Known as the cradle of sertanejo music, Goiânia hosts the most famous sertanejo singers and duos in Brazil.
However, when it comes to popularity, the state of São Paulo does not fall short and has launched many artists with international repercussion who started through virtual platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
In the interior of São Paulo, in the city of São José do Rio Preto, the duo Zé Neto & Cristiano exploded on the radio and TV shows with several hits in a short time of their career.
They started together in 2011. They released their first CD in 2014. Then, in 2016, they recorded the duo’s first live album which yielded a CD and DVD with the songs “Diz Pra Ela”, “Eu Ligo Pra Você”, and the more recent hits “Seu Polícia”, “Te Amo”, “Sonha Comigo”, “Amigo Taxista”, “Cadeira de Aço” and “Se Organizar Todo Mundo Beija” that are among the most played in the country.
Together, they have a total of 4.4 million followers on Instagram.
Also in the interior of São Paulo, in Paraíso, another young sertanejo has been conquering millions of views on social media.
João Stelutti began his solo career in 2017 in a viola circle with friends. The interest in the singer’s peculiar voice grew when bars and concert halls began to frequently request his songs.
The deep tone that resembles the timbre of singer Jadson from the duo Jads & Jadson is not often found in the artistic scene.
Stelutti has only 4 videos on his YouTube channel that already total nearly 5 million views.
His show schedule is concentrated in the states of São Paulo, Paraná, and Minas Gerais, and the most played songs are “Largado as traças”, “Modo Sofrência” and the newly released “Modo Caipirado”.
João Stelutti intends to open a mini tour in the United States in 2019 to get closer to his Brazilian followers living in North America.
The term sertanejo refers to the inhabitant of the Northeast region of Brazil who faces the difficulties of drought. However, over time, the name of the musical style has distanced itself from this origin, being closer to the idea of a rural individual, one who lives and works in the countryside.
In the 1970s and 1980s, romantic sertanejo duos consolidated themselves, promoting a true change in the characteristics of this musical style.
From the 2000s onwards, sertanejo music underwent new transformations.
We can divide the sertanejo style into three phases: the first with the rural theme, the second with romantic love, and the third with ballads and casual relationships. There is also space for songs that talk about betrayal (in the subgenre sofrência) and ostentation influenced by funk.