Música de Rua was released right after the massive success of Mercury's previous album, O Canto da Cidade (1992). It was very well received by the public, and spreading two number-one singles ("Música de Rua" e "O Reggae e o Mar"). However, Música de Rua was not very well received by the critics who pointed out that the album sounded too similar to Mercury's previous and accused it of being a copycat of her own work. Música de Rua was Mercury's most authorial work until the release of Canibália in 2009. Camille Paglia called "Rap Repente" "'absolutely thrilling ... It's like a mini-opera!'"[5]
