For music enthusiasts all over the world, Brazil is known as a great place to search for new music. Our country has a lot of musicians which are worldwide famous by their works, such as Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Gal Costa and Rita Lee.
Even with all the great female singers and musicians we have in our country, we still have to fight over sexism in the Brazilian musical scenario. Women are judged and reportedly get less paid for their works. Some girls are gathering themselves to create music labels such as PWR Records as a way to resist to this kind of situations.
Besides these kind of initiatives, there are women that play in festivals and even release their own music independently, contributing strongly to the resistance against sexism. Here are some of the various female singers who spoke up against sexism and which you should be supporting and listening to:
1. Letrux
Image Source: Sillas Henrique
Leticia Novaes had many projects during her ten-year-old musical career. She used to play in the indie summer-based band Letuce with her ex-husband, which splitted in 2016. Since that time, she’s been working on her new project, now being identified as Letrux and bringing back the 80’s vibe through her music and style. Songs such as “Ninguém Perguntou Por Você” and “Flerte Revival” show us a new side of Leticia, in which she uses music to translate her deepest feelings and thoughts.
2. Luiza Lian
Image Source: Raquel Cunha/Folhapress
Born and raised in São Paulo, Luiza Lian had appeared in the Brazilian musical scenario in 2015. Mixing up visual arts and music, Luiza brings up topics such as her devotion to Umbanda and her mind digressions on her songs, all followed up by elements from rock, jazz and MPB, building up an unique sound as we can hear in songs such as “Oyá” and “Me Tema”.
3. Tássia Reis
Image source: Gabryel Sampaio
Independent rapper from Jacareí, Tássia Reis owns an unique voice and a great speech about feminism and female empowerment. Tássia started her career in 2014, receiving a lot of praises from music blogs and magazines such as Revista Trip and Nação da Música. Floating through rap, samba and MPB, the singer talks about real life conflicts and situations in which she has been through on her songs, such as “Se Avexe Não” and “No Seu Radinho”.
4. Flora Matos
Image Source: Charão Produtora
One of the most important independent rappers in the country, Flora Matos started her career in 2009. In 2011, Flora’s work got a lot of repercussion in the media, including MTV Brasil and Monkeybuzz, for example. The rapper talks about the things she lived being a woman and about love in all its forms in songs like “Preta da Quebrada” and “Pretin”.
5. MC Soffia
Image Source: Paolo Saborido/Claudia
The 14 year-old rapper MC Soffia had her work brought up by the internet in 2015. She got a lot of praise from the media because of her work and mainly her age. The rapper talks about racism, sexism and how it happens even if you’re young on her lyrics, as we can listen on songs like “Barbie Black” and “Minha Rapunzel Tem Dread”. MC Soffia appeared on Capricho’s magazine cover and made a lot of interviews to vehicles such as Trip and G1, being seen as a role model for young girls.