The singer Taylor Swift is in the process of re-releasing her old albums titled as “Taylor’s Version”, but, before returning to Brazil, this time with “The Eras Tour”, the singer’s fans are being packed with her songs in a style different. Last week, a pagode version of “Blank Space”, a hit released by the artist in 2014, made by the group Versão Brasileira, began to go viral on social networks. The band’s video surpassed a million views on TikTok last week.
With a cavaquinho, a tambourine, the lyrics on the tip of the tongue and six members of a pagoda-loving group (and a little Taylor Swift), the new version led by the Brazilian Version fell in the graces of social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and caught the attention not only of the singer’s fans, but also of personalities such as comedian Yuri Marçal and the official profile of Vira-lata Caramelo.
@grupoversaobrasileira One more from the series: the Brazilian improves everything 🇧🇷🤪 #Taylor Swift #blankspace #pagoda #samba #pop
Yuri Marçal published a video on Instagram “reacting” to the pagoda in an ironic way. “I liked it”, wrote the comedian who jumped on the bandwagon and even appeared dancing samba to the sound of the new version of “Blank Space”. The record also gained comment from actress Pathy De Jesus, who laughed at the situation.
The profile of the Mutt Caramelo on Instagram also joined the wave. “Could you stop listening to Taylor Swift’s pagoda version for a second? I want to talk about something else”, “says” the little dog who still takes the opportunity to sing the version.
here the Brazilian went too far pic.twitter.com/Dtnx6pWI0t
—vittor (@vittor) July 28, 2023
“People liked the international versions, but no video had ever gone viral like that, or gotten that much exposure. We had a little idea of the noise that her fandom makes, and it was really cool to see people liking and tagging each other, but it ended up being a super organic thing”, says Raphael Messi, lead singer of the group, in an interview with CNN .
He says that the “abrasileirada” in foreign songs is a trademark of the group that has existed since 2019, and that Taylor’s success comes after many other transformations in pagode and samba.
It all started with four students who met while going to college at Unifesp, in Osasco, in greater São Paulo, and who had a common taste for music, especially samba, pagode and international songs.
“In the mix of that, of thinking ‘what are we going to play’ ended up forming this mix of what we do today”, says the musician. The members have increased over the years.
The current lineup includes Raphael, who joined the group in March 2022, Pedro Lupatin, the other vocalist who also plays the cavaquinho, Flavio Aldana, on the surdo and percussion in general, Nathan Polachini on guitar and guitar, Rodrigo Kuester, as the person responsible for the tantã and surdo and Rui Infante, on the tambourine, snare drum and second voice, which arrived in January of this year.
“As everyone likes different things, we want to play a little bit of each thing, both what we want, for ourselves, and for the audience’s experience to be complete. This feature has existed since the beginning of the band and has been improved over time ”, he explains.
International songs like you’ve never heard
Seeking to live up to the band’s name and bring the Brazilian version of songs well known to the public, Raphael, Pedro, Flavio, Nathan, Rodrigo and Rui have already incorporated artists such as Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears in their repertoire.
“We sit down to see the songs that we think people will enjoy, because our show is meant to be an experience, it’s for people to enjoy, sing, for everyone to come along with us. We took a song that we think the whole audience will know and we try to put a little bit of our face in each one of them”, says Raphael.
The process is well thought out by all six members.
“We try to put all these rhythms in samba and in vocal harmony. The six sit on top of the music and we brainstorm, everyone giving ideas, discussing how to bring something different”, says the vocalist.
The first version that made noise on social networks was the mix of “I Want it That Way”, by the Backstreet Boys, with “Falta Você”, by Brazilian singer Thiaguinho, currently with almost 400,000 views on TikTok.
@grupoversaobrasileira In the end you will understand 🤪 @thiaguinhocomth @backstreetboys #FalaGalvao #thiaguinho #miss you #backstreetboys #iwantitthatway #pagoda #samba
♬ Brazilian Version I Want it That Way – Brazilian Version Group
The group has also bet on hits by Linkin Park and Britney Spears. “What a mass a show these guys must be”, says a comment on one of the videos.
@grupoversaobrasileira Brazilians have no limits! 🇧🇷🤪 #intheend #linkinpark #pagoda #samba #rock #Chester Bennington
On target
Crowding shows in almost every corner of the world, Taylor Swift was the group’s newest bet. After the sales frenzy of “The Eras Tour”, the artist’s tour in Brazilian lands, singing a hit by the blonde seemed inevitable.
“We usually leave several videos ready, take a weekend for example, decide on some songs we want to make and record them in one day. In general, we don’t have much idea of what will rock or not, but this one by Taylor was one of our bets in his batch”, reveals the singer.
Raphael already had a liking for the singer, especially her more country era at the beginning of her career. Behind the recording, in addition to his personal will and that of the other members, there was also the will of the public, who always asked for a hit from the muse.
“There’s a friend of ours who was like, ‘For the love of god, do Taylor Swift’ on every video. We chose ‘Blank Space’ because it was the best known to everyone in the group”.
The rest, let it happen naturally. “People were sharing and seeing this was super cool, super different. We were super happy, we didn’t even imagine that this could happen”, reports Raphael.
The success of the published video was such that the members, who always try to respond to everyone who sends messages and comments, lost control and stopped doing it for the first time.
“We gained a lot of followers, especially on TikTok, where the video exploded, there were about 13,000 new people. We still can’t believe it, it’s a lot of people”, comments the vocalist.
Will there be more Taylor Swift?
“We cannot ignore the noise that happened, as I said, we record several songs at once, so we already have others ready to be released, but there will definitely be more content from it”, reveals the musician.
“There are good comments, bad comments, but the important thing is that the exhibition was very nice, many people had the chance to see us and really enjoyed it, they came to say positive things. It has been a super cool experience”, he adds.
The group also invests in transforming national music into other styles, in addition to playing sertanejo and other Brazilian genres.
“We have plans to release original songs as well, we are in the process of professionalizing the band, dealing with bureaucratic issues, so that when we start releasing songs on digital platforms, we will not have legal problems. We are holding back on purpose, but we are already recording and soon we intend to launch our professional career there”, concludes Raphael.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
