Note from BW of Brazil: Love her or hate her, you gotta admit, singer Ludmilla don’ come a LLOONNGG way baby! I still clearly remember several years ago hearing her debut hit single blaring from seemingly every car sound system in the streets of São Paulo and thinking, “Who is that?”. From becoming a YouTube sensation to securing a recording deal with a major recording label, clocking seven figures a month and being featured on Forbes magazine’s list of promising people under the age of 30, Ludmilla’s story is one that surely millions of girls and boys dream of.
Now, she adds yet another achievement to her list of accomplishments. The Latino Grammy awards is the most important of American prizes awarded for the Spanish/Portuguese language market and Ludmilla will represent when the ceremony is held on November 16th at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States. Whether she claims an award or not, Ludmilla has already won!
Ludmilla – “Cheguei” official video
Even succeeding against all of the shade she has endured since her meteoric rise, I also can’t help but hoping that she doesn’t feel the need to alter herself anymore physically and being totally consumed by the white world for fame and fortune. Congrats Ludmilla! But don’t forget who/what you are and where you came from! It’s certainly easy for BLACK artists to do so…
Ludmilla: a preta funkeira indicada ao Grammy Latino 2018
By Maristela Rosa
Ludmilla is that singer, funkeira (funk singer), that started her career as “MC Beyoncé”, who remembers? Do you remember her being called a “macaca” (monkey) on a national network, on free TV, live? Or when she was attacked by racist offenses on the internet?
Our country is racist, sexist and classist, this you should already know. Ludmilla is a black, a woman, of humble origins and sings funk – a rhythm coming from Rio’s favelas. So, how many offenses was she and is she subjected to? Disguised as “it’s only my opinion”, I’ve lost count how many times I read and heard hateful comments directed toward her and her aesthetic.
Some time ago I was watching a video in which Ana Carolina – a white, renowned singer, of MPB (Popular Brazilian Music)– sang “Hoje”, a hit in the voice of Ludmilla. The comments left me reflective, to say the least. Things like:
“Girl, if I were Ludmilla, I would never sing this song again hahahahahaha HUMILIATED showing that singing with her mouth is different from (singing with) her ass,” Or ” Even a rough song is perfect in this woman’s voice.”
Ludmilla – “Hoje” official video
Ana Carolina did a version of a funk with voice and acoustic guitar, nothing more. She didn’t do anything extraordinary, neither with her voice, nor with the song. The rhythm is the same, the lyric is the same…In truth, all thanks to the song, that is a contagious beat and mischievous way that Ludmilla sings it, Ana doesn’t have it in her version. But, still, people thought it was MUCH better! Why would that be?
Pop singer Ana Carolina singing Ludmilla’s “Hoje”
Obviously, because voice and acoustic guitar isn’t funk! Ana is not black, she’s not a funkeira, doesn’t rebola (shake her hips), so she can “do anything”! We haven’t forgotten that we are in a country that processed a bill project, in the middle of 2017, to CRIMINALIZE funk!
But now this Ludmilla, a funkeira, black woman, singer and songwriter, is nominated for a Latino Grammy, one of biggest awards in the world of music and, with a doubt, the biggest of Latin America. For you to have an idea, Shakira and Maluma are competing this year. Ivete Sangalo, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil are a few of the ceremony’s Brazilian winners.
Ludmilla is competing in the category destined to the Portuguese language, for Best Contemporary Pop Album, for the album A Danada sou eu. Will it be that the music critics of the Latin Grammies think that Ludmilla only sings “with her ass”, or will it be that the critics on the internet need to be less sexist and racist?
Source: Mundo Negro
Congratulations to Ludmilla!!