Brazilian culture is enjoying growing popularity in the United States, with everything from music to video games, from Neymar to cachaça. In some cases, they aren't positive or accurate visions of Brazilian culture, so it's something of a mixed blessing to see Brazil becoming increasingly visible stateside.
Beginning in May, Max Payne 3 brought gritty visions of São Paulo to gamers in the U.S. and all over the world. While it glorifies the violence often featured in other forms of entertainment about Brazil, it also had a surprising attention to detail, ranging from loads of Portuguese with native speakers to real Brazilian designer furniture in a penthouse scene.
The same month, Macy's began a huge Brazil campaign nationwide, featuring both Brazilian products and designers as well as Brazil-inspired products from international brands. Apex, Brazil's export promotion agency, partnered with Macy's on the project. The flagship store in New York designed parts of the store to "look like" Brazil, including a Rio-style calcadão. Stores sold everything from cashews and Guaraná to Natura hand creams and fitas do Bomfim. Lots of products and clothes featured bright colors with "tropical" themes, and language around the campaign used words like "sensual" and "exotic." Nevertheless, the campaign put Brazil in the spotlight in one of the biggest retail chains in the country, and for the past few months, Brazil-themed Macy's shopping bags were ubiquitous throughout New York.
Indeed, Brazil is especially big in New York this summer. The Brazilian national soccer team played Argentina at the Metlife Stadium in June to a nearly sold-out crowd. In a single week in July, the New York Times featured two separate stories on Brazilian culture: a profile on soccer star Neymar and a feature on cachaça. In July, there was even a Broadway musical about Rio featured at a local festival, as well as a Nelson Rodrigues play for a short run. Everywhere you look, Brazilian keratin and blowout treatments are popping up around the city.
Brazilian music in particular has had a good run this summer. This month, an annual music festival at Lincoln Center dedicated a night to two forró bands, which were also featured in the New York Times. The event brought Brazilians, Brazilophiles, and curious New Yorkers alike to dance to the Northeastern beats. Brasil Summerfest returned for a second year, with a week of Brazilian shows including a big performance by Criolo in Central Park. And Michel Teló is now in the top 10 of the top 25 Latin songs in the U.S., with "Ai se eu te pego" continuing to spread among all audiences.
This year's Brasil Summerfest brought Criolo, one of Brazil's biggest new music stars, to New York. Ending a tour in Europe and two U.S. cities, the paulistano singer gave an electrifying performance, upstaging the other performers at Central Park on Saturday. The incredibly versatile performer sang a number of songs from his award-winning record Nó na Orelha, ranging from rap and hip hop to samba, reggae, bolero, soul, and pop.
Raised in a São Paulo favela, Criolo focuses on issues from his upbringing and life in Brazil's biggest city. Among his best known songs, Não Existe Amor em SP, captures a somewhat dark view of São Paulo:
Não existe amor em SP/ Um labirinto místico /Onde os grafites gritam /Não dá pra descrever /Numa linda frase /De um postal tão doce/ Cuidado com doce /São Paulo é um buquê/ Buquês são flores mortas /Num lindo arranjo/ Arranjo lindo feito pra você
Não existe amor em SP /Os bares estão cheios de almas tão vazias /A ganância vibra, a vaidade excita/ Devolva minha vida e morra afogada em seu próprio mar de fel/ Aqui ninguém vai pro céu
Another song, Sucrilhos, focuses on favela identity, racism, and how favela residents are perceived:
Calçada pra favela, avenida pra carro, céu pra avião, e pro morro descaso. Cientista social, Casas Bahia e tragédia, Gostam de favelado mais que Nutella Quanto mais ópio você vai querer? Uns preferem morrer ao ver o preto vencer
Though he was born Kleber Gomes, the singer adopted the stage name Criolo, an adapted version of the Portuguese word crioulo. In Brazil, this word can be used to describe a person of African descent, but can also be used as a racist epithet. Criolo told a Brazilian publication that he chose the name to honor his father, who is black. In Sucrilhos, Criolo talks about how he's proud of his heritage and his ethnicity. "This is how I am, and I'm happy...I'm Brazilian!" the song goes.
DJ Dandan performed with Criolo.
In addition to Criolo, mineiro rapper Flávio Renegado performed, as did singer Bebel Gilberto.
There was also a graffiti artist who created a new piece on the sidelines of the concert.
I caught one of Brazilian guitar genius Yamandu Costa's shows in New York this weekend after a tip from a friend, and it was not disappointing, even though I rarely spring for purely instrumental shows. Though Costa's been a big deal in Brazil and abroad for years, I was glad I was able to see him live. For those unfamiliar with his work, Costa is a 32 year-old classic guitarist who hails from Rio Grande do Sul and plays a number of Brazilian and Latin American styles.
I was worried I might be bored, but at just over an hour run time with occasional bits of entertaining commentary and quick breaks for him to sip his cup of chimarrão, it was great. Plus, there were times when I tried to follow his hands because I couldn't figure out how he was producing two very different sounds at once. I've really never seen anything quite like it.
Costa is currently on tour in the United States before he heads to Africa, Europe, and Brazil. If he is heading to your neck of the woods, I highly recommend checking him out. (See his tour schedule here)
Also, if you are familiar with Costa's work, you'll likely really enjoy Rodrigo y Gabriela, an amazing Mexican acoustic guitar duo who are getting a lot of attention here in the States.
Michel Teló has become something of a Justin Bieber figure in Brazil: a wildly popular singer who is also reviled by those who see him as cheesy or untalented. But his fame has spread well beyond Brazil, from Europe to the Middle East. The sertanejo (country music) singer's hit "Ai Se Eu Te Pego," (If I Get You) a short, incredibly catchy hit combined with simple choreography, has become a worldwide hit, appearing in Youtube videos in various languages and starring in not one but two Israeli videos (one of soldiers in uniform dancing, and another in a political satire music video). Videos of how to do the choreography are also all over the web. The song became the top selling song on iTunes in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Chile, and Argentina, and according to Época, it is now the most-listened to Brazilian song in Youtube history. It also was in the top 10 in Belgium, Germany, France, Holland, Poland, and Switzerland.
Part of the reason for the song's worldwide popularity is because several famous athletes danced to the choregraphy to celebrate wins or in the locker room, namely Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, as well as Rafael Nadal. After that, soccer players from Brazil, Europe and Turkey starting using the dance to celebrate goals. Denver Nuggets players from Brazil, Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, and the U.S. also danced to the song in a video shot at the team gym.
The popularity of both the song and the singer lie partially in the soccer connection, as well as the shared cultural lines between Latin America and Europe. Though Teló released the song today in English, it seems unlikely it will gain much traction in North America, but it does seem possible he'll continue to maintain his fame, at least for a little while, in Europe and South America.
Despite Brazilians' varying opinions on Teló and his music, it seems he's an example of the enormous potential of Brazilian soft power. As Forbes columnist Anderson Antunes points out in a profile on Teló, several Brazilian stars have tried to go global without success. While many Teló fans may not even understand the song lyrics, or even know what kind of music he sings (I've seen several references to Ai Se Eu Te Pego as "samba"), they know he's from Brazil.
Brazil isn't just seen as an economic heavyweight, or a growing political power in the developing world. Part of its power lies in soft power, of which cultural exports beyond soccer and Carnival could become increasingly more important. From 2005 to 2010, Brazil's soft power ranking doubled, making it the soft power leader in Latin America in 2010 and the 4th most powerful among developing countries. Brazilians were ranked as the second "coolest" nationality, based on an international 2011 survey by website Badoo. A 2011 country branding index measuring the degree to which people admire other countries based on a number of factors--including culture--put Brazil in 20th place, the highest among developing countries. Even international Google search queries about Brazil are on the rise. With the World Cup and Olympics approaching, there are even more opportunities for Brazilian stars to make it big abroad, especially in Europe.
Despite the international appeal, elements of Brazilian popular culture like Michel Teló are somewhat controversial in Brazil. A growing middle class has created something of a cultural divide between the traditional middle class and the new "C class." Music like Teló's represents the new middle class, one from suburban or rural areas with an affinity for entertainment traditionally popular among the working class. In other words, while Brazil's lower income families expand their wealth through increased wages and more employment opportunities, their cultural preferences tend to stay the same, which can make the old middle class elite uncomfortable. But as with other Brazilian cultural trends that began amongst the country's poor or working classes, it can also gradually permeate the country's culture. Sociologist Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda explained in an article about Teló that Teló's music came from a part of society that now has greater legitimacy, and that this part of society from city outskirts and from rural areas have begun to have a greater influence on culture and consumption. Says the article: "The periphery has become a center of innovation in music, behavior, and even fashion."
In an opinion piece entitled "Is Brazil embarrassed by Brazil?" for website Brainstorm9, tech entrepreneur Bob Wollheim explains how Teló's popularity, particularly through social media, has exposed this cultural tension:
"It's interesting that social media has become an enormous mirror for us, a huge window where we are all exposed, everything there for whoever wants to look. The subjects are naked! Orkut, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, it doesn't matter where we are, we're there ridiculing our own idiosyncracies, our ways, our flexible ethics, our 'do as I say, not as I do,' our Gerson's law, our Brazilian jeitinho, our musical and literary tastes, our humor, our education, our religion, our syncretism, our habits, our customs, our languages, our prejudices, our racism, our originality, our inventiveness, in other words - all of our Brazilianness!"
So while Spaniards and Turks sing "Ai Se Eu Te Pego" and German soccer players dance to Michel Teló, they're unaware that one of Brazil's latest cultural phenomena is actually revealing an long-debated question about what "real" Brazilian culture should be--and whether to celebrate it or reject it.
This Sunday, a special Summerstage show kicked off the first annual Brazil Summerfest, a celebration of Brazilian music in New York. Marcelo D2, Pitty, and DJ Nuts started off a week of performances by Brazilian artists, including Forró in the Dark, Brothers of Brazil, Davi Vieira, and Percussivo Mundo Novo, amongst others. The festival also happened to come right after Tom Zé's first New York performance in 12 years. The Central Park show had a huge turnout on one of the hottest weekends of the year.
Despite the scorching temperatures and a brief rainstorm, there was an impressive turnout on Sunday. Though the crowd appeared to be largely Brazilian, there were plenty of gringos there interested in Brazil. Quite appropriately, Marcelo D2 sang "A Maldição do Samba," or the Samba Curse, which includes the refrain:
A maldição do samba O gringo subiu no morro e bebeu cachaça, fumou maconha e obteve a graça. Depois do samba sua vida nunca mais foi a mesma
The samba curse The gringo went up to the favela and drank cachaça, smoked weed and had a good time After the samba, his life was never the same.
It was a great way to start a new summer tradition in New York, showing off the fusion of different Brazilian styles. Pitty, an acclaimed rock star, could have easily been confused for a tourist going to brunch; she was dressed in a cute pink dress with a pink headband and ballet flats, a very different look from her usual black and denim rocker style.
She gave an impressive show, keeping the crowd excited despite the oppressive heat. At the end of her set, she sang a song in English, "You Know I'm No Good," in honor of Amy Winehouse.
Marcelo D2, who was profiled in The New York Times on Thursday, showed off his fusion of musical styles: hip hop, rap, samba, reggae, and African-influenced percussion, and as he sang in "Gueto," "um pouco de europeu, um pouco de africano" (a little European, a little African). He even had the security guards dancing.
Later in the afternoon, he surprised the crowd by singing with Bebel Gilberto, a sneak peak for their show on August 3rd at City Winery. At the end, despite confessing he was about to faint from the heat, he invited around 20 women on stage to samba with him in his closing song.
There's a tremendous opportunity for Brazilian cultural events in the US, with an increased interest in everything Brazil. Plus, there's also plenty of opportunity to attract and engage the Brazilian community in major metropolitan areas for events other than Brazil Day. Though Summerfest only features music events, it has already been able to accomplish both by appealing to Brazilian and American audiences. Aside from film festivals, there's a lot of focus on Brazil Day in New York, but there's obviously room for more comprehensive events with a focus on Brazil. Clearly, the Brazil Summerfest organizers are on to something, and there's even more room to grow.
For more concert photos, click here. For a full line up of this week's events, click here.
While I strive to be the among the first to post about new movies, I'm a little behind on this one. Philadelphia-based DJ Diplo and Brazilian director Leandro HBL made a documentary about funk carioca that's coming out on July 20th, called Favela on Blast. A little description from the BS Blog (which stands for Baller Status, mind you):
"The upcoming film documents the culture surrounding "Funk Carioca," a musical rhythm that mixes the American electronic funk of the 1980s with the most diverse influences of Brazilian music. It is one of the most interesting musical movements in the world and it comes from one of the most violent and poorest places too: the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Bombastic rhythms coming from the Miami Bass and loops and samples are united to powerful rap vocals using Brazilian slang."
"The party footage is exciting -- outrageously sexual and friendly
to swaggering performances by singers young and, in the case of an
eccentric-looking character named Biruleibe, grandfatherly. But
equally fascinating is offstage footage in which the genre's stars
hang out in slums some no longer call home but to which all seem to
remain loyal, where flying a kite can stand in for more expensive
diversions and hassles from police are a fact of life."
While I tend to be skeptical of movies like this that romanticize or demonize favelas and exoticize Brazilian culture and women, I'm interested in seeing the film and how it turned out, especially since it was also made by a Brazilian. It will also be interesting to see if it will have any impact on American musicians and if it fosters a greater interest in funk amongst gringos.
UPDATE: Thanks to Paul for finding an interview with Diplo discussing his career and the film:
This commercial has become a wildly successful viral video in Brazil this week, starring several Brazilian soccer players dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies." I'm curious if they got permission to use the song, but in any event, it's very entertaining.
Updates: I found some related articles from previousposts this week - check out NPR's review of OSS 117: Lost in Rio and Newsweek's op ed about Lula's foreign policy.
