Ivete Sangalo wants to go back to the future. The classic scifi film was the inspiration behind the creation of his electric trio and carnival costume. Not just because the aesthetic that glorifies technology is one of her favorites, but mostly because, as she says, we need to use the world’s greatest popular party to get rid of backwards steps.
“We have never been so thirsty for the future. We are entering a year of greater hope and possibility. We have emerged from a period of regression and are stepping on the right foot into 2023 where there is more hope and we are going to move forward.”
The statement can be interpreted as a celebration of the end of Jair Bolsonaro’s government. It’s just that Ivete doesn’t usually name names. Lamenting the deaths of 500,000 Brazilians in the pandemic two years ago, she said it wasn’t “about parties” but “about humanity.”
The singer, who has been accused of being on the fence, replied that the Bolsonaro government did not represent her “not even before the idea of him existed”, which, according to research institute Quaest, caused her popularity on social networks to increase by 51% .
Then Ivete started attacking Bolsonaro. At the end of the same year, at a show in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, the singer encouraged the chorus of insults directed at the former president and urged the audience to shout louder. The same thing happened at Rock in Rio last year, when she responded to the Lulista Choir, saying that we would “change everything” in the election.
Now Ivete is releasing her first full original album in almost ten years, the EP “Chega Mais”, recorded in January in Salvador at a show for guests and fans from around the world. With five tracks ranging from sambareggae to Pagodão Bahia including “Cria da Ivete”, which became a hit even before its release on TikTok the project opens the carnival in Salvador, which will be broadcast live on Globo and then become one Tour of Brazil.
After receiving the report on the presentation of the new work, the singer, who turned 50 last year and celebrates 30 years of career this year, speaks about aging, the loss of space from axé, her international career and her political positions.
We are a month away from the carnival. How do you prepare? I used to be more concentrated, active in sports, looking for emotional balance. I just had kids right? Then half of the preparation fell, but I never stopped. When I have time, I spend more than two hours in the gym. When I don’t have it, I do optimized halfhour workouts.
And the food? I’ve learned to remove things from it that abuse me, like anything glutenfree. It’s not about getting fat or not. It’s just that gluten is bad. I was very uncomfortable with stomach pains so I don’t eat and that makes singing easier because I don’t have acid reflux. I avoid sugar and heavier things like feijoada and everything that everyone loves.
Last year, Globo celebrated its anniversary with a commercial in which it didn’t even look like you’d turn 50, prompting allegations of age discrimination. How does it not look like this? I have never been a victim of age discrimination and I have never bullied myself for anything. Turning 50 is a victory. It is knowing that I exist and I exist with health. aging is life If you don’t turn 50, you’re already gone. But I don’t sacrifice anyone either. We learn. These are discussions that we didn’t have 30 years ago. They are mistakes, but without the intention of destruction.
Axé seems to have lost its place and has become a seasonal song played only during carnival. how do you see it When Bahian music occupied the top ten most played spots, it overlapped with another segment that was also there. It is a rite that repeats itself. This doesn’t only apply to Bahian music, apart from the fact that I have to fight to get free. I disagree that it’s seasonal. It’s just that in the summer, all music empowered by popular movements gets a bigger share.
The audience for Micaretas also seems to have changed. Today it consists mainly of gay men. But that’s because you treat the gay man as a person outside the public, and the gay man is the public. There was no change in the audience. The gay is essentially the public. Previously, this identification was not considered in a democratic way.
You sang a lot in English, a lot in Spanish. I’m still singing my love
Much has been said about exporting Brazilian music because of Anitta. Today you do more shows in Brazil. Not ready to go international anymore? Nobody did it like Anitta. But she wanted it. I didn’t want it. I can’t imagine how much work and how many things she had to give up. I think my international career is solid because I want to go anywhere in the world and have someone who listens to me. There are other suggestions. Crowded Madison Square in New York is beautiful, but nothing quite compares to a packed Maracanã.
How did your new album “Chega Mais” come about? it was crazy I woke up on December 20th, went to the office and said we were recording a live EP. They asked if I was crazy. Said if it was me they would have to get mad at me.
It’s a record that seems to have more electronics. When we mix a song, acoustic elements lose volume. I wanted that wall bass, so we added electronic bass drums, which is more modern and an update to my music.
At the beginning of January, when you were recording this album, you praised the selection of Margareth Menezes for the Ministry of Education. When my parents first let me go to the street carnival, I met Margareth. From that day on she took care of me.
Can your proximity to Margareth lead to an approach to the political debate? debates exist. Not necessarily public, but they exist. Margareth is a very competent woman, apart from being a singer. He has a life experience that will add up and bring elements beyond our comprehension. She’s very confident in what she believes in and what she believes in is very good, so she’ll teach us a lot.
Before you said that you would rather not talk about politics because you don’t understand politics. What has changed? At first I was against talking about it because I really didn’t understand it. But I understood the politics you make on a daily basis. I am a woman practicing politics of action and enjoying an artist’s potential to articulate, but more in practice. But I believe in debates. They are fundamental to bringing issues to the surface that need to be discussed. Now I prefer to reserve the place of listening and learning for myself. Margareth has a lot more to say and I have to listen.
Were you afraid to take a stand against the Bolsonaro government? Do not. Polarization is an obstacle. If the two sides don’t talk, there is an obstacle. We don’t have to be afraid. This is a major obstacle that must be removed so that we can return to dialogue in a civilized manner. If it’s very polarized, anything you say is just fuel to the fire. You throw wood, wood, wood and it burns.
Wasn’t that why you weren’t more explicitly involved in politics in the past? I have already said that I disagree. That doesn’t make me a dead person. That was my choice and I respect my choice. People have to respect each other. I do very extensive works, mostly related to children, like the Martagão Gesteira Hospital in Bahia. Sometimes it is so deep underground that you are not aware of it.
In your 30year career you have sung, played and presented. What is missing do? I am founding the Ivete Sangalo Institute to channel my artistic power to welcome as many people as possible, especially children, because the more we do, the more we realize how much remains to be done.