Released in 1977, “Bicho” is Caetano Veloso’s tenth studio album, which is organized around two musical elements that at first glance seem different: African traditions and disco music. That year, Cayetano, 35, turned his “antennae toward the dance floors of the planet.”
But the album was received with suspicion by critics and leftists. It has been treated as an “invitation to alienation” and an “example of foreign domination.” Critics patrolled Cayetano, demanding the explicit political engagement of Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil.
However, a closer look reveals that Cayetano was looking for synthesis. In fact, African drums and dance floor beats were ways to “be a pretty person and dance.”
The album celebrated dance music of African origins, noting that disco music originated at the hands of black Americans before it was appropriated by whites.
The album was influenced by the impact Cayetano felt when he visited Nigeria and witnessed the local poverty.
In the song “Gente,” the artist emphasizes that “people are created to shine / not to starve.” The song “Two Naira Fifty Kobo”, which includes Nigerian juju music, expresses that what is right is to “be beautiful people and dance, dance, dance” and “make music”.
In addition to focusing on dance and ancestors, the album is imbued with sweetness. It features classics like the danceable “Odara” (one of the Brazilian crowd’s favorites), the reflective “Um Índio” (a reggae song with apocalypse verses) and the beautiful “O Leãozinho” (written by guitarist Daddy).
“Tigres” sings about a woman who traded the politics of 1966 for the hedonism of dancing in the “days of feverish dancing.”
“Piccio” proved that Cayetano, despite his flirtation with pop music, remained attentive to what was happening in the world.
Nearly five decades later, Caetano returns to the stage with the same angst that led him to unite Africa, disco and Brazil. At the Estilo Brasil Festival, these songs – gentle, danceable, critical and legacy – take shape again, showing that the dance floor has always been political and that Caetano is still the artist who interprets the pulse of the world.
Estilo Brasil Festival is presented by Banco do Brasil Estilo, sponsored by the Federal Government and BB Visa cards, and held by CapitalsProduced by Oh! Arts.
Buy your ticket
table
Caetano Veloso
December 11
Lineker
December 14
Brazil Style Festival
location: Ulysses Convention Center
Tickets: Digital box office