Céu

Céu emerged around the time of her 2005 debut as one of the Brazilian vocalists whose reach extended most readily beyond national borders, earning Grammy and Latin Grammy nods for Best New Artist while building audiences first across Europe and North America and later throughout Asia. Her phrasing fuses hallmark Brazilian subtlety and inflection with a light, faintly raspy alto, all set against an inventive blend that interweaves post-tropicalia samba, valsa, choro, soul, reggae, hip-hop, and jazz. Starting with the 2012 album Caravana Sereia Bloom, electronica began to appear more noticeably and grew increasingly central to both live performances and singles. The widely praised 2016 release Tropix united those ingredients with electro and jazz components, reinforcing her image as a forward-looking artist; the project received a Latin Grammy for Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album and four Prêmio Multisho honors in Brazil, including Album Recording of the Year.

Born Maria do Céu Whitaker Poças in São Paulo, she records and performs simply as Céu. In Portuguese the word céu denotes either sky or heaven according to context; the term derives from the Latin caelu and signifies the boundless space above, encompassing both the visible sky and the wider cosmos. She was raised in a musically immersed household where her father worked as a composer, arranger, and musicologist. Early on she absorbed the work of distinguished Brazilian composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazareth, and Orlando Silva, and by her teens she had resolved to become a singer. Rather than enrolling in college she pursued formal music study that included theory and mastery of the violão, the nylon-stringed guitar indigenous to Brazil.

At 18 Céu spent a period living in New York City, where she absorbed additional influences from classic jazz singers including Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald as well as contemporary R&B artists such as Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. During that time she became acquainted with fellow Brazilian musician Antonio Pinto, best known for the award-winning score to the film City of God (2002). After returning to Brazil and fronting several groups, she recorded her self-titled debut, produced chiefly by Beto Villares with assistance from Pinto. The album appeared in 2005 on Urban Jungle, a São Paulo label, in partnership with Ambulante Discos, Villares’ own imprint. Following success in portions of Europe, notably France and by extension French-speaking Canada, the project was licensed by Six Degrees, the San Francisco label recognized for its Brazilian catalog. Capitalizing on the attention surrounding the debut, Céu topped the World Albums Charts and placed inside the upper half of the Top 200, resulting in a 2006 Latin Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Her second album, Vagarosa, followed in early 2009. For 2012’s Caravana Sereia Bloom she partnered with producer Gui Amabis to overhaul her recording methods, drawing from earlier tropicalia while folding in Peruvian chicas, cumbias, reggae, and other elements to reshape her sound.

On 2016’s Tropix, Céu moved decisively into electronic territory with an expansive roster of singers and players. Co-produced by drummer/keyboardist Hervé Salters of General Elektriks and Pupillo, drummer for Naçao Zumbi, and recorded with vintage synthesizers, keyboards, and standard pop instrumentation, the set contains nine originals written by Céu plus one cover, the Fellini track “Chico Buarque Song.” Released worldwide in March, Tropix collected multiple awards in the United States and Brazil, spent 16 weeks on the Top 200, and reached number one for a week in April 2016, prompting an extensive round of international club dates. After the tour Céu stepped back when she and Pupillo had a son. Returning to the studio she reassembled the Tropix team, with Pupillo and Salters again co-producing and contributing instruments while Lucas Martins handled drums and Pedro Sá played guitar. Electronics remained central, yet the focus shifted to neo-psychedelia intertwined with funk and African rhythms. Issued as APKA!—a child’s exclamation of delight—the album contains nine original songs, among them the single “Forçar O Verão,” which merges dub, psychedelia, surf, and post-Afrobeat Nigerian pop, plus two commissioned covers: Caetano Veloso supplied “Pardo,” and Dinho of Boogarins wrote “Make Sure Your Head Is Above” in English at Céu’s request, with American guitarist Marc Ribot appearing as a guest. APKA! surfaced first in Brazil in 2019 and reached international markets in June 2020.