Brasilia Hip Hop

Hip Hop has been present in the "brasiliense" social and musical scene since the late 1980s. It is arguably the second biggest Hip Hop scene in Brazil. The first generation of rappers included GOG ^[1] and Dj_jamaika The second generation initiated with MC RAPadura in the 1990s. Currently, the most successful female rapper from Brasília is Flora Matos. Furthermore, the current generation, from the year 2000 on, has many groups and MCs who are releasing their work and making new events to expand the scene in the capital of Brazil.

History of the Brasília Hip Hop Scene

First Generation

This section talks about two of the pioneers of the first generation of rappers in Brasília. DJ Jamaika is one of the main pioneers responsible for elevating and spreading the Hip Hop scene in the Distrito Federal (DF) area since 1993. He has participated in various radio and TV programs, such as "Transamérica." He is a rapper from Ceilândia, satellite city around Brasília. He had a Hip Hop group called Alibi in 1999. He was also part of the group Câmbio Negro, which was initiated by a Brasiliense rapper called X in 1990. One of his best known CDs is "Pá Doido Pirá" which is also used as an important reference in Brazilian Hip Hop. In 2002, DJ Jamaika became a Christian and started working in only Gospel Rap CDs. In 2007, he won the "Prêmio Hutúz" national Brazilian award for best beat maker. GOG is another pioneer of the Hip Hop culture in Brasília. He was born in Sobradinho, satellite city around Brasília, and moved to Guará, another satellite city around Brasília, in 1973, where he resided until 1991. He is a rapper and began his career as a poet. His first CD was recorded in 1992 with the title "Peso Pesado" (Heavy Weight). In 2007, he won the Prêmio Hútuz^[2] award for best artist. His most recent work is "DVD Cartão Postal Bomba!", released in 2009.^[3]

Second Generation

MC RAPadura Xique-Chico ^{[4][5] [6]} was born in Fortaleza and came to Brasília in 1997. He demonstrated interest in Hip Hop music when he participated in GOG’s song "A quem possa interessar" in the "Aviso às gerações" album. MC RAPadura has participated in several repente Repente contests (these are contestants in which people improvise with music from Brazil’s northeast region), on account of his original and innovative style, which is utilizing Brazilian "forró" music and mixing it with his self produced Hip Hop beats. In 2010, RAPadura performed in a TV Cultura episode of Manos e Minas, October 10, 2008.^[7] with MV Bill and is well known for performing with a farmer straw hat which was created in Fortaleza.

Female Rappers

Brazilian MC Flora Matos

There are also many promising female artists from Brasília, who are successful in Brazil. One of them is Flora Matos,^[8][9] who was raised by a musicians’ family. She performed on stage for the first time with the band "Acarajazz" when she was only 4 years old, because her father was the band’s songwriter. In 2003, Flora performed in her first solo project, "Noções Unidas", with the producer Chicco Aquino. Her influences are Racionais MC's,^[10] Dina Di Sabotage_(cantor) Kamau,^[11] MC_Marechal etc. In 2006, she started to sing with DJ Brother, which earned her the award for the best singer of the year in Brasília. In 2007, she recorded a remix of the song "Véu da Noite", from the singer Céu, produced by KL Jay (Racionais MCs’ DJ and beatmaker). She became popular after working with famous DJs of the Brazilian RAP such as KL Jay, DJ Cia, etc. In 2008, she was invited by Kl_jay and Ice_blue to participate in the mixtape "O Jogo é Hoje", supported by Nike and directed by Blue and Mano_brown where she recorded the song "Mundo Pequeno." In October 2008, she toured Europe (Paris, Angers, etc.). When she returned, she released her first single called "Jogo da Velha." One year later, she performed with Emicida ^[12] and in the end of the year she released her first mixtape called Flora Matos vs Stereodubs

Current Generation

Various events were created in Brasília to enhance the Hip Hop culture, from the DaBomb parties to the 2010 battles called "Calango Pensante". Calango Pensante ^[13] was created by MC Ahoto ^[14] (Jorge Pinho) to motivate the various MCs to battle in Conic ^[15] (a mall located in the center of Brasília). There are prizes for the runner up and winner of the battle, such as the sum of the money given by each competing MC in the beginning of the event or concert tickets to a Brazilian Hip Hop show. MC Ahoto also created other events such as "I love Rap DF",^[16] which is an event where the hip hop groups can perform and promote their work. His first hit was the song "Fogo na Bomba" which was produced by Emtee (of Movimento Plano Crew - MPC). The song is basically about Graffiti art and tagging in general, bombing, since MC Ahoto is also an active graffiti artist. In fact, MC Ahoto started out as a graffiti artist. He has a tagging crew called "Kaligrafia Mardita" and was nominated in the Graffiti best prize category in 2011 (Prêmio Hip Hop Zumbi – Edição Dandara). Currently, he is one of the main representatives of Samambaia (neighborhood from Brasília) and has had several collaborations with other MCs, three of the most famous are: "Flowgados", the group "Movimento Plano Crew", and "Coletivação." MC Ahoto won the 2010 "Microfonia" event, an MC Battle which happened in Brasília and which gave MC Ahoto the opportunity to travel to Rio de Janeiro and participate in the national Brazilian Battle: "Liga dos MCs." He also won the award for best Brasiliense MC of 2011. Prêmio Hip Hop Zumbi ^[17][18] was an event created in 2010 by ArtSam to make the Hip Hop culture in Brasília even more powerful. This event recognizes and values the many local talents of the DF state, which just happens to be the second biggest Hip Hop scene in Brazil. It also makes the scene more professional, with political and popular participation, thus making social activism known. The name chosen illustrates well this main objective, refreshing the memory of the Brazilian people to the slave who was the leader of the biggest Quilombo'' (a clan of refugee slaves) from Brazil, Zumbi.

There were awards for the Distrito Federal (DF) Hip Hop projects released between July 2009 and October 2010.

References