In terms of music, there is not much room for discussing who was the greatest artist in Brazil in 2022. Based on data collected by Spotify – the main music streaming platform on the planet.
With a year filled with unprecedented achievements and international projection, singer Anitta was the main international representation of our country, as the most heard Brazilian artist in the world.
One of the main elements of Anitta’s success came from a seed planted in November last year. On the 11th of that month, she released the fourth single from an upcoming album: the song and video for “Envolver”.
It took about four months for, in a meteoric rise, the hit sung in Spanish, whose choreography – “el paso de Anitta” – became a trend on TikTok, reached the global top 1 on Spotify – an unprecedented feat for a Brazilian woman.
“I never saw Brazil united by one thing, it looked like the World Cup”, said Anitta at that moment. The song had 6.3 million plays on the platform when it hit the mark. In November 2022, that number is already 450 million streams.
On the same weekend that reached the global top, Anitta shared the stage with one of the headliners of Lollapalooza Brasil. Guest of honor of singer Miley Cyrus, the two sang “Boys Don’t Cry” together.
On April 12, the artist from Honório Gurgel released her album “Versions Of Me”, which represents her great calling card for the international music market.
As is customary in her career, the release of the album came meticulously prepared to match another important feat.
With references from funk and favela culture and appropriation of the colors green and yellow, Anitta was the first Brazilian to perform on the main stage of Coachella – one of the most important music festivals on the planet.
In June, the singer was another Brazilian to win a wax statue on display at the famous Madame Tussauds museum.
The work, which took about six months and required the work of 20 artists to complete, was unveiled at an event at the museum’s New York branch in Times Square.
“As the first global pop star to hail from Brazil, and the first Brazilian solo artist to perform on the main stage at Coachella, Anitta is perfectly suited to the honor of receiving a wax statue,” said Madame Tussauds, in a note sent to CNN 🇧🇷
“I feel important, I really feel like I’m making history. We only have five Brazilians in this museum. Pelé, Neymar, Gisele Budchen, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio. The three Brazilian super top models. I’m the first female singer. The first person in music from Brazil to be here and for me this really means a lot”, said Anitta to CNN during launch.
That year, despite the agenda guided by the strategy of projecting itself more internationally, Anitta also showed concern in staying tuned and connected with what is “booming” in Brazil.
This is demonstrated, for example, when in June she got involved in the production of trap songs – a musical genre that is second only in plays in the country to the sertanejo.
One of these traps was released in partnership with the Free Fire group – one of the most downloaded games on the planet and widely popular among Brazilian teenagers. Anitta even got her own character in the game – the “Miss”.
In July, she was recognized by the Guinness World Records collection for the mark reached months earlier with Engage on Spotify.
The singer went down in the book as the “first solo Latin artist to reach #1 on Spotify.”
At the end of August, she broke another unprecedented milestone for the country by becoming the first Brazilian to win an award at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) – one of the most relevant awards in music.
Anitta also performed “Envolver”, which ended with her and her dancers transforming the award stage into a ball to the sound of a potpourri of “Bola Rebola”, “Movimento da Sanfoninha” and “Vai Malandra”.
“VMAs! Did you think I wasn’t going to shake my ass tonight?” questioned the singer, exporting her famous phrase “Did you think I wasn’t going to shake my ass today?”.
The performance was chosen to third best of the night by Billboard magazineand was even featured in other specialized vehicles such as Rolling Stone and pitchfork🇧🇷
Anitta competed for the VMA in the category of “Best Latin Music” and had tough competitors in the race, such as the Puerto Rican rapper phenomenon Bad Bunny 🇧🇷
Even so, she secured the first Brazilian victory in the history of the competition created in 1984.
Months later, on November 13, Anitta still took the European version of the VMA home, winning the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in the same category.
Crowning her year, also in November, she received the greatest proof that she managed to project herself to the point of penetrating the American music market.
She was nominated for the “Best New Artist” category at the 2023 Grammy Awards. The award will be handed out on February 5th.
Anitta competes along with Omar Apollo, Domi &JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Latto, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, Wet Leg and the Italian rock band Maneskin.
The most played in Brazil and in the world
At the end of November, Spotify released its official 2022 retrospective. While Anitta climbs her space in international music, internally, Brazil still celebrates the reign of the queen of suffering Marilia Mendonca, who died in November 2021, but continues to lead playlists in the country.
Marília secured her place at the top once again as the most listened to in Brazil. It is the third consecutive year on the podium and the sixth year appearing in the top 5: 2017 (#4), 2018 (#5), 2019 (#1), 2020 (#1), 2021 (#3).
Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny achieved his hat-trick, becoming the most listened to artist on the planet for the third consecutive year.
In the ranking of songs in Brazil, the most listened to was the live version of “Mal Feito”, by country duo Hugo & Guilherme, featuring Marília Mendonça. Worldwide, pop star Harry Styles topped the charts with his single “As It Was”.
In relation to the most Brazilian artists most listened to abroad, the ranking is led by Anitta, who is accompanied by Alok and Roberto Carlos, for example. Among the most listened Brazilian songs abroad are, obviously, “Envolver” and its own remix.
Top 5 most listened artists on Spotify in Brazil in 2022
- 1. Marília Mendonça
- 2. Henrique & Juliano
- 3. Jorge & Mateus
- 4. Gustavo Lima
- 5. Maiara & Maraisa
Top 5 most listened artists on Spotify in the world in 2022
- 1. Bad Bunny
- 2. Taylor Swift
- 3. Drake
- 4. The Weeknd
- 5. BTS
Top 5 most listened Brazilian artists on Spotify abroad in 2022
- 1. Anita
- 2. Alok
- 3. Ownboss
- 4. Roberto Carlos
- 5. Sevek
Top 5 most listened songs on Spotify in Brazil in 2022
- 1. Mal Feito – Live, by Hugo & Guilherme
- 2. Malvadão 3, by Shaman
- 3. Go There At Home Today, by George Henrique & Rodrigo
- 4. Wetting the Wheel, by Jorge & Mateus
- 5. Dancer, by Pedro Sampaio
Top 5 most listened songs on Spotify in the world in 2022
- 1. As It Was, by Harry Styles
- 2. Heat Waves, by Glass Animals
- 3. STAY (with Justin Bieber), by The Kid LAROI
- 4. Me Porto Bonito, by Bad Bunny
- 5. Tití Me Preguntó, by Bad Bunny
Top 5 most listened songs by Brazilian artists on Spotify abroad in 2022
- 1. Engage, by Anitta
- 2. Move Your Body, by Sevek and Öwnboss
- 3. Deep Down (feat. Never Dull), by Alok, Ella Eyre, Kenny Dope, Never Dull
- 4. La Loto, by Anitta, Becky G, TINI
- 5. Engage Remix, by Anitta, Justin Quiles
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Susan Karen, a professional writer and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in Entertainment news, writing stories that keep readers informed on all the latest developments in the industry. With over five years of experience in creating engaging content and copywriting for various media outlets, I have grown to become an invaluable asset to any team.
