Anitta, Girl from Rio

"What attracts me is the free and sensual curve, the curve that I find in the winding course of our rivers, in the clouds of the sky, in the body of the favorite woman. The entire universe is made of curves, Einstein's curved universe". (Oscar Niemeyer)

In May 2021 I was surprised by a fact connected to popular music. Reading the news of the day, I clicked on an article that spoke

of the launch of Anitta's new videoclip, in Miami. I was curious about the name of the song, “Girl from Rio”, and also because the

event included an art exhibition. I don't own any CD with Anitta's work, I never downloaded any song by her, I only

heard her music, rarely, at parties or on the radio. That was before Covid, of course.

I knew, of course, that she is very successful and makes a lot of money.

The first impact I got, after seeing the " Girl from Rio" clip and paying attention to the song lyrics, was: this is the reality of life, not only in Rio, but throughout Brazil.

Second impact: I thought the videoclip was great. I loved the juxtaposition of aesthetics and times, the quality of the production, the truth of the song's new lyrics and the use of the antithesis, “Girl from Rio” vs. "Girl from Ipanema". Brazil 2020 vs. Brazil 1960. Reality vs. cliché, with touches of Carmen Miranda in Hollywood. I found out later that the clip's creative director was Giovanni Bianco, an exceptional Brazilian art director, who has also worked with Madonna.

Third impact: Anitta used the most famous song of the wonderful Tom Jobim and changed the lyrics! I, in my marketing experience, tried to use “Girl from Ipanema” in a product launch, years ago, and it was IMPOSSIBLE! Of commercial utilization of Tom's music, I only remember Globo TV, which has used several of his songs in soap opera's openings and sound tracks.

I searched the Internet to understand the phenomenon. Anitta's current goal is to reinforce the internationalization of her music. The relevant fact is that she has just signed a contract with Warner Music. Until then, it was Anitta herself who managed her career. Now she has an American career manager, Brandon Silverstain, who is responsible for planning, promotion and strategy of her new releases.

Carolina Massad Cury, fashion projects consultant and my study group fellow in art market economics (FGV-Invest), recalled: Anitta was the attraction of the 2019 "São Paulo Art Museum" benefit party, having come out of a cake singing "Happy Birthday" to Heitor Martins, then president of the museum, who was celebrating his birthday that day. And she sang, with Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, in the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics.

You can like or dislike Anitta's funk music, her personality or how this videoclip exposes a reality in Brazil that is not easy to accept. But, for me, it is only natural to be proud of and to highly value this girl from Rio, actually from the low income neighbourhood of Honório Gurgel, who managed her career alone for five years and is now trying to conquer the world.