“Like yourself, Show yourself”! Singers and rappers Ludmilla, MC Soffia, Candy Mel and Rafael Mike release new video in celebration of “Black November”

“Like yourself, Show yourself”! Singers and rappers Ludmilla, Mc Soffia, Candy Mel and Rafael Mike release new video in celebration of the “Black November”

By Marques Travae

In a special project created by Instagram especially for this, the Month of Black Consciousness, or what many call “Novembro Negro”, or ‘Black November’, a group of popular artists that includes singers Ludmilla and Candy Mel (of the band Uó) and rappers MC Soffia and Rafael Mike (of the Dream Team do Passinho) have teamed up to release a new song and video entitled “Se Gosta, Se Mostra”, meaning ‘like yourself, show yourself’. Speaking about the collaboration, Ludmilla said: “Together to celebrate our spaces and build a more equal world together. Thank you to everyone who was part of this project.”

Dealing with the theme of black consciousness, the lyrics of the song address self-acceptance, valorization and black empowerment. Verses include lines like, “so many people struggled to question who said what we can or cannot”, “if it comes as an offense, it’s a pleasure, we are the resistance”, “we’ve already screamed, did you hear us?”. Singer Ludmilla further expresses the meaning of the song in the chorus when she sings “go to the world to show your value, because the time is now, like yourself, show yourself, feel himself, yourself, show yourself.”

The song’s lyrics were penned by Ludmilla’s partner in her hits “Hoje”, “Bom”, “Sou Sou”, Umberto Tavares and were inspired by a conversation with a number of well-known social influencers, many of whom are known through the online video-sharing platform, YouTube. A common thought that came through from this group was the idea expressing identity and empowering their existence through the power of images.

Some of the participants in the discussion included people like social entrepreneur Monique Evelle, Mayara Efe, Gabriela Loran, MC Taya, Gleici Damasceno, Paloma Barbiezinha, Ana Paula Xongani and Yuri Marçal. The dialogue that came out served as inspiration for music producer Umberto Tavares.

The release of the song’s video took place at a VIP event in Rio held on November 7^th and featured a performance by Ludmilla and included well-known personalities such as singer Preta Gil and philosopher Djamila Ribeiro, the influencers whose ideas inspired the song as well as Instagram’s international executives.