flora Matos and Baco Exú do Blues. These artists show in their work a great influence on Brazil’s social, political and cultural reality.
Of this group, Emicida was the most famous one because of partnerships with other artists like Pabllo Vittar, Gilberto Gil, Zeca Pagodinho, Vanessa da Mata and others. In 2020, he released a documentary on Netflix about his last album called “AmarElo”.
Criolo owns the hit “Não Existe Amor em SP”, which was recently re-recorded with the participation of Milton Nascimento. Criolo has a lot of successes and his job focuses on the social and political Brazilian reality.
Flora Matos is an independent artist, and her songs talk about feminism, blackness, and love. Her most popular songs are “Pretin”, “Preta de Quebrada” and “Como faz”.
And Baco Exú do Blues is a phenomenon nowadays, being admired by artists such as Caetano Veloso and Lázaro Ramos. Baco emerged in 2016 and today he has a lot of hit songs like “Me Desculpa Jay Z”, “Te Amo Disgraça” and “Flamingos”. During the pandemic, he released a new album called “Não Tem Bacanal na Quarentena”, with songs that reflect on problems that society is facing during the pandemic and criticisms of the government.
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The article above was edited by Karen Oliveira.
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