Rosalia de Souza  Rosalia de Souza is a Brazilian bossa nova singer. She was born in Nilópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an area famous for its samba school, Beija-Flor. After travelling to Italy at the age of 21, she began to study music theory, Cuban percussion, and jazz at the Scuola Popolare di Testaccio (Popular school of Testaccio) in Rome.