While North American Christian Music continues to cling to its tried and true formula in the 2020's, artists in Central and South America are branching out with new and unique musical sounds. Led (overwhelmingly) by the strong female vocalists of the genre.
(from top: Manda (Amanda Rodrigues), Daniela Galeano, Fernanda Brum, Eyshila, Aline Barros, Noemi Prado, Thaiane Seghetto, Redimi2, Funky, Alex Zurdo, Evan Craft, Maria Paola, Julia Vitoria, Daniela Araujo)
Without YouTube's 'recommended content' function back in October of 2019, this blog may never have been written.
I'd clicked onto recommended YouTube content before...the first degree introduced me to Beckah Shae, the second degree to V. Rose (the fourth degree brought me to Taeyeon's "Purpose - The Second Album," but that's a blog for another time). But it was on that early October Morning that the third degree of YouTube recommended content came across my desktop with.... Daniela Araujo.
Two Music Videos: Spanish "Mi Jesus" (ft. Even Craft) and Portuguese "Seja O Centro" (ft. Fernanda Brum) came up as recommendations. Over the years, I'd briefly browsed through Spanish content from time to time on Itunes, with no real traction. But Portuguese music from Brazil?
By mid-morning, I was hooked on "Seja O Centro." It was like unlocking a whole new library of potential music to explore, yet still technically in the same Christian music genre I'd come to know since becoming a Christian in 1994. I was stoked.
The Music
There’s something for everybody. From the adult contemporary leanings of Eyshila, to the classically trained vocals of young Julia Vitoria; from the soulful spunk of Manda (Amanda Rodrigues) to the straight up Contemporary sound of Evan Craft; from the Spanish Christian reggae offerings commanded by Daniela Galeano to the try-every-genre singles of veteran Daniela Araujo.
While Male to Female song ratios seem to favor the male vocalist 5 or 6 to 1 in the North American Christian Music industry, it seems to favor the female vocalist around 3 to 1 in Central and South America.
The Message
Giving a bit of wiggle room for some error on my Google Translator, the artists of Spanish and Portuguese music have broken the code of moving past one-dimensional lyrical content without compromising the gospel message. Artists like Manda, Galeano and Araujo rely heavy on this rapid-fire lyrical ballet, hitting the mark again and again.
The Collaborations
In last year’s 2021 Dove Awards, some of you may have noticed a nominee for best Spanish Language album: “Uno,” by Alex Zurdo, Funky and Redimi2 (who is known by many for being part of the non-radio-edit single “Be Alright” with Danny Gokey and Evan Craft). This entry was not there by accident. This trio, along with an assortment of other artists like Indiomar, Un Corazon (The “Hillsong” of Latin Music IMO), Oveja Cosmica, Abby Valdez offering their talents to this album, this could easily have won the award, if not for the much more recognized “Desesperado” by Evan Craft taking the honors. Rap, pop, and Latin influences abound on this album, weaving it into one of the best Christian albums of 2021…on any continent.
While collaborations are not uncommon at all in North America, it always seems like more often than not these artists are backing each other up, rather than going it alone, even across the Portuguese/Spanish language (Think “Mi Jesus” by Craft/Araujo or “Ancla” by Araujo/Galeano). It provides a cohesion, not found as often in the Christian Music as of late in North America.
The Impact
While number of online views alone should not determine an artist’s or song’s worth, these YouTube singles are nonetheless being heard. From views ranging sometimes from the hundreds of thousands all the way up into the hundreds of millions, these stats rival their US counterparts. Having the Gospel heard on this level makes me happy.
Seismic Shift?
While the title of this blog begins with the 2020’s, I actually begin my personal journey of these incredible sub-genres to songs released back as far as 2017. Not that there isn’t music before ‘17, but with the slow demise of the brick and mortar music/physical format Music era, 2017 seems to have turned a corner, in a good and amazing way, for the music of these Spanish and Portuguese genres. I have tremendously enjoyed music over the past 3 years from countries all over Latin America: Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Puerto Rico. There are such beautiful and passionate hearts and voices in these offerings; I hope you will take a look at some of these music videos on the included playlist link. I am certain you will enjoy these songs and artists as much as I do.
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