The winner of the Grammy Award for “Revelation Artist” and young jazz star Samara Joy was announced, this Tuesday (7), as the attraction of a festival in São Paulo, which will take place in May.
Joy gained the attention of the Brazilian public this Sunday (5) by winning the main music award in the category that competed with singer Anitta. Fans of the Brazilian pop star launched a wave of hateful comments on the jazz musician’s social media.
Samara will come to Brazil for the first time to participate in the C6 Fest, which takes place between the 19th and 21st of May at Parque Ibirapuera, in the capital of São Paulo.
Organizers have yet to reveal which day the 23-year-old singer will perform on. Values and ticket sales information have also not been announced so far.
In addition to Samara, the C6 Fest has already confirmed the performances of São Paulo singer Tim Bernardes – who will perform a show in honor of Gal Costa, who died in November last year – and American singer Weyes Blood.
Attacks on social networks
The American singer Samara Joy, who was awarded this Sunday night (5) as “Revelation Artist” at the Grammy Awards, received a wave of criticism and insults in the comments of her Instagram profile – mostly from fans of Anitta, who also competed in the category. .
In response, another group of Brazilians went to the young jazz star’s profile, apologizing and congratulating her on her victory.
As soon as the Recording Academy, which organizes the award, published together with Samara’s account about the victory, the “Anitters” began to comment saying that she “stole”, that “she will never be Anitta” and even raised the possibility to “take down the account” by reporting the profile.
“Who is this?”, “What hole did that come from?”, “All Samara’s streams do not give the number of streams of Anitta’s worst song”, “Justice for Anitta”, are some of the comments that emerged.
Racist comments were also made, with some newly created anonymous pages with few followers commenting on monkey emojis on Samara’s profile.
The wave of hostility against the jazz singer moved another group of Brazilians, who hours later went to Instagram to make comments celebrating Samara’s victory and apologizing for the hatred received.
“Passing by to apologize for some Brazilians who are making terrible comments. Some of us are like that, they don’t know how to lose. Congratulations on your achievement!”, wrote one user, in Portuguese.
“What a bunch of clueless people coming here to attack an artist of Samara’s greatness, have the slightest respect even for the artist” that you say deserves an award that he did not win “, added another.
Jazz and TikTok Star
Born in 1999 in the Bronx, New York, Samara comes from a musical family. Her grandparents founded the gospel group The Savettes, her father Andraé Crouch played bass in the band of seven-time Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Andraé Crouch.
Eventually, the young woman followed the family tradition, first singing in church and, years later, joining a jazz band at Fordham High School for the Arts.
Her passion for jazz took shape when she started to study the genre at the State University of New York (SUNY), in the city of Purchase.
As of 2019, she begins to be recognized, winning jazz competitions and performing with the best known artists of the genre, such as bassist Christian McBride and pianist Bill Charlap.
In 2021, while graduating from college, she recorded her debut album “Samara Joy” released on Whirlwind Records.
That year, she began to be more recognized on social media, such as TikTok, by posting videos of her performances and recording reactions from other artists. For example, a publication in October 2021 reached 1.3 million views.
@samarajoysings #Jazz #midnightsun #jazztok #ellafitzgerald ♬ original sound – Samara Joy
Currently, Samara has more than 217 thousand followers on TikTok and more than 2.4 million accumulated likes. The numbers helped spur her to tour the US and Europe.
“I think maybe people can relate to the fact that I’m not faking it, that I already feel part of it. Maybe I can reach people in person and on social media because it’s real, ”said the singer in the biography available on her website.
Last year, with a band formed by her former SUNY professors, Samara released the album “Linger Awhile”, on Verve Records, which earned her two Grammy nominations this year.
The album received critical acclaim. For example, the New York Times claimed that the singer helps jazz take a youthful turn, while NPR called her “a new generation’s classic jazz singer.”
Before this Sunday’s televised ceremony began, she had already celebrated winning “Best Jazz Vocal Album”. Hours later, Samara became the first jazz artist to win the revelation category since Esperanza Spalding, in 2011.
Upon receiving the award from last year’s winner, singer Olivia Rodrigo, Samara Joy declared while holding back tears: “I can’t believe it. I have watched you on television for so long.”
“Being here with you… born and raised in the Bronx, New York, my family is here. I sang all my life. My grandparents, my father. Thank you so much for this honor, thank you to everyone who listens and supports me,” she added.
“Being here, just being myself, being who I was born, I’m so grateful,” she concluded.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
