Colorido

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Colorido (Portuguese for "colorful") was a Brazilian youth subculture that flourished around 2010, centered on the pop-rock music genre known as Happy Rock. The movement, pioneered by the band Restart, emerged as a deliberate, more optimistic alternative to the darker and more melancholic themes of the preceding emo scene.

The aesthetic is defined by its androgynous and extremely vibrant fashion, with the most iconic garment being brightly colored skinny jeans in shades of red, yellow, green, and blue, often with each band member wearing a different color. This was paired with customized t-shirts, statement sunglasses, and a signature hairstyle featuring long, straight, and often colorful dyed bangs. The subculture was heavily promoted through Brazilian teen media, such as MTV Brasil and Capricho magazine, and became a massive, though short-lived, phenomenon among adolescents in the country.

Visual[]

The visual aspects of happy rock include elements associated with youth culture, such as the look of notebooks from Tilibra (a famous Brazilian brand of school supplies) in the 2000s, which can be seen on the debut album of the girl band Lipstick (considered precursors to phenomenon), as well as textures of notebook pages and sketches, commonly portrayed by Capricho magazine during this period and MTV Brasil vignettes, with influences from Hipness Purgatory and Frutiger Metro. At first, neutral colors such as black and white predominated, until the bands that would shape the movement began with an "explosion of colors" that encompassed various shades of vibrant colors.

Fashion[]

Happy rock fashion encompasses clothing and accessories with:

Short-sleeved/V-neck t-shirts with graphic designs (ex. cartoon characters)
Leather jackets and zippered coats
Colorful skinny jeans
Lace-up sneakers (mainly from the Nike brand) and All Stars
Glasses, bangles and accessories of various colors
Makeup and nails in various colors
Eyeliner
Hair with bangs, usually colored or spiked at the back
Occasionally caps, headbands, scarves and fingerless gloves

History[]

Happy rock began at the end of the 2000s (more precisely in 2009), when pop-rock and power pop artists such as Restart, Cine, Hori and Replace began to emerge in the media, gaining many young fans and visibility on MTV Brasil.

With their popularity on the rise, many of these young people joined the movement that would become known as Coloridos ("Colorful(s)" in Portuguese), which in turn was popularized and consolidated in Brazil by the band Restart. This style emerged as a counterpoint to the previous subculture of the time, emo, which prevailed in the country between 2005 and 2008 and was inspired by scene bands such as All Time Low, BrokeNCYDE, Boys Like Girls, Forever the Sickest Kids and Danger Radio. However, despite the positive fame that the new style had, happy rock was harshly criticized by some Brazilian rock artists for its exaggerated look and which for many did not match rock due to its lyrics with very optimistic themes, so much so that many of them did not considered it to be part of the genre, but "pop boy bands with guitars".

Happy rock reached its decline between 2011 and 2012 when Restart began to saturate the media with the sale of various products and an increasingly exaggerated look of the style's previous proposal. This was seen as something very commercial rather than musical and the large popularity of Restart caused many rock artists and bands who were on the rise to be increasingly overshadowed by them. Another reason that brought happy rock to an end were also the prejudiced speeches made by Thomas D'Ávila (Restart drummer) regarding the Amazonas, in which he stated that there was no exists civilization in the state. This was enough for the band's image to be tarnished and for many artists to stop sharing stages with them.

Media[]

Film/Television[]

MTV Brasil media (2009-2011)
Comédia MTV (2010-2012)
Vida de Garoto (2010)
Malhação (1995-2020)
Os Under-Undergrounds (2016-2021)

Literature[]

Turma da Mônica Jovem (2008-present)
Luluzinha Teen e Sua Turma (2009-2015) (teen comic adaptation of Little Lulu)

Magazines[]

Capricho (1952-present)

Video Games[]

Orkut and Facebook games
BuddyPoke
Café Mania
Colheita Feliz
Craque Zero
MegaCity
Mini Fazenda
Pet Mania
Segredos do Mar
Vida Rock 1 & 2
Vila Mágica

Music[]

Happy rock music varies between pop rock, teen pop, power pop and neon pop punk, with lyrics and themes that express the joy and feelings of adolescence such as friendship, love and fun.