Margareth Menezes: from Carnival Queen to Brazil's Minister of Culture

When Lula da Silva became president of Brazil in January 2023 for the third time, one of the first things he announced was the re-establishment of the country’s Ministry of Culture – disbanded by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro in 2019. Lula has form in choosing a popular Minister of Culture – he appointed Gilberto Gil in a previous term – and this time was no different, with the beloved Bahian singer Margareth Menezes being given the role. “It’s in my nature to get involved and experiment [with different things], even in my albums,” Menezes tells me. “It’s just how my mind works, and I think that is natural for an artist who experiences transformation through art.”

Menezes’ career erupted four decades ago when she released her first single in 1987 with Djalma Oliveira, ‘Faraó (Divindade do Egito)’, a song which would become a staple of Salvador’s buzzing samba-reggae carnival. Her first album, simply titled Margareth Menezes, came out the following year and featured the song ‘Uma História de Ifa (Elegibó)’. It was this song that led David Byrne to hire Menezes to open the tour of his 1989 Latin-infused solo album, Rei Momo. “It was the first samba-reggae played outside of Brazil. I was the first artist to bring this rhythm from [the State of] Bahia, this language that comes from the Afro blocos [carnival groups], which mixed African clave rhythms with the contemporary music of that moment – a bit of tropicália, a bit of Latin rhythm – with a very powerful impact.” She was then signed internationally by Polydor and Mango Records who released her music in Europe and the US and Japan, respectively. Over the years, she would be involved in over 20 international tours.

Menezes at 2022’s Afropunk Bahia (photo: Andre Fofano)

During one of her concerts abroad she came up with the idea of ‘Afropopbrasileiro’, a name inspired by a newspaper headline which read ‘Margareth Menezes arrives with her Brazilian African Pop.’ “I was the first artist to defend this musical identity as a concept. It was very difficult for me [in Brazil, as] a Black woman doing Afro-urban music, [which was] little explored and recognised, with a completely different singing style and with the Bahian accent. The market was very unfair to my generation of Black artists from Bahia at that moment.” The different opportunities offered to white and Black artists at the time left Menezes without a contract with a major record company from the mid-90s onwards, leading her to create her own record label in 2001, Estrela do Mar. This entrepreneurial move took the singer-composer to a new level of popularity in her home country when she released the album Afropopbrasileiro that year, which included the song ‘Dandalunda’, written by Carlinhos Brown.

When the song started playing on the radio, Universal Music established a partnership with her label to release the album. “The song played for two years consecutively. In the first year, it was the third most-played song at carnival, and in the following year, it won first place – it was the first time this happened with a song from Bahia. And this completely reopened the market for me.” From then on she started doing projects with her own label or in partnership with majors – the latest ones being the live album Para Gil & Caetano (2015), with songs from both Gil and Veloso, and the studio album Autêntica (2019), which marks her return to Afropop. “I learned everything as I went along. It wasn’t easy for me to build my career at any point, but it was worthwhile because I managed to [do it] with substance, with a concept. And that within the commercial music market is not so easy.”

Those early years were truly incredible for Menezes; during that time, she also composed and recorded the hit ‘Passe em Casa’ with Tribalistas – a supergroup formed by Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte and Arnaldo Antunes. Menezes recalls spending an entire day in 2001 in their company, “towards the end of this meeting, I had the guitar in my hand and the melody [of the song] came to me. They wrote the lyrics at such a fast pace that there wasn’t time for me to add anything to it. Their connection is fantastic, it’s like they have one mind.” A few months later she was invited to go to Rio without being told that they’d be recording the song. Six months later she received the news that it would be on the Tribalistas (2002) album, which turned out to be one of the biggest-selling albums ever released in Brazil. “This experience was fantastic, because it encouraged me to start sharing more of my compositions [with other artists], strengthening this side of being a songwriter.”

It didn’t take long before Menezes also began acting as a social entrepreneur, founding Fábrica Cultural [Cultural Factory] in 2004, a non-governmental organization that carries out social and cultural actions in disadvantaged areas of Salvador, the capital of Bahia. She directed the NGO until becoming Minister of Culture. “We were able to create a new identity for the crafts of Bahia, improving the production. It generates employment, especially for women – [including] Black and Indigenous women, who were waiting for an opportunity.” Menezes agrees when asked that this initiative played a role in her becoming the current Minister of Culture. She adds: “the fact that I am a seasoned artist who communicates with other [music] styles, [helps me] understand what the sector needs in a certain way – I have a real connection with it. Also, having done many international tours, I understand how Brazil is known internationally. I understand that Brazil has a very large cultural diversity, and I understand the attention that the cultural and artistic productions of each region need.”

Gilberto Gil had been Minister of Culture from 2003 to 2008, through the first and some of Lula’s second term as President. Menezes says she had the opportunity to talk to Gil about taking on the position right at the beginning. “I always listen to him when I can. In fact, I’m here in Rio de Janeiro [where the interview was carried out over a WhatsApp call] today because it is the induction of [environmentalist, philosopher and poet] Ailton Krenak [at the Brazilian Academy of Letters], and I’m going to meet with Gil. He called me on Sunday asking if I would come.”

Menezes says that her Ministry is inspired by Gil’s and Juca Ferreira’s – who also held the position of Minister of Culture under Lula, as well as during Dilma Rousseff’s second term until her impeachment. “We have rebuilt some initiatives, like Cultura Viva [Living Culture] and Pontos de Cultura [Culture Points]. We are seeking to listen to people with experience and bring new generations into the Ministry – a young crowd that is assisting and bringing fresh ideas.”

Menezes and her team have the task of rebuilding the Ministry of Culture after it had been dissolved and replaced by the Special Secretariat of Culture, which was part of the Ministry of Tourism, during the government of Jair Bolsonaro, from 2019 to 2022. “It was very painful for us to be without [this] Ministry, to go through the pandemic without it. [It is] a huge sector [and] there were no public policies for us. It was very difficult for us to swallow those four years of persecution [and] dismantling, but now we are in a different moment.”

One initiative which exemplifies the country’s cultural redevelopment is Lei Paulo Gustavo, a law named after the famous Brazilian comedy actor who tragically passed away after contracting COVID-19. Established in 2022, but regulated and adjusted in 2023, it represents the largest direct investment ever made in Brazil’s cultural sector. The law allocates R$3,862 billion (close to £600m) for the execution of cultural actions and projects throughout the national territory. Menezes’ Ministry is responsible for Programa Rouanet nas Favelas, a pilot project that will invest R$5 million with the aim of nationalising resources that historically have been concentrated in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The programme will support cultural managers from the favelas to serve their populations in the capitals of five Brazilian states: Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Pará and Goiás.

When asked what the Brazil that she has been helping to build over the many years of her artistic career, and that she hopes to help build with her work as Minister of Culture, looks like, Menezes concludes: “this true Brazil where everyone is included. There is no ‘rest of Brazil’ – it is one Brazil. A country with human diversity and diverse realities. We have reparations that need to be made regarding Indigenous peoples and the issue of slavery, which lasted 388 years here. From this place [I now occupy] and seizing this opportunity, the desire I have is that at some point people can take advantage of the wealth we have. That we can look at ourselves and accept us as we are.”

Margareth Menezes is performing at the Barbican Centre, London on July 26 as part of a double-bill with llê Aiyê celebrating Afro-Brazilian music and carnival. She will also be performing throughout Europe during the summer

This article originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today