Note from BBT: Like the old saying goes, you’ve come a long way baby. This certainly applies to the singer Iza. She is one of a number of Brazilian singers who got her start showing off her talents on via social media platforms such as You Tube and Instagram. I still remember seeing a few of the international pop hits she was singing for her You Tube channel. Back then, the Rio native covered a little of everything from Beyonce, Rihanna, Adele, Sam Smith and even Prince’s ‘’Purple Rain’’.
It would be an understatement to say that the strategy paid off. After catching the attention of Warner Music Brasil, IZA quickly started appearing in music festivals, recording songs for her debut album and releasing creative music videos. Nowadays, the singer who was born Isabela Cristina Correia de Lima is everywhere.
The singer has appeared on countless magazine covers and television programs, become the poster girl for a number of commercial products, earned a number of awards and set records for streams of her songs online. It is also important to note that singers such as she and another star who got her start on You Tube, Ludmilla, are clearly black women succeeding in a country where lighter skin is more accepted and where all black women are expected to only sing samba. Congrats to IZA. Keep it moving!
Singer Iza reaches the 100 million streams mark on Spotify
With info courtesy of GQ Brasil, Portal Pop Online, Negre
Singer Iza, 30, has become the first black woman in Latin America to have 100 million streams of her single “Pesadão” on Spotify. Released in 2018, the single “Pesadão” shook the structures of national pop music and made the singer’s voice echo throughout the four corners of the country.
The singer used social media to celebrate the achievement with a video symbolizing her start in 2016, posting her cover versions of international pop songs, as well as her peak in 2021, with jewelry, fine clothes, and a GQ Brasil award in hand.
Iza won the award in 2020, when she was named Woman of the by the magazine, and is used as a synonym for success by the singer. Releasing the single ‘’Gueto’’ in June of this year, Iza is preparing for the release of her second album, scheduled for the second half of 2021.
In 2019, the artist had already collaborated with GQ Brasil, being the cover of the November issue. At the time, the magazine praised the achievements of the carioca in a short time in her career, “five years that seem like decades.”
Iza, who was doing cover songs five years ago, had no idea what was to come: first black woman in Latin America to have two singles – ‘’Dona de Mim’’ and ‘’Pesadão’’ – with over 100 million streams on Spotify! ‘’SUCH HAPPINESS!!!! Thank you, my talismans!” she wrote, while posting a video on Twitter.
Her collaboration with Marcelo Falcão, former lead singer of popular rock band O Rappa, became her second hit to reach the 100 million mark. IZA also received a visit from Ivy McGregor, the director of BeyGOOD, singer Beyoncé’s NGO. Iza posted photos with McGregor on her Instagram account. Ivy was at IZA’s mansion in Rio de Janeiro. The reason for the visit is still unknown although several news outlets have been quick to bill IZA as a Brazilian Beyonce in the making.
“What a magical night! It was such a pleasure to receive you in my house, Ivy. You are light and you lit up our night. Come back again and again, sis, our doors will always be open for you. I can’t thank you enough for our conversations, your time, generosity and grace! It was a pleasure to welcome your light into my home. So grateful for this connection. And we know that this is only the beginning. Keep shining, sister! God bless you always,” wrote IZA.
On her Instagram profile, Ivy posted the same picture and also talked about the meeting. She said that this was a great way to start the week. “Thank you, sister, for the warm hospitality, the delicious dinner and the most inspiring conversation. You are indeed a beautiful Brazilian superstar whose inner light shines brightly. What a pure heart and rooted soul. The future is bright, because of strong young black women like you!” she wrote.
In all, ‘’Dona de Mim’’, from her 2018 debut album, has been listened to 117 million times, followed by ‘’Pesadão’’, which reached reached the nine-digit mark. On the platform, she also has the song ‘’Brisa’’, with over 88 million and ‘’Meu Talismã’’, with 71 million.
Understanding the need for black representation the importance of her career in this context, Iza remembered, “When I was a child, I didn’t see myself in the movies I watched, in the soap operas I followed. I didn’t have many artists as references – except Taís Araújo, Isabel Fillardis and Aisha Jambo,” referring to three well-known Afro-Brazilian actresses of the era.
Source: GQ Brasil, Portal Pop Online, Negre
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