In the early 90s, when Collor ran for President of Brazil, no Brazilian rock band supported him. He only had the support of the sertanejo music scene, so he said that if he won, he would institute a "Ministry of Vengeance". He won, and he took his revenge by supporting the soundtrack of agribusiness - the sertanejo music. Upon becoming president, he quickly invited sertanejo duos to perform at his official residence, the Casa da Dinda. From then on, rock began to decline.

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Sertanejo duos became a constant presence on TV shows like Faustão's "Domingão". In a few years, sertanejo music took the place of rock on the charts. Today, many people say that "rock is dead", but few know the real reason why rock is no longer prominent in Brazil. It was all a big political setup that started with Collor's victory. Agribusiness invested heavily in sertanejo music, and of course, this had the strong support of the financial elites.

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​​​​​​​​​​​​The elite, who own everything, including the media, don't want you to listen to quality music. They want you dumb and superficial so they can manipulate you more easily. That's why you no longer hear music with content on mainstream radio stations. If the DJ plays it, he'll definitely be fired... That's why you switch from station to station and can't find a really good song... Of course, there are exceptions, but they are the minority. Only this minority and radio stations like the BBC can afford to play the kind of music you should be listening to.

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Sertanejo music has always been a tool for agribusiness to win the public's favor. Globo, with the "Amigos & Amigos" TV program, was a pioneer in this project. Over time, the strategy evolved into "universitary" sertanejo, which aimed to attract a young female audience and, consequently, win over the male audience. The rise of rodeos and the popularization of "sofrência" (songs of longing), now with a female perspective, complete this marketing strategy.

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Rock is a rebellious style and often has protest and contestation lyrics. This was seen as something very dangerous and undesirable. Nothing better than investing in an apolitical musical style to make the people docile, where they only sing about the pain of being cheated on, betrayals, etc. It's much easier to exploit an alienated people than a politicized people. If "rock is dead" in Brazil, it's mainly because of Collor's initial support and agribusiness' support for sertanejo music. Sertanejo is a plague in Brazil, like a swarm of locusts that destroys everything in its path. 

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Many people believe that rock music is dead in Brazil because “young people don't listen to rock anymore”, giving preference to trap, hip-hop and the like. But first of all, this is a Brazilian phenomenon. Although hip-hop and its offshoots are actually more popular than rock nowadays, many young people listen to rock in Europe, and it's far from dead on this continent, especially in the northern countries (search for shoegaze/post-punk bands and you'll see that the scene is increasingly alive). And secondly, if young Brazilians have stopped enjoying rock, it's not because “the style has grown old”, because that's not true, but because there has been a massive investment by the elites to make it happen, they don't want young people to be rebellious, they want everyone evangelized, obedient and alienated. It looks like they got what they wanted.

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Therefore, sertanejo is the mortal enemy of rock. That's why it was a mistake for Rock in Rio to start including sertanejo in its lineup. 👎🏻 Today, sertanejo is aligned with Bolsonaro and the far-right - it was even dubbed "bolsonejo". The support of sertanejo singers for Bolsonaro was so blatant that Bolsonaro himself asked them to "tone it down".

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So that's it. Before you go around saying that rock is dead in Brazil, remember how we got to this situation.

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P.S.: Rock is not dead! 🎸

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And fuck sertanejo! 🖕🏻