Note from BBT: I’m not one to quickly fall for the hype, and often times, when I weigh in on a given topic, it’s simply to report the news and keep it moving. In terms of today’s story focusing on black artists in popular music, I can see the reason that seeing twelve of these artists competing for a Prêmio MultiShow Award, which is the country’s biggest music awards event, would make headlines. I won’t deny that this is big news in a sense, considering past reports that give us insight into how Brazil’s music industry really gets down.
Make no mistake, seeing twelve black artists competing for an award in a music industry that Bahian singer Margareth Menezes recently described as a “privilege machine” for white artists, at least appears to be an advance. As we’ve learned in recent reports, Sertaneja, a musical style dominated by white artists, duos and bands, is the top selling genre in Brazilian music.
Historically, it’s been particularly difficult for black male and female artists to cross over into the country’s lucrative MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) market, with artists, especially black women, often being steered into singing only samba music. As I must always point out, samba is Brazil’s black music. So black in fact, that until elites discovered they could appropriate it as “Brazilian” music to unify the country under a false “racial democracy”, it was disregarded as a “coisa do negro”, or a “black thing” that had no value.
The samba, like other expressions of black culture in Brazil, was harshly persecuted by authorities when it first emerged in the first decades of the 20th century. Today, while the sound still represents Rio’s biggest yearly party, Carnaval, artists that represent the original samba sound don’t sell anywhere in the neighborhood of MPB and Sertaneja artists. Within this context, in many ways it should considered a vast improvement to see artists such as Ludmilla, IZA and Emicida sellings millions of units, starting their own companies and getting endorsement deals, black artists still have a long way to go to be on par with their white counterparts.
Twelve black artists will compete for 2020 “MultiShow” music awards
Blacks appear in 75% of the categories open to popular vote. There are also Black representatives in categories defined by judges
With info courtesy of Ceará Criolo and Palco Pop
There are 12 black artists competing for the Prêmio Multishow 2020 (2020 Multishow Award), scheduled to take place a few months from now, in November. Of the eight categories that are open to popular vote, two have only non-blacks nominated. In other words: Black artists are represented in 75% of the categories.
To vote and help your favorite black singer take home the trophy, click here. But beware: it is mandatory to register at Globo.com for the vote to be counted.
There are no blacks listed in the categories “Duo of the Year” and “Live Show of the Year”. On the other hand, in the “Experiment” category, blacks are in the majority with three nominations: Agnes Nunes, Fran and the group Menos é Mais.
Iza is the only black name in the “Singer of the Year” category, and competes with top female artists such as Anitta, Ivete Sangalo and Marília Mendonça. In the “Singer of the Year” category, rapper Emicida represents blackness. He is the only representative.
In “Group of the Year”, the expectation is great around the group Baiana System and the pagode group Sorriso Maroto. For the “Song of the Year,” it is possible to vote for “Verdinha,” by Ludmilla, and “Descende pro Play (PA PA),” by MC Zaac and Tyga.
The category of “Música Chiclete do Ano” (bubblegum song of the year) finds Thiaguinho MT competing with “Tudo Ok” and MC Zaac/Tyga appearing again with “Desce pro Play (PA PA)”.
In addition, there are black representatives in categories voted on exclusively by judges. The black artists competing in this category are:
Rico Dalassam and Dinho, with “Braille” competing in “Song of the Year”
Emicida, with “AmarElo” competing for “Album of the Year”
Jup do Bairro, running for “New Artist of the Year”
The 2020 Multishow Award will be hosted by Iza, along with Tatá Werneck and Paulo Gustavo.
Singer IZA will host the Multishow 2020 Award
Independent of the pandemic, the 2020 edition of the Multishow Award was confirmed. The announcement was made by the pay TV channel on Monday (08/03) and according to them the event will take place in November, representing “all the transformation that the music industry has been going through since March”.
Last year the hosts were singer Anitta and actor Paulo Gustavo, but this year there was a small change and the team that will present the award is composed of singer IZA, actress/host Tatá Werneck along with Gustavo.
All of them have a close link with the channel. IZA appears in reruns of Música Boa Ao Vivo music program, Tatá presents the late night talk show Lady Night and Paulo is the star of the sitcom A Vila. One can only hope that without singer Anitta hosting this year’s program, we won’t see another scene resulting from the Anitta/Ludmilla feud that led to latter to tears in accepting her award at last year’s award MultiShow music awards.
How does the award program work?
In a statement sent to the press, director Tatiana Costa said that this year’s “MultiShow” Music Awards “will be all over Brazil, representing the great protagonism of music in the country in 2020. It is possible to conclude that the event will be held remotely, because of the pandemic of the new coronavirus, not yet under control.
“In these times of pandemic, the music has been transformed and has shown its strength even more. In the individual sphere, the live presentations came to entertain us, to provide moments of fun and decompression, in the face of this difficult context. Within the collective sphere, music has shown its social role, engaging the public in collections to reduce the impacts of the crisis. The award will come to celebrate music and its agents, to give a spotlight to this role of cultural responsibility, even more fundamental today,” said Tatiana
Voting
The Multishow Award Academy (jury) will begin the first phase of voting later this week. The jury is made up of professionals from the music industry who will elect the nominees in 15 categories. Eight of them will have the winners chosen through the popular vote.
Votes should be open to the public starting in September, when the list of nominees is released. The date of the award itself is still to be announced, as well as musical performances and other details.
Source: Ceará Criolo, Palco Pop
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