SIM SP | Drik Barbosa, Rosa Neon, Ava Rocha, Maurício Pereira and Castello Branco

This show was aired on December 19, 2019 and records the atmosphere of meetings of SIM SP, a festival that takes place annually in the first days of December at the Cultural Center of São Paulo (CCSP). In this episode you will hear five stories of Brazilian music, with Drik Barbosa, Rosa Neon, Ava Rocha, Maurício Pereira and Castello Branco.

Photograph: Filipa Aurélio

You can listen with each music and in Portuguese here:

If you prefer to read in English, start with the São Paulo rapper Drik Barbosa telling the story of the song “Liberdade”, track from her debut album in solo career:

Photograph: Promotion

"'Liberdade' has the features of Luedji Luna from Brazil and Aey from London. It talks about the strength of women and the lack of sense of men towards women. This composition was a gift from Emicida to me and I fell in love as soon as I heard it. I think it's extremely important to recognize that some men are in this process of deconstruction together with us. And Emicida had the sensitivity to talk about women's freedom in a way that touched me too and that makes sense to me ". Explains Drik Barbosa. Luiz Gabriel Lopes, a member of the band Rosa Neon, tells the story of the collective composition of the track "Cê não tem dó de mim", a song by the debut album of the group.

Photograph: Sarah Leal |Marina, Marcelo, Mari e Luiz Gabriel.

“'Cê Não tem Dó de Mim' was composed collectively by me, Marina, Marcelo and Mari. Marina picked up the guitar and started playing a series of chords. Suddenly she came up with the first idea: 'Falei que eu erro o tom'. And then everyone liked it and started giving other ideas and that chaotic and harmonic Frankenstein methodology of Rosa Neon worked wonderfully. We chose to give it an acoustic arrangement, a different outfit from the other tracks. I really like the result ", says Luiz Gabriel Lopes. Then the musician and filmmaker Ava Rocha explains her composition "Transeunte Coração", part of the album Ava Patrya Yndia Yracema.

Photograph: Carolina Amorim

"This song came up when I was editing a feature film by my brother Eric Rocha, called Transeunte. The narrative of the film portrays a lonely 65 year old man who is hanging around the city, obsessed with the women he sees on the streets. Fernando Catatau is responsible for the original soundtrack and the theme song for the film speaks precisely about this character's desire to find love solving his loneliness with a woman. And the answer is, "Don't look for me in your loneliness, I am not a woman to be hunted to satisfy your loneliness. I am not that image you want to capture."

The song is about this loneliness of the city, saying to this character: “I'm not the woman you’re looking for, I'm not the woman you love.” It’s a feminist message from the woman’s perspective. It's a song about women's freedom to come and go. Not as an object or as a projection of happiness. So it's about these women who walk on the streets and who are flirted, harassed, desired, mythified, deified... It's an answer ". Explains Ava Rocha. Singer and songwriter Maurício Pereira also told the story of the song "Florida", the track on his most recent solo album, Outono no Sudeste.

Photograph: Gal Oppido

"Outono No Sudeste is a very lyrical record, very internal, a few hours even melancholy. And 'Florida' is a song that gives a breath. I see it yellow, even more spring, not so autumn. It's like a love song. Distracted, uncompromised, with right and wrong things and some insecurity inside, but not less intense. I took her on a more Latin wave. But when it came the time to record the album, Gustavo Ruiz still added some samba thing from Bahia or 'amorna' from Cabo Verde, to give a swing and make it more delicate, because it is a cute love song, without much grandiloquence.

And we ended up arriving in this hybrid swing that is on the record. Toni Penhasco on guitar he makes an interesting phrasing, we rocked it. So 'Florida' is it, a little bit of heat and fragrance inside a record that has a lyrical and intense melancholy. 'Florida' puts color in the fall ". Tells Maurício Pereira. And the musician and writer Castello Branco talks about the composition of "Cola Comigo", which is part of the album Sermão.

Photograph: Promotion

"'Cola Comigo' has a very crazy story. I was traveling with Luiza Brina on the day of the presidential evaluations for the second round. Then, when Bolsonaro won, she was very upset and cried. And that moved me a lot ... I already had the arrangement and the melody, but I wrote a poem about what I felt when I saw that friend of mine, that person I love, so sad. This song talks about that. I am faced with all that is happening, sharing to strengthen the next ". Reports Castello Branco.

Soundtrack:

Akeem Music - Jorge Bem, Presidên

Playlist:

Drik Barbosa - Liberdade (com Luedji Luna e Aey)

Emicida- A Ordem Natural das Coisas (com MC Tha)

Ava Rocha - Transeunte Coração

Potyguara Bardo - Oasis

Maurício Pereira- Outono no Sudeste

Tulipa Ruiz- Gravidade Zero

Castello Branco - Cola Comigo

Thiago Ramil - Amora