Singer and songwriter Juliê from Mato Grosso do Sul presents her new single, “Mapa do Coração,” available on all digital platforms via Marã Música. The track is part of the #EUsouMS Sessions project, which celebrates the emerging music scene in Mato Grosso do Sul with authentic live performances. With beats that blend afrobeat, poetry, and ancestry, the artist transforms the song into an invitation to slow down and listen to one’s intuition—a sensitive portrait of freedom, connection, and surrender that also features a special live session released on the same day.
“Map of the Heart” is about being guided by intuition. When was the moment in your life when you realized you needed to trust your heart more than your head?
There are many moments when a Virgo’s rigidity takes time to adapt, and I began to understand that, no matter how much I tried to plan everything, life always took me to places my heart already knew before my mind understood. A clear and beautiful example was when I sought out Junior (EusouMS) and asked for help and some guidance (things Virgos don’t do, lol), without knowing they had already chosen me to be the third Sessions Artist and had been following me for months. I have this and many other examples. I had to learn to silence the outside noise a little and listen to what was coming from within. That’s when I understood that my heart has always been my map, what guides me to where I truly belong.
The track has a rich sound, blending Afrobeat, poetry, and ancestry. What was the process of finding this balance between the modern and the spiritual in the music?
It was very natural, we already had the beginning and chorus written by my talented friends, Arthur Rostey and Marcelo Brinholi, we just needed to finish it, Arthur fully embraced that moment, we were experiencing intense transformations that led us to the rest of the song with great lightness.
You mentioned that the song was born from a late night filled with conversations and confidences. How do these creative encounters usually transform you personally?
These encounters always transform me because each exchange allows me to see a little more of myself and a little more of the other. When we share ideas, experiences, and feelings genuinely, something opens up, paths open up; it’s as if each person carries a key to a different corner of their heart. In these early mornings of creation, I feel whole, vulnerable, and at the same time strong, because I realize that art is born precisely from this place of connection and surrender.
The song is about lightness and letting go of what’s not good for you. Is there anything you needed to “let go” of to reach this new phase of your career?
Yes. To get here, I had to let go of a lot; life is a constant transformation, isn’t it?! Especially the need to control everything and meet expectations that weren’t mine. I let go of fears, perfectionism, pressures, and even some people and paths that no longer vibrated on the same frequency. It was truly a process of internal cleansing, to make room for the new. Today, I understand that lightness is also courage, the courage to trust in time, in the flow, and in myself.
The #EUsouMS Sessions project celebrates the emerging music scene in Mato Grosso do Sul. What does it mean to you to represent this musical force from your state in such an authentic project?
Representing the new Mato Grosso do Sul music scene in this project is an honor and also a wonderful responsibility, as the first woman in the project. I come from a place full of powerful voices, stories, and sounds that deserve to be heard. Mato Grosso do Sul isn’t just about sertanejo, as is often said, and being able to bring a little of that to the world is like saying: we exist, we create, we pulsate, our voice matters. The #EUsouMS Sessions is about authenticity, supporting independent artists, and original music is about making music with truth, and being part of this movement makes me feel part of something bigger, a generation that is writing a new chapter in the music of our state.
Your journey combines body, voice, and emotion—from dance to music. How does physical movement influence your musical creation today?
The body has always been my first instrument. Even before my voice, it was through movement that I learned to feel rhythm and time. Dance taught me to listen to my body, and this influences everything in my music. The language I use comes a lot from dance; the producer goes a little crazy, lol, because I use the nomenclature: “This could become a Gafieira, and then it goes back to Zouk” (ballroom dancer language). When I’m creating, I feel the beats, the swing, the flow, and it has to fit the body, resonate with my heart for the beat to be approved. Today, when I compose or sing, it’s still the body that guides; it understands the emotion before the words. It’s as if dancing and singing are just different ways of saying the same thing. So, movement ends up being the starting point for many of my songs because it connects me with emotion in a natural way.
You left the song as the last song in the session for fear of the emotional toll. When the moment came to sing, what went through your head and heart?
It was very difficult to get there that day; many setbacks happened, and dealing with them requires a bit more emotional control. This song has a part where the tone rises, so I felt the nervousness in my voice; the heat of Campo Grande increased in this song. So I silenced everything! There were people very important to me on set, and I wanted it to be beautiful! I felt and still feel so grateful to finish this project, that this song says it all for me.
“Map of the Heart” also seems to be a metaphor for allowing yourself to live in the present. What message would you like the audience to take away from this “musical prayer”?
Yes, in this world where there is so much rush, I look at my family’s routine and mine too, there is no way we can try to speed up processes, we spend so much time trying to understand and decipher what comes after we forget to live, “I wish “Map of the Heart” was almost a “Post It” stuck on the fridge, for everyone to remember to stop and breathe and trust in the NOW, because it is all we have! Accept this invitation to go back inside and listen to your heart, because the answers are usually there, even if the path does not seem clear, keep doing your job, planting the beautiful seeds, and watering, because the heart always knows the right time for everything.