Liniker

Liniker de Barros Ferreira Campos (Araraquara, 3 July 1995), widely known as Liniker, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and former bandleader for Brazilian soul and Black music band Liniker e os Caramelows. Her voice has been described as 'powerful and low-pitched' with a 'slightly raspy, soul-singer' character as well as 'versatile' with a 'recurrent falsetto' and 'easily recognisable timbre', with occasional comparisons arising towards Tim Maia. Liniker is an openly trans woman, and her music is an influence on young Brazilians facing gender discrimination, an audience which 'rarely finds itself represented in Brazilian music'. Liniker reports how she always wanted to wear her mother's clothes: 'I was OK with myself, the city was the problem...when I came back to Araraquara, I thought I'd show them who I really was [by wearing a dress with lipstick and earrings on]. This is when my uncle confronted me, he wanted to know what was going on and gave me one of his clothes to wear so I would learn "how to dress like a man", to which I thanked but said I wasn't taking it. And then my mother said, "Let Liniker be, he's an artist."' In 2014, she relocated to Santo André to pursue drama school, where she was encouraged by rapper Linn da Quebrada to come out as trans and start wearing her signature skirts-lipstick-turban look on a regular basis. (formerly Os Caramelows, a play on words with 'caramel' and 'mellow') with friends. Songs are entirely written by Liniker.

The video for the single Zero from EP Cru (Raw) went viral on YouTube, receiving 1.5 million views in the space of a week. In 2016, the band released Remonta (Reassembling). They began touring around Brazil as well as internationally,

The band describe their music as new Brazilian Black music or "funzy" (a 'nearly indescribable fusion'), highlighting Black music's deep influence throughout Latin America. In Goela Abaixo, elements of Caribbean and African music, as well as verses in English and Spanish are noticeable. In it, Liniker affirms her body as 'political' and exhibits global ambitions as a representative of the African diaspora. She won the category Melhor Álbum de Música Popular Brasileira (Best MPB Album) for her first solo album Indigo Borboleta Anil, which mixes lyrics in English and Portuguese languages and incorporates elements of MPB, R&B, Soul, Jazz, Reggae, beyond Samba. In her speech, she got emotional and highlighted that something historical happened in her country that day.

Partnership with Johnny Hooker and Flutua

In 2017, Liniker partnered up with Brazilian singer Johnny Hooker on single Flutua (It Floats). The single cover features both singers French kissing. The song is a cry from the heart against homophobia in Brazil. As the lyrics go: 'No one will have the power / to want to tell us how to love.'

Views on queer rights

When asked if she had a message for conservative people who are against birth control, abortion and gay people, Liniker replied: 'It's my body. I am free to do what I want with it. If I have this entireness, how come you want to stick your nose in it? Who do you think you are to lay down the rules I am supposed to follow? To each their own, to each body its history.'