If Mari Jasca’s music had to be associated with one color only, it would definitely be red. Red informs the visual identity of the two albums the Brazilian multiartist released thus far: Doce Deleite (a joint album with Diego Jascalevich) and Disparada, both of 2024. Red is the color of the lipstick she often wears, and, of course, Jasca’s music and life story have everything to do with the obvious associations made with the colour red: passion, fire, intensity, womanhood, and, of course, her progressive Latinidad.
In a moment when Brazilian music is finally making amends with its Latin American identity (a condition often obscured by the country’s linguistic isolation), Jasca stands as the kind of artist who makes Brazilians wonder why it took so long to recognize themselves as Latinos. In her music, Brazilian-crafted genres mesh effortlessly with rhythms born in the country’s neighbours. She rotates between singing in Portuguese and Spanish. It all sounds like a very natural mixture, and to her, it really is.
For Jasca, Latin America is not just an aesthetic reference: it runs in her blood. Born in Brazil of Argentine descent, her discovery as a “cantautora” (female singer-songwriter) is rooted in her love for music from Brazil and neighbouring countries.
“The Latin American song is a very important part of my [artistic] construction,” she tells PopMatters, referring to an ideal of what Latin songwriting practices are rather than to one specific song. Jasca embraces her own hybridity with humor and warmth. “From each sound layer to the song’s speech, I built every little thing with sincerity and attention to detail. I used to be afraid that it would make a [big, confusing] salad… but then I realized I actually love salad!,” she laughs.
Speaking of wild blends, Mari Jasca embodies one herself: besides being an independent singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, she is also an actress and circus performer. As she talks to PopMatters, she is in Mexico, where she divides her time between recording her next album (which will be mainly sung in Spanish) and attending as many female singer-songwriter concerts as she can. “It’s been an injection of hope to see these concerts selling out and seeing people singing songs by women who are so potent in their role of changing the world.” Among favorite songs by female musicians inspiring her lately, she cites Kali Uchis, Susana Baca, Omara Portuondo, and Concha Buika.
All these influences are felt in Jasca’s first solo album, whose title brings to mind one of the biggest classics of the Brazilian songbook: Jair Rodrigues’ “Disparada”. It may not be a direct reference, but if Rodrigues starts his song by singing “Prepare your heart for the things I am about to tell you”, Jasca opens the album dramatically too, in “Nem um passo atrás”, singing: “I thank my ancestors and so many others for paving the way here (…) / I thank the doulas, saints, and whores.”
There’s a flamenco flair to the song, but as the record unfolds, Jasca’s red musicality can be described with genre names born in Latin America: “No me llores más” is funk and salsa; “Fueguitos” is bolero; “Ladeira do Castro” is forró. The lyrics are political, feminist-driven, and bold, even if sometimes in ways that are too literal and social media-wasted (“A hot woman was not born to take care of a husband” / “Single women, can I hear an amen?”).
To Jasca, these lyrics and sounds are a counterpoint to the music market’s needs. “These are hard times for the song. The so-called “market” doesn’t seem to demand much depth, but I believe our jobs as artists aren’t just about delivering what people want or expect from us. We have a huge responsibility and a real opportunity, collectively, to collaborate in transforming realities that are increasingly stifled in the current Brazilian scenario, which resonates within me with greater force thanks to the union with other artists from Latin America.”
She speaks with the experience of an artist who not only lives and consumes Latin American art, but also has been across the world: she’s toured Germany, France, and Italy, and in Brazil she was the opening act for big names like Alceu Valença and Lenine. With performances that combine contortionism and music in many genres and languages, Mari Jasca bends not only her body but also the very boundaries of sound and identity, always in search of the perfect song.
