At the beginning of the sixties the Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor wrote, against the stream of Bossa Nova, two magnificent hits: Mas Que Nada and Chove Chuva, songs that, in America and Europe, were popularized by Sergio Mendes. He is considered one of the most popular Brazilian artists of all time, who didn’t only successfully interpret other people’s song, but also presented a pleasant mix of jazz, bossa nova rhythms and soft-pop melodies with his band Brazil ’66. At 65, he owes his come-back to rapper Will.i.am of the urban pop collective Black Eyed Peas. For Mendez’ new album Timeless the rapper reworked the old bossa and samba repertoire, with upbeat contributions of nu soul and hiphop stars like Erykah Badu, Stevie Wonder and John Legend. Under Will.i.am’s reign Henry Mancini’s Slow Hot Wind became That Heat and Mas Que Nada was transformed into a hiphop bossa nova.
