New Age Brazilian Music

 New Age Brazilian Music

"Bossa No Se"-Cuco, 2019

"Lo Que Siento"- Cuco, 2017

    Brazilian music is some of the most diverse music in the world. It has about 18 different styles of music. One of the styles of Brazilian music that I will be talking about today is called Bossa Nova. It is described as a "different beat". Bossa Nova introduced unconventional chords with altered harmonies. The style is mainly characterized by the Samba. Which is another style of Brazilian music that is one of the most important cultural phenomena. Both styles of music stem from Afro-Brazilian communities. These two styles of Brazilian music are what characterizes the music of Brazil the best.

    In recent years there has been a resurgence of Brazilian music in American culture. One of the artists that are at the front lines of this resurgence goes by the name Cuco. He is at the age of 22 with his first hit being Lo Que Siento. Which was released soon after he graduated high school. It gained popularity quite fast reaching 109 million streams on Spotify alone. His music uses a psychedelic type of music that mixes the Bossa Nova guitar in his music. Which flows very well with his heartbreaking/heartwarming lyrics. Bossa No Se is even a play on words with "no se" meaning I don't know. Since 2017 Cuco has been able to adapt his music for American listeners very well. Is one of the top Hispanic artists in America. 

    I came across Cuco in 2019 by watching a ton of music videos late a night. The first song I heard was Bossa No Se. I instantly fell in love with the song since I could relate to it very well. The Bossa Nova guitar chords fit so perfectly with the beat in the background. When the beat and guitar change up when Jean Carter's verses come along is brilliant. The whole song flows so well when it all comes together. The music video brings a lot of meaning to the song as well. With showing the ending of a relationship for Cuco. The next song I came across that night was right after Bossa No Se. Which was Lo Que Siento which means "What I feel". He sings a lot about a girl he is in love with. It is a far sweeter song than Bossa No Se. But that just shows Cuco's diverse lyrics he can change up from. My opinion on Cuco is that he is a very diverse artist. That will one day become one of the top artists in America. His music is very relatable. He has adapted quite a lot since 2017. Where he has only gotten better in my opinion. I cannot wait to see where he ends up in the next couple of years.

Exposito, Suzy. Weblog post. Cuco, Jean Carter Talk Bad Romance in New Song 'Bossa No Sé', Rolling Stone, 22 May 2019, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/cuco-jean-carter-bossa-no-se-836959/.

"Music of Brazil." Wikipedia, 5 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Brazil.


Comments

  1. Musical RobinMarch 11, 2021 at 6:48 PM

    Hi Coleman,
    As someone much older, it’s my first time to listen to Cuco. I personally prefer the Lo Que Siento which is more calming and steadier with bright electric guitar as background music. I am not sure about Bossa No Se mostly because of its lyrics with lots of F and Sh words in it. Please no offense because I am more conservative as someone from the older generation. However, I learned something new from your musical trip to Brazil and got a taste of the new generations.

    I could hardly tell the difference between American and Brazilian music probably because of my little exposure to the differences, or maybe the two are merging somehow due to the diversity of USA. My understanding of Latin or South American music was vibrant and mostly fast tempo with steady beats. It seems that Cuco got some influences from the US music. I took Zumba dance classes and truly enjoyed the music. However, I do not know much about Samba or its music. Thank you for sharing something new to me!

    Robin

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