‘Malvadão 3’ Song in English (Xamã)
Learn English (and Portuguese) with music
*Content Warning: There are curse words (explicit language) in two languages below, including sexual references. Read at your own discretion.
Let’s start off with the rapper of this song, eh? Why not? A xamã, or “shaman”, has the same meaning in both Portuguese and English — a kind of tribal healer that at times uses supernatural or mystical means to cure illnesses. Okay, on to the lyrics!
Lyrics and Translation
Quando eu vi aquela bunda passando na minha frente
When I saw that ass passing by in front of me
When I saw that booty going by in front of me
Bunda is one of the most popular Portuguese/Brazilian words we know of in the English world. It is what we’d call “butt” or “booty” (“bum” is pretty common outside the US). But bunda usually has a more vulgar tone to it, just a bit stronger, so we might better translate it as “ass” — or “arse” in some accents.
Passar can be “to go by”, “to pass by”, or even “to pass” in this context of a person’s movement.
Eu viajei no movimento
I got lost in the movement
I got lost in your moves
In the way he uses it here, viajar or viajar em is similar to “to get lost in (something)”. For example, Viajar em seus olhos would be “Get lost in your/his/her eyes”.
Na hora, a minha mente passou
At the time, my mind thought
Right then, my mind went
Na hora is a cool expression that we can translate in a few ways, such as “at the time”, “at that point”, “right then”, “then and there”, and so on. I can’t tell if he’s saying minha mente passou (“passed in my mind” or “went through my mind”) or minha mente pensou (“my mind thought”). Either way, the meaning doesn’t change much.
When we want to express what someone said or thought, we can say “went”. For example: “Sarah went, ‘Are you crazy?’ and I went, I know she didn’t just call me crazy, so she went, ‘Uh, I can hear your thoughts, and yes, I did call you crazy.’” So here, we can say “went” because Xamã is about to explain his very deep thoughts ;)
Porra, de repente, imagina tudo dentro
Fuck, imagine putting it all inside
Shit, what if I could get all up in it
Damn, imagine being all in it
Yes, porra is one of the worst curse words known in all of Brazil. It has many meanings though, depending on the context. Here, it’s similar to an exclamation, like “Shit!” “Fuck!” or “Damn!”
De repente also has a couple different meanings. Used literally, it is like “suddenly” or “all of a sudden”. Here it’s used colloquially though, how we might say “maybe…”, “what if…” or “suppose…” in English.
His phrase imagina tudo dentro works amazingly in Portuguese, but is not so great in English since there aren’t any subjects. Who imagines? Imagine what? Inside of what? So, I had to add a few words to make sense of the sentence. I like “all up in it” since it’s something that a similar rapper might say in an English-language song.
Tudo dentro da loucura
All inside the madness
All up in the madness
Loucura can sometimes be translated as “craziness” too. I just prefer “madness” in this specific case. I guess because “craziness” sounds more like a mental state, while “madness” can be mental but also situational.
Tu deve ser a cura pro meu velho sofrimento
You must be the cure to my old suffering
You must be the cure for my old pain
We see this a lot in some informal Brazilian accents; the word tu (formal “you” in Brazil, informal in Portugal) is not conjugated correctly, which makes it turn informal — funny, right? For formal or “correct” Portuguese, at least in Portugal, you would say Tu deves ser… Normally in Brazilian Portuguese, this would be Você deve ser …
Sofrimento in this context could be thought of as “suffering” or “pain” (as in inner emotional pain).
Tu nem tem frescura, nem deve ser pura
You don’t even fuss, and you’re probably not the purest
You’re down to earth, and you’re probably not a saint
Normally in sentences where we say nem (isso), nem (aquilo), we would translate it as “neither (this thing), nor (that thing)”. Although, because of the way he framed the sentence, it sounds better without “neither, nor”. Also, it would sound a little too formal for this style of song.
Frescura is a great word, but strange to put into English. Someone with frescura can be “picky” — very specific about what they choose to do, what to eat, who they spend time with; they can be “fussy” — constantly whining, they complain a lot, it takes a lot to please this person; or they can even be “dainty” and “prissy” — don’t like to get dirty, don’t want to get their “hands wet”, worried about appearances and manners all the time. But even these words don’t exactly portray what frescura is. So we just have to make do.
Someone who doesn’t have frescura can be described as being “down to earth”.
Saying a person is “pure” isn’t always the best option. Words like “saint”, “holy”, “sanctified” or “saintly” express the idea a little better. Even calling a person an “angel” has a similar meaning to puro.
Mas ninguém é puro mesmo
But nobody’s pure anyway
But no one’s a saint anyway
“No one” and “nobody” do mean the same thing: ninguém. “Nobody” just sounds a little more conversational than the other. Much of the time, putting mesmo at the end of a negative sentence like this gives it a similar meaning to “anyway”. Like, Nem gostei dele mesmo would be “I didn’t like him anyway.”
Notice how he almost doesn’t pronounce the S in mesmo, so that it sounds more like “meh-mo”. This happens a lot in different Brazilian accents, especially in fast or casual speech.
Então viaja de avião
So you travel on a plane
So you take a flight
So you go and catch a plane
As you can see, there are several ways to express viajar de avião. “To travel on a plane/by plane”, “take a plane/flight”, or “catch a plane/flight” are some good options. Avião is an “airplane”, though we usually shorten it to “plane” in everyday speech. Some accents might say “aeroplane”, but this can sound more old-fashioned.
Mó princesa, mó pressão
A whole lot of princess, a whole lot of pressure
A princess for real, pressure for real
Mó is a cool slang word we hear a lot in informal Brazilian Portuguese. It’s so small and cute, but in English we would probably have to say “a whole lot of”, or “whole lotta” if you want to be casual. I also added “for real” as an option, since mó could be thought of as “really” or “very”, or even “super”.
Só vapo, vapo do malvadão, oh
Just splish and splash from the bad boy, oh
Just bap-bap from the baddest one, oh
It’s funny, vapo vapo reminds me of an Italianism used (at least in American English), “bada bing, bada boom”, made famous in mafia movies.
As an American, it’s kind of hard for me to understand what this means, but from what I could tell, it’s similar to saying “that’s it” or “it’s a wrap”. I also added “splish splash” just because it’s another random sound to use that could have a sexual connotation if you wanted it to — vapo vapo maybe has a sexual connotation sometimes? This is confusing, so help me out Brazil! Haha.
Malvado has a meaning like “bad boy” in English. Malvadão is an exaggeratedly bad guy, but we get the idea from simply saying he’s a “bad boy”. I think “baddest” is improper, and in correct English would be “worst”. Still, it is used in informal speech.
Malvada then would be “bad girl” or even “bad bitch” if you want to get explicit. Some other words you could use for a male malvado are “thug”, “gangster”, “G”, or “beast”, among others. All regional slang words, of course.
Ela joga beijo, faz carão
She throws a kiss, gives a look
She blows a kiss, does a pose
Fazer carão is similar to “giving a pose” or “striking a pose”. You could also say “giving a look”, or “giving that look” which makes it sound more interesting.
De quatro, de quatro, que tesão
On all fours, all fours, so horny
Bent over, bent over, so sexy
Of course, literally, de quatro means “on all fours”. In a sexual context, we usually say this like “bent over”, or when referring to the sexual position, you could say “doggy style”.
Que tesão you might have to translate like “so sexy” or “so hot”. You could also say “so horny” if you’re referring to your own feelings of desire, but it sounds kind of weird in this particular line.
Vai com calma, meu coração, oh
Slow down, my heart, oh
Not so fast, my heart (can’t take it), oh
Telling someone vai com calma is just like telling them “slow down” or “not so fast”. “Relax” and “take it easy” can be good options too in certain situations.
Since the full idea here is meu coração não aguenta, I added “my heart can’t take it” to make the phrase more complete. It’s not needed, though.
Quando viajei no tempo
When I went back in time
As I traveled through time
When I went through time
Normally, viajar no tempo refers to traveling into the past, so we would say this as to “go back in time”. “Travel through time” or “go through time” are also options.
Quando vi meu celular, tava com papo no um por cento
When I saw my cell phone, we were on one percent
When I looked at my phone, our talks were one percent
There are lots of ways to say celular in English, depending on the accent, the age of the speaker, and other factors. In the US, the most common ways to say it are “cell phone”, or simply “phone”. Other words you might hear are “cell”, “mobile”, “mobile phone”, or “celly”.
Papo in the slang sense often has the meaning of “a talk”, “conversation”, or “a chat” (all nouns). Saying something is on um por cento (one percent) would be saying that it’s very low, very weak, very slow. If we’re talking about an actual electronic device, you could say it has “low juice”, is “on low charge” or is “on E” if it has a low percentage.
Also, it’s common in many Portuguese accents and daily speech to cut the first syllable in estava (“to be” in the past imperfect tense) so it sounds like “tava”.
Tentei te ligar, me conectar
I tried to call you, to connect
I tried to call you, get on the line
Besides simply saying “connect”, the idea of connecting with someone by phone call can be “get on the line”, or also “get in touch”.
Nem sei mais qual mentira que eu invento
I don’t even know what lie to create anymore
I don’t know what other lies to come up with
Very interesting. So, we know that Não sei mais… is often translated as “I don’t know… anymore.” But when we say Nem sei mais…, this turns into “I don’t even know … anymore.”
Besides literally “inventing” something, inventar can also mean to “create” or “come up with” in a more figurative sense. Like, inventar desculpas is “come up with excuses”.
Daqui a pouco eu chego em casa
Soon, I’ll be at home
I’ll make it home in a bit
Daqui a pouco can mean something like “shortly”, “in a bit”, or “in a little while”. Basically, it’s another way to say “soon”. We can put these expressions at the beginning or end of the statement and it doesn’t change the meaning.
To “make it (somewhere)” is a more casual way to say that you arrived at a place. For example, “Did you make it (arrive) to New York?”
Se a janta tiver fria, tu deixa que eu esquento
If dinner is cold, leave it so I can warm it up
If my food is cold, you can let me heat it up
“Heat up” and “warm up” are both ways to express esquentar (and aquecer, for that matter). “Warm up” can also be used in the context of a physical or academic exercise.
It also seems like him talking about “heating up dinner” is sort of a sexual double-entendre or innuendo, you know? He wants to heat up her dinner, ooh!
I’m not 100% sure, but I think in correct Portuguese, we would say Se a janta estiver fria, since tiver comes from the verb “to have” while estiver comes from “to be”. If so, he’s probably just cutting the first syllable again, which happens all the time in words derived from estar. Remember, this is mostly in speech or informal writing.
Estar = tar ; está = tá ; estou = tou or tô ; estão = tão, etc.
E eu vou passar na tua casa
And I’ll go by your house
And I’ll stop by your place
Just like with tu, some Brazilian accents informally use the possessive teu and tua instead of seu and sua (used with você) to express “your”.
Often, people may say “place” when referring to a person’s house or place of residence. “Come over to my place” is the same as saying come to my house, apartment, and so on.
Pra dar um beijo na tia, Xamã é cem por cento
To give your aunt a kiss, Xamã is a hundred percent
To give a kiss to your auntie, Xamã keeps it one hundred
He’s probably talking about this girl’s actual “aunt”, even though tia is also a common term of endearment or familiarity used by younger people to talk to an older woman (usually 40s and up), or as a form of respect, similar to “ma’am”. Of course, some English speakers do say “auntie” when referring to an older woman out of respect, but this depends on the local culture.
“One hundred” and “a hundred” are the same, it’s just that “a hundred” is a lot more common in conversation. Also, to “keep it one hundred” is more of a slang expression related to hip-hop music that has a similar meaning to “staying authentic”, “being your whole self”, and “staying true to your ways”. I feel like Xamã either means something like this or that he is really top, really cool, the max, the best.
Viajei com ela fumando um balão
I traveled with her smoking some weed
We went on a trip, smoking on a blunt
We got high smoking on a joint
Viajar here could be “to travel”, but it probably has a more figurative meaning similar to “tripping off of (substance)” or “getting high”. I saw online that a balão is a certain type of joint used to smoke cannabis. Look guys, I don’t smoke, so I don’t know how to say this in English or if it even exists outside of Brazil (which I’m sure it does). But, to put it simply, we can call it “weed” (the cannabis itself), a “blunt”, or a “joint”.
Me sinto em outra dimensão
I feel like (I’m) in another dimension
When we use outro to describe a non-specific noun, this usually translates to “another”, which is just putting together “an” and “other”.
Coisa linda, não machuca o meu coração, oh
Pretty thing, don’t hurt my heart, oh
Pretty one, don’t break my heart, oh
Cara do crime, sou malvadão
The face of crime, I’m a bad boy
A criminal guy, I’m a thug
Since cara can mean both “face” and “guy/dude” in Portuguese, I decided to translate both options (it’s most likely “face” in this case, though).
Vapo, vapo na direção
Bap-boop in the direction
It’s a wrap, taking off
I’m pretty confused by this line. By “in the direction”, I assume he means that things are going his way, life is good, he’s on the move.
Vuco vuco no Civicão, oh
Tap-tap in the Honda Civic, oh
Getting it on in the Civic, oh
Vuco vuco from my understanding refers to having relations. Haha. “Tap tap” or “smack smack” seem like good translations to me since these sounds often correlate to sex in English too.
Also, I’m guessing he’s referring to a Honda Civic, or a car/truck when he says Civicão. It’s either a big Civic or he really likes this car to be saying -ão.
Deixa ela passar em câmera lenta
Let her go by in slow motion
Watch her pass by in slow motion
Até vagabundo se orienta
Even a deadbeat gets in line
She even makes a dog behave
Even a deadbeat would act right
Vagabundo usually means something like “deadbeat”, “bum”, or a “dog” in the sense of a man that goes around with different women and can’t be trusted. To be “put in line”, “act right”, “straighten up”, or “put in (person’s) place” are all good ways to translate orientar-se in the way it’s used here.
Musa do calçadão, aí todo o povo comenta
Muse of the sidewalk, so all the people talk
Muse on the promenade, so then everybody talks
“Muse” in English mostly refers to a woman, person, or any object that inspires creativity or gives motivation. A lot of the time in informal Portuguese, I feel like people use musa to simply refer to an attractive or stunning woman.
A calçadão can be anything from a “sidewalk” to a “walkway” or even a “boardwalk” or “promenade”. I love how people use aí to explain something that happens in sequence. We usually say this as “so”, “so then” or “and then”.
Comentar in this line probably doesn’t mean to literally “comment”. Maybe “make comments” is better, though we could simply say “talk” or even “gossip”.
No tempero dela tem pimenta
In her spice there’s pepper
There’s some pepper in her spice
Tempero can be thought of as “spice” or “seasoning” (“spice” sounds better in this context). “Pepper” is used for pimenta when talking about the vegetable (fruit?), but is usually used in the plural (peppers) when talking about food. We also say “chilies”, “chiles”, or “chili peppers” for certain kinds of peppers.
In the US, we mostly use “pepper” as the short form of “black pepper” (pimenta preta or pimenta-do-reino in Portuguese). For the sauce (molho de pimenta), we would say “hot sauce”.
Com todo respeito, mina
With all respect, girl
Chick, with all due respect
Com todo respeito is normally expressed as “with all due respect”, though this can be changed around. Mina could simply be “girl”.
Vem cá, mina = Come here, girl, or Vai ter muitas minas na festa = There will be lots of girls at the party.
In this case, “girl” isn’t talking about an actual underaged female, but a young woman. There are some other ways to say this, “chick” being a well-known example, but not used as much anymore.
Um marimbondo te mordeu e nessa bunda tem fermento
A wasp bit you and there’s some yeast in that ass
A wasp stung you and there’s yeast in those buns
Marimbondo is an insect found specifically in South America. Since it’s part of the wasp family, I just called it a “wasp”, which is the name for all vespas in English. On the same note, marimbondo is used by some to call wasps that aren’t technically in that species, just because they are so notorious in Brazil and all look similar.
He says mordeu (bit), which is a silly way to say that the wasp “stung” (picou) the lady. That’s because wasps and bees don’t usually bite people, but they sure do sting.
Like in Portuguese, “yeast” (fermento) is that stuff that makes bread rise. However, when talking about a woman having yeast (a fungal infection), things get a little weird. “Yeast in her buns” sounds better and funnier, since “buns” (a type of bread) is a fun term used to talk about butt cheeks in English.
Na hora, a minha mente pensou
At the time, my mind thought
Puta que pariu, mas que maluco marolento
Holy shit, you crazy stoner
What the fuck, I’m such a smoking fool
This is one of the funniest curse expressions in Portuguese. Literally, puta que pariu means “bitch that gave birth!” Translating, it might be better to say “holy shit/fuck”, “what the fuck/hell”, and “goddamn”, as a few examples.
I had to look this one up, but I think marolento is like someone under the influence of weed, or someone affected by being high on marijuana.
Words like “stoner” and “pothead” are good translations for this, although, as weed use becomes more common in the English world, these words start to feel more old-fashioned. There’s probably a cooler way to say it these days, but I’d have to ask some “potheads” first.
(Lyrics repeat…)
Ela diz que tesão não é crime
She says being horny’s not a crime
She says that lust is not a crime
Again, tesão(as an adjective) can be “horny”, or (as a noun) “desire”, “lust”, or “passion”.
E que o que eu gosto não me define
And that what I like doesn’t define me
And that I’m not defined by what I like
Yeah, pay attention to the different ways que (that) and o que (what) are used. That can get tricky.
Então vou botar minha blusa de time
So I’ll put on my team’s shirt
So I’ll throw on my (sports) jersey
Botar is used in lots of Portuguese accents in the same way as colocar or pôr (“to put” or “to place”). Since we’re talking about clothing, we can say “put on”.
The best way to say blusa de time is “jersey” or “sports jersey” (in the US).
Com corte malo, bigodin finin
With a “bad” haircut, skinny mustache
With a cool cut, pencil ‘stache
Like how corte de cabelo can be shortened to corte, “haircut” can also be shortened to “cut”, although it’s probably more common to say the whole word.
“Malo” I think is one of those Spanish words that gets used sarcastically or as a joke in Portuguese. In that case, it means “bad” in Spanish, or mau in Portuguese. This could be a similar “bad” as used in English slang, where it can also mean “really cool”.
“Bigodin finin” is a silly way to say bigodinho fininho or bigode fino, which is the same as a “skinny mustache” or “pencil mustache” — because it looks like someone drew it on your face with a pencil. “Stache” is a silly shortened form of “mustache”.
Muita areia pro teu caminhão
Too much sand/dirt for your truck
Too much grime to fit in your truck
Areia is literally “sand”, and sometimes “dirt” or “soil”. We could think of this as how English speakers say “dirt” or “dirty” to refer to something bad, naughty, scandalous, but also kind of sexy and enticing.
In slang, areia can also be related to lying and being sneaky, so that could be part of what he means. “Grime” is a good word for all these equally negative and admirable qualities in one.
Drip de ganso do Cesarão
Style like a “killer” from Cesarão
Drip like a thug from the West Side
Yes, now we’ve got some English slang dripping into Portuguese! “Drip” is a personal style, mostly related to clothing. Ganso is literally a “goose”, but I read that it’s supposed to be something like a “thug”, “goon”, or “gangster” in slang.
Cesarão is a place in Rio de Janeiro, apparently on the west side of town. Maybe they wear nice clothes there?
Vapo, vapo do malvadão, oh
Splish-splash from the bad boy, oh
That’s a wrap from the baddest one
Deixa eu te beijar
Let me kiss you
Em câmera lenta
In slow motion
Ô governador, baixa a passagem, que meu bolso não aguenta
Oh, governor, lower the tickets, since my pockets cannot take it
Hey, governor, lower these tickets, because my wallet can’t take it
Passagem is a “ticket” used to board a vehicle such as a bus, airplane, boat, etc. It’s most commonly used to talk about “airplane tickets” though.
People often say bolso (pocket) as we might talk about our “pockets” or “wallet” when referring to money.
Musa do calçadão
Muse on the sidewalk
Muse from the promenade
Cê posta foto, o povo comenta
You post a photo, the people comment
You post a pic, people talk
Cê is another informal way to say “you” (short for você). Foto can mean either “photo” or “picture” in the sense of a photograph. I think using “picture” to describe a photograph is more of an American thing.
No tempero dela tem pimenta
There’s some pepper in her sauce
There’s heat in her sauce
Even though he doesn’t say molho (sauce), I think “sauce” is another good translation here. That’s because, mostly in American slang, “sauce” can mean style or some other impressive appeal. And “heat” just makes it sound sexier.
Alright! Obrigado for reading. Did you learn anything from this long article? Give your own translations and meanings below. And check out more songs and culture on Culture Surf. Until the next time…
By NEBOH
