Latin circuits in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro: Meanings of migrant musical activism

Abstract

This article analyzes aspects of the Latin music circuits in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, seeking to understand the proximity and disjunctions between the practices carried out by immigrants from Hispanic Latin America and the meanings of “Latinity” that are sketched out in each city. To begin with, we return to some questions of historical dynamics of the political paths in the 19th century, in which an idea of Latin America was forged and Brazil develops an ambiguity on whether belonging or not to this notion of identity and politics, building Latino as an Other. Next, we present a more general mapping of Latin musical circuits and the presence of salsa music as a generic nomenclature for a series of rhythms, styles and musical genres of what is being built in various parts of the world and in Brazil as a symbol of Latinity. In the end, we analyze a musical group that performs in each city: Batanga & Cia, in São Paulo, and the group Songoro Cosongo, in Rio de Janeiro. We seek to understand the meanings of migrant musical activism that are articulated to the construction of identities, to the uses and dynamics of cities, and to alternative and mediatic cultural production forms that emphasize the specificities of the sociocultural contexts in each urban environment analyzed.

Keywords: Latin circuit, Latinity, musical activism.