I knew it was going to happen, says Junior Lima about the publicity photo in which he appears almost naked

It was during the pandemic period that Junior Lima was convinced that he wanted to make pop music. The decision came after some time away from the instruments and the microphone, without even hearing anything. After a nudge from his father, singer Xororó, he reassembled his studio.

“During this period, I distanced myself from music. My father sent me one and said: ‘Listen, play around, see what you think’. I wasn’t listening to anything, I wasn’t playing, I moved, I started putting on some different noises, synthesizers , pulsing some keyboards and I liked it”, he says, in an interview with F5.

Junior cheered up. He opened the computer, set up some easels, placed a board on top and the computer, and, voilà, he reassembled the studio. He started producing and creating nonstop and says he doesn’t care who finds his musical turn strange. “Pop can be different [de as pessoas associarem a mim], but the change was natural. Above all, I want to fulfill myself.”

“I remember the first feeling of opening the computer and seeing that blank screen, thinking: ‘Okay, where do I start, what is that sound?'”. He quickly got the hang of it and, in a short time, he had composed 54 songs, 23 of which made up the artist’s first solo album.

The first part premiered in October 2023, and the second arrives on digital platforms on Thursday (23). On Wednesday night (22), he will do a benefit audition for the victims of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul at the Audio concert hall, west of São Paulo.

One of his favorite singles is “Seus Planos”, which stirred social media due to a photo in which the singer appears partially naked.

Junior states that, with 35 years of career, the photo is “just another way” of being naked for the public, since, he guarantees, he feels exposed with the work he presents to his fans. He’s not stupid or anything and he knew, however, that the buzz generated by his near-nudity would attract attention.

[Pensei] ‘A business like this will cause a cause’, I combined the useful with the pleasant”, he admits. “People are consuming everything all the time, [então é um jeito de] you can say ‘Oops, pay attention, I have a job here’.”

Having just completed 40 years of life, he says he feels his age in a different way, as he started working very early. For some things, she has the disposition of a 55-year-old; in others, a post-adolescent.

“Time is a little distorted in my perception. I feel a greater maturity, things that bothered me, distressed me or made me restless, have settled down a little in recent years. The pandemic has forced us to deal with so many things, with so many thoughts, I brought another daughter into the world.”

Despite growing up exposed, Junior says he doesn’t regret the career built alongside Sandy since he was four years old, but says he wouldn’t let his children embark on it today. He is the father of Otto, 7, and Lara, 3, the result of a 10-year relationship with model Monica Benini.

The singer realizes that the family, as well as the former duo, “held the wave well” compared to former child artists — which does not mean that there were no consequences.

“There is no comparison between the 1990s and 2024, everything is different, and they did everything they could to protect us. I have been doing analysis, religiously, since I was 21 years old, I don’t lose it at all, it is fundamental for my health mental. There are issues that I have to work on, deal with, I’ve had a depression phase, a panic phase. I don’t talk much because I tend to withdraw into myself in those moments.

He also cites as essential for mental health the strong presence of his mother, Noely, and his father, Xororó, in addition to the fact that the parents are not economically dependent on the two – which often ends up generating demands and frustration in the relatives of prodigy children, like Sandy & Junior.

“I don’t even want to romanticize this, but my mother gave up her life, and that wasn’t free, it came at a cost, as she gave up everything, but she put our feet on the ground while everything around us tends to take it off the ground”, he recalls.

“We loved doing that. Throughout our childhood, until we became adults, our money was just saved, and my father continued to be the one who supported the family. I didn’t have this idea, my relationship with money happened as I understood that money started to occupy a place as a consequence of my work. And it’s a great privilege in our country to be able to say that, I’m completely aware of that nowadays.”