Arnaldo Antunes

(br)

Brazil has a visceral relationship with the spoken word. From modernism to tropicalism, from bossa nova to São Paulo rock, the Brazilian song has never been merely music; it has always been poetry, a manifesto, and an act of resistance. It is within this tradition that Arnaldo Antunes finds his place, and it is from this that he forges his own unique style: singular, unclassifiable, and stubbornly free.

Born in São Paulo in 1960, he grew up shaped by the military coup of ’64, the counterculture and tropicalism. A melting pot that moulded a generation that learnt to use art as both a shield and a spear. His early influences ranged from the Beatles to Roberto Carlos, from João Gilberto to Brazilian literary traditions, notably concrete poetry and the work of Guimarães Rosa. He studied Literature at the University of São Paulo but did not complete his degree. Music called to him first.

In 1982, he co-founded the Titãs, a band that for a decade blended rock, reggae and MPB across seven albums that defined a generation. In 1992, he left the group due to creative differences and embarked on a solo career that would prove even more daring. Influenced by concrete poetry, in 1993 he released the album Nome, accompanied by a book and a video. A total work of art that heralded a creator who rejected boundaries between media. In 2002, with Marisa Monte and Carlinhos Brown, he formed Tribalistas, whose debut album sold over two million copies in Brazil and Europe.

But it is perhaps in A Curva da Cintura that Arnaldo Antunes best reveals himself as a global musician in the truest sense of the word. Invited by kora master Toumani Diabaté to record in Mali, he joined forces with Edgard Scandurra in Bamako to create an Afro-Brazilian fusion that blends rock, African roots and blues. A project that Med proudly presented in its 2012 edition.

Antunes’s musical identity is that of the word which is not content with its meaning alone, but also seeks its sound, its weight, its visual form. For him, music and poetry are one and the same thing expressed in different ways. His voice is deep, resonant, insistent. The songs build slowly and remain forever.

In 2026, Arnaldo Antunes takes to the stage with a career spanning more than four decades and a relevance that never fades. His repertoire is a journey through the heart of Brazil and the world that Brazil helped to build. In his luggage he brings Novo Mundo</em, his twentieth solo album released in 2025. An album that expands MPB into global dialogues with David Byrne and Ana Frango Elétrico, proving that a Brazilian can be cosmopolitan without losing their roots.