On the cutting edge of Brazilian Music

Inspiration

On the cutting edge of Brazilian Music

YB Music boasts a forward-thinking roster of Brazilian music. "A loose mix of regional, new Tropicalism, urban music, black music & afrofuturism," in the words of label founder and A&R Maurício Tagliari. He carefully selected a goldmine worth of tracks to navigate you through their rich, edgy catalog of Brazilian styles and sounds—going far beyond traditional styles like samba and bossa nova.

By

Tracklib

·

November 11, 2020

To start off with some deep digging for producers… Which artists on YB Music are essential to you, so producers can start ‘click-digging’?

Besides Brazilian grooves and rhythms like Grammy nominee Alessandra Leão, Siba, Saulo DuarteCoco de OyáSamuca e a SelvaClube do Balanço, and Felipe Cordeiro, we had a comeback to hip-hop of our early years with ZudizillaDani NegaKaboom 23, and Fernandinho Beatbox. But our main creative achievement might be to release avantgarde and experimentalist works from the Brazilian scene like Negro Leo and Lello Bezerra, Tanino, Thiago França, and Joana Queiroz. By the way, we're just beginning to represent one of the most avant-garde Brazilian labels: QTV from Rio de Janeiro.

Curiously, there are also a bunch of new female songwriters/singers: Ligiana Costa (with a vocal-only album on Tracklib), HéloaZeferina, one track by Colombian singer Victoria SaavedraAlfamor [as recently sampled by Yolanda Be Cool], and Tika. I can go on for hours...

"We could be considered an alternative label because we are open to working with a lot of minor styles. We encourage more creative and original music."

Maurício Tagliari, YB Music's founder and A&R

That sounds like an interesting melting pot of music. How would you describe what producers can find in your catalog to sample?

It’s a loose mix of regional, new Tropicalism, urban music, black music, afrofuturism, and songs with a more sophisticated approach—both in sound and lyrics. In short: our catalog is wide, varied, and very close to Brazilian popular music but it never sounds purist or traditionalist.

In which way does that reflect the music that’s popular in Brazil right now?

The Brazilian market, today, is dominated by "sertanejo": a kind of modern country party music. As well as funk (but not the American funk) and gospel music. Even the most traditional styles like samba and bossa nova are minor in our scene. Rock and electronica are niches. We could be considered an alternative label because we are open to working with a lot of minor styles. We encourage more creative and original music.

So even styles like samba and bossa nova are small to your scene? Interesting, as that’s likely what many producers mostly know of Brazil for digging and sampling. Do these traditional styles still have an impact or influence on the more cutting-edge output of YB Music?

Yes! Samba and bossa nova as well north-east and Amazonic music are our DNA! Hear Rodrigo CamposClube do BalançoMarco Mattoli, and my own records. We pay a lot of respect to samba. But you know, samba is a vast cultural territory. One of the most important things to remember is that Samba is something mutant. Since the beginning of the 20th century until now it has changed a lot. And we are part of this.

Can you highlight some tracks to illustrate the current avant-garde/experimental nature of YB Music?

And if you could pick one of the tracks that would be perfect for sampling, to you personally?

It's VERY hard to choose just one. But try this all-vocal track by Ligiana Costa:

What does the art of sampling mean to YB Music?

‘Liquid society’ is how some have referred to today’s environment where change of all sorts has been happening more rapidly each day. When it comes to music, the creative and production process has also changed to a more fast-paced, interactive, collaborative way. Tracklib has a role in helping producers to keep up with this demand, by facilitating a process that has always been painfully slow and intricate: the licensing of samples for the use in their new music. On the other hand, artists of all genres can have their music being appreciated in totally new ways. Being somehow exposed to new audiences and benefit from all these new styles that contain their samples. A collaboration between strangers who can be next door or on the opposite side of the globe, whose common language is music.

Keep digging

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