Chiclete com Banana
High-octane Brazilian carnival anthems driven by distorted guitars and massive percussion. The sound of half a million people dancing behind a sound truck.
High-octane Brazilian carnival anthems driven by distorted guitars and massive percussion. The sound of half a million people dancing behind a sound truck.
Chiclete com Banana is the sonic equivalent of a heatwave in Salvador. It is massive, unrelenting, and designed for the scale of the Trio Elétrico, the giant sound trucks that define Brazilian street carnival. The music is built on a foundation of heavy, syncopated percussion that forces movement, topped with electric guitar riffs that lean surprisingly close to rock and roll. It is a sound that doesn't just fill a room; it fills a city block.
What makes them distinctive is the 'Chicleteiro' culture they've cultivated. Their music is characterized by a specific vocal grit and a songwriting style that favors massive, repetitive hooks designed for thousands of people to shout back in unison. While other Axé acts might lean into pop or pure samba, Chiclete maintains a certain 'rock-axé' edge, using distorted guitars to cut through the wall of drums, creating a texture that is both gritty and celebratory.
To understand the phenomenon, start with their live recordings or the 2003 hit 'Chiclete na caixa, banana no cacho'. These tracks capture the raw energy of their performances. It is music for the peak of the party, for the hottest day of the year, and for any moment where you need to feel the collective power of a crowd in motion.
Chiclete com Banana (Portuguese for "chewing gum with banana") is an Axé music band, currently consisting of Bell Marques, Wadinho Marques, Rey, Waltinho Cruz, Deny and Lelo. The group is named after the very well known and influential song "Chiclete com Banana", written by Gordurinha (Waldeck Artur Macedo; 1922–1969) and Almira Castilho, which was first recorded in 1959 by Brazilian popstar Jackson do Pandeiro and by dozens of performers, including Gilberto Gil. The group has sold more than 8 million album copies. Chiclete com Banana released its first album, called Estação Das Cores (1983) and Traz os montes, in 1983, and is regarded as one of the most successful bands of the Axé music genre in Brazil. Chiclete rose to fame in Bahia in the 1980s like other axé bands and artists (among them the famous Ivete Sangalo). Today, Chiclete is one of the most popular and expensive micaretas during Carnaval in Bahia, although they perform throughout Brazil all year. Their performance can cost R$400.000 for 2.5 hours of show (about $100,000 USD) or more during Carnaval in Salvador. They usually have anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 people walking along their sound truck (or Trio Elétrico). This is divided in about 5,000 – 10,000 people inside the "ropes" who bought the abadás, special shirts that everyone wears. The band has its own Trio Elétrico named Tyrannosaurus Rex 2000-2009 and Rex Skydome 2010-2013.
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