Three Brazilian Top Artists – Funk, Rock, and Samba

Brazil is a country of music. Everyone who is traveling in the country quickly realizes that. People sing and dance everywhere on the streets. The Brazilian lust for life is expressed in the many styles of music. Whether samba, bossa nova, or funk: European, African, and indigenous influences make Brazilian music so diverse and unique.

In this article, we introduce you to three top artists of Brazilian music history.

Anitta is one of the most successful singers of our days and known worldwide. Not only through her songs, but also through her political commitment as a feminist. According to Vogue Magazine, she is considered one of the 100 most influential and creative people in the world. While her earlier songs were influenced by Brazilian funk, her new songs are mainly assigned to the pop genre.

Anitta is the stage name of Larissa de Macedo Machado. She chose the name because of the miniseries “Presença de Anita”. The protagonist of the series, Anita, embodies a seductive nymph who enchants everyone. And the name says it all for the singer. Her style can be described as provocative. Anitta is always very revealing in tight bikinis and with slinky dances. The artist sees it as freedom to sexualize herself in this way.

The singer was born in 1993 in a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Anitta comes from a humble background. Her mother was a seamstress, her father sold car batteries. At the age of eight, Anitta sang in the church choir. At the age of fifteen, she began giving dance lessons and performed at ballroom dancing. She filmed her singing and choreographies and uploaded the videos to the internet. Thanks to the videos, Anitta was discovered by “Furacão”, a leading music label at the time. Her first song “Vou Ficar” was very successful. In 2013, Anitta got a record deal with Warner Music Group due to the success of her song “Meiga e Abusada”. The song “Vai Malandra” can be seen as the highlight of her career so far. In particular, the music video for the song received a lot of attention due to the positive image of the female body that Anitta conveys in it.

Her new song “Girl from Rio” is a reference to Antonio Carlos Jobim's “Garota de Ipanema”, one of the most famous bossa nova songs. In his version, Jobim fantasizes about a girl at the beach. He sings about her looks and her body. Anitta turns the perspective, singing from a girls' point of view, with lines like "We don't look like models where I come from".

During the presidential election campaign in 2018, Anitta also began to become more politically involved. She took private lessons in politics and shared what she learned with her fans on Instagram.

Rita Lee is another icon of Brazilian music culture, also known as the “queen of Brazilian rock”. With more than 60 million records sold worldwide, it is not without reason that she bears this title. The singer has been a lifelong advocate for womens’ rights, including being the first woman to play guitar on her shows. An instrument that has long been considered masculine.

Rita Lee was born in São Paulo and spent a large part of her life in the Brazilian metropolis. She has Italian and US-American ancestors and speaks five languages. In her childhood, the artist took piano lessons from the famous pianist Madalena Tagliaferro.

Lee's career began with the formation of the band “Os Mutantes” in 1966. Other band members were Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias. The band released five albums until 1972. The singer was also married to Baptista at the time. After several conflicts, the singer was kicked out of the band by her ex-husband. But Lee wasn't discouraged by that and a year later she formed the band “Tutti Frutti” with three other friends: Lúcia Turnbull, Sérgio Carlini, and Lee Marcucci. Her second album “Fruto Proibido” went double platinum and helped Lee to gain more publicity in Brazil. Her charisma and talent wowed the crowds. First tours in front of large audiences took place.

She then met Roberto de Carvalho, with whom she produced music from then on. A little later, they became a couple. Several albums were made with Carvalho and some songs became national hits such as “Cor-de-Rosa Choque” and “Desculpe o Auê”. In August 1976, the singer was arrested on the pretext of possession of marijuana. She was three months pregnant at the time and was serving her one-year sentence under house arrest. The case caused great outrage and is one of many examples of abuse of power by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil at the time. Lee used the time to release the mega hit “Arombou a Festa” together with Paulo Coelho.

In 1990, Lee and Carvalho decided to stop collaborating musically. Rita's solo career continued for another 15 years and included numerous tours, albums, and television appearances. One of her most famous performances is the opening show of the Brazilian Rolling Stones tour in 1995.

Her autobiography “Rita Lee: Uma Autobiografia” was the best-selling book in Brazil in 2017.

Elza Soares, her full name was Elza Gomes da Conceição, was one of the most important interpreters of samba. In her home country she is celebrated as "singer of the century". In her lifetime, she released more than 30 albums. She is also known for her criticism of the social conditions in Brazil.

Born in 1930, Soares grew up in Água Santa, a favela in Rio de Janeiro. She married for the first time at the age of twelve. Soares worked as a cleaning lady and in a soap factory first. At a young age, she suffered her first serious blows of fate when she lost three children due to malnutrition.

In 1953, she won a singing competition held by the composer Ary Barroso. She was then hired as a singer in the “Garam de Bailes Orchestra”. After a stay in Argentina, Soares' first album “Se acaso você chegasse” was released in 1960. Elza was engaged for the prestigious show “Primeiro festival nacional de bossa nova”.

One of her most prominent appearances was two years later when she sang with Louis Armstrong at the Soccer World Cup in Santiago de Chile. There, she met the Brazilian football player Garrincha. The couple married in 1966. The many conflicts and dramas between the couple led to Soares' alcohol addiction, which also had a negative impact on her popularity. In 1969, she moved to Italy and performed at the Teatro Sistina in Rome until 1972.

Her last album was released in 2019. It was titled “Planeta Fome”, a memoir of a radio interview where she was asked which planet she was from. Her answer at the time was: "From the planet of hunger."

Soares received one of her highest recognitions at the Rio carnival 2020. The samba school “Mocidade” honored her with her own parade in the sambodrome. The news of Soares' death recently made sad headlines. The icon passed away at the end of January. She was 91 years old.

Anitta, Rita Lee, and Elza Soares have achieved extraordinary things in their lives. The top artists in Brazil are known not only for their music, but also for their social commitment. You will definitely hear one or the other song of these three stunning personalities during a vacation in Brazil!

Sources: brasilienportal.ch, www.letras.mus.br, www.spiegel.de