Is Brazilian music better or worse than before? The answer to the question may cause you serious discomfort...

The singers Maria Bethânia (on the left) and Liniker are equally important for the respective generations that are enchanted by the artists Guilherme Nobhan / Rony Hernandes / Montagem g1 ? ANALYSIS ? Every now and then, someone decides that Brazilian music today is bad because it no longer has the melodic richness and poetic beauty of before. And whenever this discussion comes up, the arguments are passionate on both sides. However, definitive sentences about the quality of current Brazilian music generally hide arrogance and self-centered views. But, after all, has Brazilian music gotten worse or better? Or is it the same as always? The answer to this question changes according to the generation of those who answer it and can cause serious discomfort in those who cannot understand that, as Nelson Motta said in verse of the Hawaiian bolero lyrics sung by Lulu Santos, “everything changes all the time in the world”. This has been the case in Brazilian music and there is no point in running away or taking refuge in the nostalgia of the modernity of one's own youth. Those who grew up listening to the sound of MPB by composers such as Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Djavan, Edu Lobo, Francis Hime, Gilberto Gil, João Bosco and Milton Nascimento – among other MPB giants from the 1960s and 1970s – tend to find this generation unbeatable. This is the case of this g1 columnist and critic. I really think so. Especially because, alongside these great composers, singers of the stature of Clara Nunes (1942 – 1983), Elis Regina (1945 – 1982), Gal Costa (1945 – 2022), Maria Bethânia and Nana Caymmi (1941 – 2025) appeared. We have never had so many composers and so many performers of such high caliber in the same generation. Especially because many of these composers are also great interpreters of their respective works. Anyone who grew up with the singing of these unparalleled MPB voices will probably find the singing of Anitta or Marina Sena inexpressive, to name just two examples of singers who draw crowds throughout Brazil. The point is that everything is subjective. Anyone who grew up with the sound of Anitta and Marina Sena's voice has another reference, and that reference is not MPB. That's why there is no right answer to the question about whether Brazilian music improves or worsens. Each generation finds its own voice, its own group and, consequently, has its own answer to the question. And all the answers are correct. How can we minimize the emotion visible in the eyes of thousands of people seduced by Liniker's singing and sound at the singer's shows? That's the crux of the matter. Generations today are moved by Liniker's shows as generations were moved long ago by Gal Costa's shows. Just as, in older times of the radio era, other generations were moved to tears by Dalva de Oliveira's (1917 – 1972) presentations in the Rádio Nacional auditorium. The new always comes, as Belchior (1946 – 2017) pointed out 50 years ago. And, if it is wrong to say that the new is better than the old just because it is new, it is also arrogant to say that the old was good. Good for who? Standards and references change over time. And the tendency is for everyone to choose their own reference as the best. There are those who may find it heresy, but the fact is that, nowadays, Liniker's singing is as important for millions of listeners as Maria Bethânia's was and still is for millions of other listeners. And perhaps there are even welcome intersections between the two audiences because it is possible to like Liniker and Bethânia at the same time. Just as it is possible to listen to Os Garotin and, subsequently, play an album by Milton Nascimento. Or organize a playlist with songs by Criolo, João Bosco and Tim Bernardes. It's all a matter of taste. And taste can be discussed, but it is also respected, without one generation wanting to minimize the sound and preference of the other.