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Description of Brazilian Pop

 
Brazilian Pop is known in its native land as MPB, which stands for Popular Music of Brazil (in Portuguese). Arising at the same time as the eclectic, innovative Tropicalia sound, MPB is a rich, poetic style that incorporates the sounds of both the Samba and the Bossa Nova. American rock, pop and jazz have also contributed to the sound; but at its heart, MPB has a distinctly Brazilian sensibility, with themes reflecting the tensions, struggles and triumphs of the Brazilian people.
 

Brazilian Pop Key Tracks

 
 

Filed Under

 
 

Brazilian Pop Key Artists

 
Caetano Veloso

A giant of Brazilian popular
music, Veloso's songs
pushed musical envelopes,
landed him in jail, and
defined a generation. Vel...

Carlinhos Brown

Both popular and critically
acclaimed, Carlinhos Brown
is a Brazilian percussionist,
composer, and producer.

Chico Buarque

Brazilian pop giant Buarque
is hugely talented, though
not considered as
aesthetically adventurous
as Gil or Veloso. Buarque...

Daniela Mercury

Known as the "queen of
axe" in Brazil, Salvador,
Bahia-born Mercury
incorporates Afro-Brazilian
drumming into pop songs.

Djavan

This Brazilian
singer-songwriter has been
in the game since the early
'70s. Dozens of Brazilian
artists have sung his tunes...

Elis Regina

One of Brazil's most
spectacularly popular
singers, Elis Regina died in
1982 of a cocaine and
alcohol overdose.

Gilberto Gil

A guiding light of Brazilian
Tropicalia, Gil was
imprisoned for his
revolutionary music before
becoming a cultural mains...

Ivete Sangalo

Lead singer of the
resurrected Brazilian band
Banda Eva, Sangalo
propelled herself and the
group to multi-platinum st...

Jorge Ben Jor

He presaged tropicalia,
updated bossa nova,
electrified samba and wrote
"Mas Que Nada." It's official:
Jorge Ben rules. Ben bec...

Maria Bethania

Caetano Veloso's sister
Maria intended to become
an actress, but ended up
being one of Brazilian Pop's
guiding lights.

Marisa Monte

This silky-voiced,
multitalented Brazilian
chanteuse has charmed
audiences for more than a
decade. Monte's 1994 rele...

Milton Nascimento

Nascimento has penned
Brazilian standards and pop
hits, seduced the jazz
establishment, and won a
Grammy for his work.

Nara Leao

Known to some as the Muse
of Bossa Nova, Leao sang
both bossa nova and, later,
the more political Brazilian
protest music. Leao died...

Os Mutantes

Brazil's psychedelic darlings
Os Mutantes took Brazilian
pop and funneled it in a
playful, Beatles-influenced
direction. Their self-titled...

Virginia Rodrigues

Rodrigues is a recently
discovered Brazilian
chanteuse blessed with a
resonant set of pipes and an
excellent rhythmic feel....

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