Bruxa Cósmica Connects the Dancefloor with Ballroom in "Vogue Club": Drawing inspiration from the underground, vogue, and her personal life, the artist's first EP encourages resistance layered over beats.
Text and interview by Pedro Paulo Furlan.
Photography by Beatriz Metidieri
São Paulo, 2 PM. Singer, songwriter, rapper, and one of the most acclaimed performers in the Brazilian underground scene, Bruxa Cósmica sat with Vetor on the afternoon of the last holiday, July 9, to talk about her first project, the EP "Vogue Club." Situated on a day celebrating the Constitutionalist Revolution, Bruxa proposes a new revolution during our conversation, one led by LGBTQIA+ bodies.
With 9 years of experience in ballroom culture—a subculture organized by Black and Latinx LGBT people, centered around vogue battles and familial relationships within houses—Victórya Gabrielle, Bruxa Cósmica’s legal name, emphasizes the importance of resistance in her art.
"I found myself in vogue—a safe space of freedom and autonomy—because you build your own space," the artist says. "So, my music, the lyrics, are very much about these experiences of self-care and autonomy."
Photography by Beatriz Metidieri
From Vogue to Club
“We spent two years preparing the demos,” says Bruxa Cósmica about the EP “Vogue Club,” noting that the project was born from “a combination of Lohas bringing this totally metal reference and Lym [Dot] bringing this genuine club research,” citing the two main producers involved.
With six tracks, "Vogue Club" mixes the various experiences, lives, and sounds that Bruxa Cósmica has encountered. From the ballroom scene in Rio to underground party stages like Mamba Negra, and through her self-understanding as a trans person, Victórya tells her own story of resistance and celebration over beats that include jersey club, techno, funk, vogue beat, and Latin influences.
After establishing herself within the ballroom scene, the artist realized her need to explore her own musicality. "Vogue reignited this space of creating the full show, creating the full performance," she tells me.
Deciding to release her own music, Bruxa approached producer Lym Dot, creator of the BRUK collective, which involved big underground names like BADSISTA and EVEHIVE. Creative partners since 2020, the artist and producer blend their sonic research, drawing inspiration from each other.
Even embracing Lym Dot's club sound, the singer felt that her first project still needed another element—and that's where producer Lohas came in. Part of a metal band, as well as a DJ, Lohas completed the puzzle for Bruxa Cósmica: "I approached him in this other aspect of mine that is rock, more instrumental alternative, not just electronic music."
“I wanted to talk about the reality I’ve been building, not just in vogue, which was where I started, which opened me up, but mainly about the parties—and then produce music I’d like to hear at parties.”
Known in the underground scene for her performances at major parties, the artist states that these environments served as central inspirations for “Vogue Club,” bringing the sound of her DJ and producer friends into her own project. Additionally, the parties also combined with vogue in the experiences she recounts in her lyrics.
Photography by Beatriz Metidieri
“It’s about freedom, which I like to compose about.”
When we discussed the composition of "Vogue Club," I pointed out the similarities between Bruxa's and Linn da Quebrada's composition styles, especially in her latest album "Trava Línguas" (2021)—in response, the artist listed some of her Brazilian inspirations, including Linn herself.
"I think Linn and I share this closeness of talking about freedom, pointing out religious doctrine, pointing out silent violence, so I identify a lot with her in that space, in writing, in narrative," says Bruxa Cósmica. Citing singer and songwriter Ventura Profana as someone close to her composition style, the artist emphasizes the importance of identifying with other trans people.
“They’re trans people, right? I believe it’s also about that, about the freedom of identity, of behavior, which I also like to compose about.”
Identifying as a non-binary person aligned with femininity, hence the she/her pronouns throughout the text, Victórya reports that it was her experiences as a trans person or alongside other trans people that inspired her to compose the EP tracks.
“It was really an outburst, especially ‘Asfixia,’ which came from violence I suffered on the street, with another trans person—together in this space I went to defend him, I also got beaten,” Bruxa explains, referring to the rhyme: “I might get beaten here, resisting your prejudice, your violence, but I won’t leave here.”
Raised in the church, where she began singing, Bruxa Cósmica also tells me that the EP was born as a way to reclaim this art that was born in a repressive space and bring it to a place of freedom.
“Creating perspectives of freedom, of acceptance […] inspires me a lot to compose, inspires me to talk about this so that people who come from where I came from, who feel what I feel.”
Extending her critique to all religious organizations, the artist points out that her fight is “against manipulation,” against “this capitalist religious system, which uses the name of a god to manipulate and ensure people stay there, in fear, with trauma.”
Photography by Beatriz Metidieri
“I Am One and Many”
Born in the interior of Minas Gerais, Victórya Gabrielle first understood herself as a lesbian woman—a perspective that changed throughout her life, with her relationships with other trans people—and she has faced resistance against her identity from a young age.
Looking for welcoming spaces, the artist found ballroom in 2015, delving into this world after discovering its history intertwined with the LGBTQIA+ community. Bruxa even became the mother of her own house (groups of people who come together to compete in balls), the Casa de Cosmos, which included Organzza, the first winner of Drag Race Brasil.
“In my first music videos, I made my own clothes, my set design, all my covers, I had photographers, friends, who stuck around. Organzza, before being the crowned Organzza, made my ‘Witch Cxnt’ outfit.”
In 2017, the artist joined the House of Xtravaganza, known for its various participations in pop culture, being sponsored by José Xtravaganza, known mainly for choreographing Madonna's “Vogue”—a few years later, José was the protagonist of a special moment in Bruxa’s career.
“After that, in 2020, before the pandemic broke out, at the ball, José came up with the idea of naming me as Legendary Princess and I didn’t expect it,” she says. “And that’s a title that also speaks about representation, being a house leader, on another continent.”
Over these 9 years, Bruxa Cósmica has also become one of the main performers in the Brazilian underground cycle. Performing at parties like Mamba Negra and Lâmina, Bruxa built her legacy—even becoming part of the band Teto Preto, founded by Laura Diaz, also the founder of Mamba Negra.
Ending our conversation, Bruxa reveals that she is no longer officially part of Teto Preto, announcing that she will participate in a few more shows, but will soon step away to focus on her solo career. For her, this moment also symbolizes something, a break from the known, the comfortable, towards new opportunities.
“It’s a choice that’s not easy, to give up these places that are somewhat comfortable, but I want to give myself fully.”