Podcast

Explaining Brazil #207: Anitta enters the presidential race

Arguably Brazil's biggest pop star of the moment, singer Anitta has endorsed former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — and is even giving him campaign advice

Anitta is arguably the most famous Brazilian pop star of the moment and seems to be a ubiquitous presence in the country’s music scene and television. 

In March 2022, she became the first Brazilian artist to ever appear in Spotify’s Global Top 10, one of the most critical metrics in music today. She spent two days at number one with her hit song “Envolver.”

Last week she announced her endorsement of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in this year’s election, some three months before the country goes to the polls.

On social media, Anitta clarified that her endorsement of Lula is merely pragmatic, focused on ousting incumbent far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, and stressed that she is not a supporter of Lula nor his Workers’ Party.

But even with the buzz that these celebrity endorsements create, what do they really mean when the time comes for Brazilians to cast their vote? That’s what we’re going to try and answer this week.

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This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: U56BMQCR8PDBKVVJ, OBKUDBD2CVEZQR7W, EW494MSSZBFBS9T3, WOJMUZQ0SGFECBWN.

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