Bam Bam Brasil! The Top 6 Music Acts in Brazil Today

Brazil is the home of an astounding array of music, as was frequently explored during the World Cup of 2014. Some of the finest Brazilian musicians of all time were collected together on an exceptional album entitled ‘Sonzeira: Brasil Bam Bam Bam’, for which you’re strongly recommended to hunt bargain bins to pick up a copy (or, of course, just buy it now).

But Brazilian music is not just about classic artists with decades-long careers. Brazil’s pop charts are filled with young, talented superstars, and here are six of the finest Brazilian musicians of today to wiggle your hips at:

Anitta

The current queen of Brazilian pop, Annitta (also known as MC Annita) currently has two songs kicking around the top of the Brazilian charts. Top of the tree at the moment is Na Batida (‘The Beat’), an upbeat number involving a lot of colourful costumes which quite cleverly contrast with the second song, Cobertor (‘Blanket’), a slightly more sultry affair. Some 25 million people have watched the latter on Youtube to date, so it’s a clear winner among music fans.

You can find the Portuguese lyrics (letra) to the song here (which, rather unexpectedly, reference Indiana Jones).

Luan Santana

Baby-faced pop idol Luan Santana smashed into the Brazilian consciousness with a live album in 2009 entitled Ao Vivo (simply, ‘Live’) and has since been commanding some of the highest fees paid to any Brazilian star on the concert circuit. He is currently second only to Anitta in the charts with his song Tanto Faz (‘Whatever’), and the live performance (below) goes some way to answering the question of how he’s become so famous.

Find the Portuguese lyrics here.

Leonardo

One of the older hands in the pop charts currently, there’s something of a sad story behind the career of Leonardo. Once part of a famous Brazilian duo named Leandro e Leonardo, two brothers from Goianápolis in central Brazil, Leandro tragically died from lung cancer in 1998. Leonardo continues to record as a solo artist however, and is currently doing very well indeed with his track Liga lá em Casa (‘the League of Home’, with ‘league’ intended to mean a relationship).

Find the Portuguese lyrics here.

Marcos & Belutti

A slightly calmer form of music in the Brazilian charts is provided by Marcos & Belutti, a pair of friends from São Paulo who sing heartfelt ballads and romantic songs harking back to a 1980s style. Their current hit is Domingo De Manha (‘Sunday Morning’), and it’s fair to say it provides a handy antidote to the Leonardo song I currently can’t stop hearing rattling around my head.

Find the Portuguese lyrics here.

Zezé Di Camargo & Luciano

Brazilians really do like a duo. These are two more brothers, born Mirosmar José de Camargo and Welson David de Camargo, from a town called Pirenópolis in the western Brazilian state of Goiás. For some reason their stage names are Zezé Di Camargo & Luciano and they are currently shifting countless copies of single Flores em Vida (‘Flowers of Life’), which sounds a bit like the Marcos & Belutti song above, but nothing as good. Judge for yourself!

Find the Portuguese lyrics here.

Jorge & Mateus

Would you believe it, it’s another duo! But Jorge & Mateus at least differ from the rest in that they are specifically a country act – Brazilian country, of course. They use more traditional instruments than most of the pop acts that surround them in the charts, as you can hear in their latest hit, Calma (‘Calm’).

Find the Portuguese lyrics here.

Each of the six acts above are in the Brazilian top 10 singles chart at time of writing and, thankfully, they each produce the type of music it’s easy to hear the words to. Check out the lyrics links above to sing along and hopefully absorb a few new Portuguese words. And while you’re at it, have a go at our Portuguese level test to work out how long it might be before you’re able to croon out a top ten hit of your own.