“Vai Malandra” (go on, cheeky girl) is Anitta's 2017 return to her roots in funk carioca, with MC Zaac and the American singer Maejor. The song celebrates a confident woman on the dance floor; “malandra” is the feminine of malandro, Rio's archetypal street-smart charmer.
Its video, filmed on the hillside of Vidigal in Rio, got attention for showing ordinary bodies without retouching — and for putting a favela at the centre of a pop video. It set YouTube records in Brazil on release.
The Portuguese is fast and full of Rio slang and funk calls. Learn the key words first; the commands (vai, desce, sobe) carry much of the song.