It was a cultural movement of the late 60's that used irreverence, debauchery and improvisation. Its leaders were musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. The movement was launched in 1967, with the presentation of the songs Domingo no Parque, by Gil, and Alegria, Alegria, by Caetano, at TV Record's MPB Festival.
The songs caused controversy in a nationalist university middle class, which was against foreign influences in Brazilian arts. In addition to music, tropicalism also manifests itself in other arts, such as the sculpture Tropicália (1965). The movement came to an end in December 1968, with the enactment of Institutional Act nº5 (AI-5). And the leaders Caetano and Gil are arrested and then exiled to England.