The controversial Brazilian singer Anitta has reportedly been unfollowed by 200,000 of her fans after releasing a new music video about her religion.
But this has barely made a dent in the 31-year-old singer’s 64.8 million-strong army of followers on Instagram after she made the announcement on Monday, 13th May.
The new song, called ‘Aceita’, is shot entirely in black and white and has notched up over 1.24 million views in just one day on YouTube after it was released on Tuesday evening.
It focuses on her religion Candomble, which is an Afro-Brazilian religion that came about in 19th-century Brazil, with traditions imported from the African religions of enslaved West Africans having to adapt to a slave colony where Roman Catholicism was predominant.
After receiving criticism about the clip, the singer said: “If in other videos we just shook our asses and talked dirty, in this one we can get goosebumps or even get emotional.”
After losing 200,000 fans, she said on social media, while releasing the clip: “Yesterday, when I announced the release of this clip, I lost more than 200,000 followers in less than 2 hours.
“I’ve already talked about my religion countless times, but it seems that leaving an artistic work in my catalogue forever was too much for those who don’t accept that other thinks differently.”
She added: “I believe that religions are rivers that flow into the same place: God, the supreme intelligence. I don’t believe in heaven and hell, I don’t believe in the devil…
“I believe that we all have the power to manifest the divine and when I receive messages of rejection and religious intolerance, I don’t feel divine energy emanating towards me, I feel the opposite energy. I have faith, I have no fear.”
Anitta also said: “My new clip brings images of various types of beliefs. I have a deep passion for different manifestations of faith, and different ways of connecting with the spirit.
“In none of them do I feel that when we die we will be punished and judged, I feel that we are going to where we are vibrating the same frequency as my spirit.
“And here, in this life, my commitment to myself is to vibrate at the highest frequency of light that I can.”
Anitta added: “That’s why I don’t wish to punish or judge any of the people who attack me right now for exposing my religion. I wish them to follow the path of evolution.”
She said that the situation was very much ‘to each their own’, adding: “Each in their own time. If we continue demanding that others think the same as you, if we continue with intolerance, if we don’t learn to give up one thing or another in the name of peace, finding a middle ground, our world will end at war, killing each other to be right at the end of the argument. Maybe they even forget how the argument started.”
She explained her religion, saying: “My religion worships the elementals of nature (the ones that human beings, with each passing day, forget the importance of).
“They fight so hard to be right in everything, but they are unable to value the obvious, their home, the ground they walk on, which gives you food and drink. Today nature demands a position from us, but everyone is too busy arguing about who is right, instead of worshipping our greatest asset, the home that God gave us.”
Anitta added: “For those of you who like my work, I hope you enjoy this clip that was made with a lot of love, as well as my entire new album.
“We are here living in the material world and the biggest secret in life is finding the balance between spirit and matter.”
