Anitta writes song and cheers for samba school celebrating her Afro-Brazilian faith

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Anitta has become a pop music sensation in her native Brazil and abroad, but Monday she will have her first shot to prove herself on the country's biggest stage: the Sambadrome.

This year, the 31-year-old took on the new challenge of joining some of Brazil's most traditional samba artists as a songwriter for a Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro.

Anitta is a songwriter for the Unidos da Tijuca samba school, the first to enter the Sambadrome avenue on Monday, the second of three nights of parades.

Every samba school must have a song that is repeatedly played for up to 80 minutes to support the theme behind its costumes and floats.

Unidos da Tijuca's theme is Logun Edé, the star’s orisha — a deity in Afro-Brazilian religions that represents a force of nature. Last year, the singer lost thousands of followers on Instagram after she made a video to pay tribute to the Afro-Brazilian religion she practices, Candomble.

Logun Edé is a young warrior respected by elders for promoting knowledge about their culture. Some of the song's lyrics go:

“With intense brightness/ I challenge the consensus/ restless and intense/ I am Logun-Edé.”

The artists on Monday night paraded with the Unidos da Tijuca samba school, many of them dressed in the samba school's yellow and blue colors, with costumes representing not only the deity, but also the Borel Hill, a community in Rio's north side where the samba school is based. It is often caught in the crossfire between criminals and police.

Samba writer Diego Nicolau, a member of the Unidos da Tijuca songwriting team, said they had several online meetings with Anitta as the star traveled between concerts in New York and Europe. He added the singer set up a small studio in her hotel room to record vocals for the version that won the contest to be the school's 2025 samba.

Anitta's own Carnival festivities began Friday in Salvador, where she and other singers led tens of thousands of fans atop behemoth sound trucks, known as electric trios — a Brazilian innovation that amplifies music and effectively does away with front-row seats, to make Carnival more accessible.

The next day, she drew about 550,000 people to a street party in the city of Sao Luis in northeastern Brazil.

When Unidos da Tijuca entered the Sambadrome, Anitta was leaving an event in metropolis Sao Paulo and published videos of herself in a van, singing and dancing to her own samba. Many of her fans said on social media they were frustrated with the star's absence.

“Where's Anitta?” several of them asked as Unidos da Tijuca started its parade. “I only wanted to watch this because of her,” another fan of the singer said on the social platform X.

The results of Rio's Carnival will be announced Wednesday, with each of the 12 top schools hoping for victory.

If Tijuca wins, Anitta will join a small group of top Brazilian music writers who have made it with the demanding fanatics of one of the country’s most popular genres. Even if the school merely cracks the top six, Anitta will have another chance to parade with it on Saturday, at the so-called “Parade of Champions.”

Hours earlier, she will host a post-Carnival street party, where more than 100,000 people are expected to turn out.

“These concerts during Carnival, we close the deals long before. I won the Tijuca samba contest in September, but I already had these scheduled concerts. There wasn't much I could do,” Anitta told journalists on Feb. 26. “We will make history regardless, I am confident.”

Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Performers from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Performers from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A performer from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school dances during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A performer from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school dances during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Performers from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school dance during Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, March 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)