Brazilian Musicians Sound Off on Their Country's Challenging Political Future
How artists, from Pabllo Vittar to BaianaSystem, are expressing themselves in a post-Bolsonaro world
BY FELIPE MAIA
MARCH 28, 2023
From Left: Baiana System, Pabllo Vittar, Gusttavo Lima. REBECA FIGUEIREDO/GETTY IMAGES; MAURICIO SANTANA/GETTY IMAGES; MAURICIO SANTANA/GETTY IMAGES; JAYK7/GETTY IMAGES
A FEW MONTHS ago, on Jan. 1, more than 150 thousand people swarmed the savannah-based, landlocked city of Brasília — an unusual flock since beach cities like Rio are usually top destinations around the holidays. Yet Brazil’s capital was busy as ever, starting with its buzzy main avenue: By the Esplanada area, a massive crowd watched a series of concerts featuring dozens of artists from all over the country. Hip-hop heads with soccer jerseys stood next to old-school Tropicalia fans, couples holding babies shouted along to baile funk hits with groups of kids, indigenous and Black leaders danced to Gal Costa and Elza Soares jams blaring from speakers.
This was not a regular New Year’s Eve after party: It was the Festival do Futuro, a massive music event that followed the inauguration of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who beat the right-leaning leader Jair Bolsonaro during the country’s 2022 elections.
One of the bands playing that day was BaianaSystem, a group that’s become a political beacon in Brazilian music over the last decade with. “It seemed that all of our lyrics were made for that moment, for the inauguration day concert,” says Russo Passapusso, BaianaSystem’s lead singer.
Since the band’s founding in the early 2010s, Passapusso and his bandmates have been open about calling out the country’s persistent problems, from social inequality to racism. Bolsonaro’s presidency was a particular target of their poison guitars and heavy drums, and the administration was like a bull’s eye they’d hit with songs such as the defiant “Lucro,” which blasts oligarchies in Brazilian megacities.
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