Google Doodle celebrates Brazilian singer and songwriter Noel Rosa’s 109th birthday on December 11, 2019. Noel Rosa was also known as the “Poeta da Vila” (Poet from Vila), who gave a new twist to samba.

Noel de Medeiros Rosa was a Brazilian songwriter, singer, and guitar/mandolin player. Perhaps the best name in Brazilian popular music, Noel gave a new twist to samba, joining its Afro-Brazilian roots with a more urban, witty language and making it a vehicle for satirical social commentary.

Noel Rosa’s observational and comedic style earned him an extraordinary place throughout the entire existence of samba, the popular music of the Brazilian individuals.

Born into a middle-class family of the Vila Isabel neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro on this day in 1910, Noel Rosa experienced childhood in a musical family. He began playing the mandolin at age 13 and soon learned the guitar too.

An accident with a forceps at his birth caused a disfigured chin. Noel Rosa learned to play the mandolin while still, a young person and soon proceeded onward to the guitar. Despite the fact that Noel began medication studies, Noel Rosa gave a large portion of his consideration regarding music and would spend entire nights in bars drinking and playing with other samba musicians.

A gifted student, Noel Rosa entered medical school in 1931. Nonetheless, when he needed to pick between medication and music, Rosa’s decision became clear. Rosa gave his energy to composing music and made his own style of samba by mixing clever lyrics in with unpredictable twists and crossing over any barrier between rustic Afro-Brazilian conventions and the sound of urban nightlife.

Noel Rosa had his achievement with “Com que roupa?,” which got one of the greatest hits in 1931 in Brazil and the first of numerous memorable songs. With his songwriting partner Vadico, he additionally composed a series of popular compositions, for example, “Feitiço da Vila” (“Witchcraft of the Villa”) and “Feitio de Oração” (“In the Form of a Prayer”).

Composing around 260 songs over a time of eight years, Noel Rosa set up a body of work that has stayed prominent right up ’til the present time. His legacy lives on in the hearts of cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro) and samba lovers around the globe.