Tropicalismo

Tropicalismo, otherwise known as Tropicalia, is a form of Brazilian music that arose in the late 1960s out of bossa nova and rock and roll influences. As a reaction against the perceived clichés of pop music, tropicalismo was driven by socially aware lyrics and political activism following the coup of 1964, much like its contemporary Brazilian film movement, Cinema Novo[?]. The music categorized by the tropicalismo movement is related more by its sense of free spirit than by any instrumentation or other characteristics. The style was popular for only a brief period, and evolved in MPB[?] (musica popular Brasileira) by 1971.

Many modern musicians outside of Brazil still consider the tropicalismo movement to be quite significant in terms of its creativity and futuristic visions. In 1998, Beck released Mutations (album), the title of which is a tribute to Tropicalismo pioneers Os Mutantes. Its hit single, "Tropicalia", went as high as #21 on the Billboard Modern Rock singles chart.

Key Artists

• Caetano Veloso
• Os Mutantes
• Tom Zé[?]
• Gilberto Gil

External Links

• An article from PBS newshour on the impact of Tropicalismo and Caetano Veloso (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/veloso/tropicalia.html)