Iza, Anitta and Marina Sena spark Brazil’s reggae renaissance

Iza, Anitta and Marina Sena are helping turn reggae into a visible pop movement in Brazil, not a side current tucked away for roots purists. The timing could hardly be sharper: May 11 is Dia Nacional do Reggae, a date set by federal law in 2012 to honor Bob Marley, and the genre is suddenly showing up in the same conversations as Brazil’s biggest pop names.

A new Globo/Quaest study places reggae as Brazil’s penultimate favorite music genre, ahead of only the lowest-ranked category in the report. That may not sound like a chart-topper, but in a country that already consumes reggae heavily, it is a sign of real depth. Brazil was described in 2023 as the second biggest reggae consumer in the world, and that scale helps explain why pop artists now see room to move the music farther into the mainstream.

Iza has been the clearest face of the shift. In recent interview coverage, she said she is happy that “everyone is very connected to reggae” and said she plans to make a full reggae album. That comment lands differently when stacked against what she was already doing last year. In September 2025, Iza said her reggae phase “started, but took a while to begin” and that the style has been with her “since always.” She then took that idea to a bigger stage at The Town 2025, where her reggae-focused set included Olodum, Toni Garrido and Célia Sampaio.

The wave is not limited to Iza. MC Cabelinho’s 2025 track “Rastafari” and songs from the project Dominguinho have also fed the momentum, while Marina Sena and Anitta extend reggae’s reach into Brazil’s pop lane. Guilherme Guedes, the Multishow presenter, said the renewed interest reflects cyclical musical trends and a broader search for more organic or spiritual sounds. That makes sense in a market where reggae has never fully disappeared, even when it was not getting the loudest spotlight.

The revival is also dragging the elders back into frame. Another recent Globo report said the new surge is restoring attention to Edson Gomes and Célia Sampaio, two names that have long anchored the genre’s Brazilian story. That matters because this moment is not just about crossover polish; it is also about reconnecting the pop audience to the artists who built the lane in Bahia, Maranhão, Rio de Janeiro and beyond. If Iza, Anitta and Marina Sena keep pulling listeners in, Brazil’s reggae story could move from durable subculture to exportable mainstream again.