South American Hip Hop

By Vee Bravo, Stress. Posted April 1, 2000.

Over the last decade and a half, Hip Hop culture has become a global phenomenon. Tupac, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Jay-Z, just to name a few, are as popular in Europe as they are in the US. Thanks in part to early Hip Hop films (i.e. Style Wars, Wild Style) and books (Subway Art) that made their way into the robust European economies of the late-'80s, white kids in France, Denmark, and Germany began fucking with graffiti and b-boying. As time progressed and kids began copying the styles of Black and Latino kids in New York, MCs and graffiti crews emerged within particular European cities that had a strong economic base which would support the slow influx of product. Unfortunately, while the European movement helps the growth and development of the art form, it also distorts the face of Hip Hop since its development is precisely linked to Europe's historic and current first world position within the international capital structure. Hence, third world countries filled with poor Black and Brown bodies are seldom heard from and are last in line in terms of access to resources. However, history tells us that the third world will always lead in revolutionary action and today the illest, most grounded, radical push for a relevant Hip Hop culture comes from South America, particularly Brazil and Chile. - V.B

Hip Hop in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Imagine a bustling metropolitan area with a population of no less than 17 million people. Outside of the city's commercial and industrial centers for which it is most known, lies reality for the residing Black masses. Crime, violence, and drugs infect its large housing projects and shantytowns, making life all the more hellish in a nation the rest of the world recognizes only as paradise. The city is Sao Paulo, Brazil, a place that most who are familiar with its underground music scene identify as the second Hip Hop capital of the world.

Sao Paulo, from the late 1970's to the mid-1980's, had its own US-influenced funk and soul experience, with US and national idols like James Brown, George Clinton, Tim Maia, and Banda Black Rio. For almost a decade Afros, platform shoes, and clubs defined popular Afro-Brazilian culture. As the funk scene began to fade, the urban youth again looked to the US for the next trend in popular African American culture. They were influenced by legends like Afrika Bambaataa, The Sugarhill Gang, and Grand Master Flash, to name a few. The subsequent development of Brazilian Hip Hop, complete with b-boying, graffiti, and Rap was only natural.

The number of Hip Hop groups in Sao Paulo, who refer to themselves in terms of gangs or posses, is estimated to be as high as 30,000. Groups commonly unite to form larger cultural organizations such as Posse Hausa and the Associacao Cultural de Negroatividades ("The Cultural Association for Black Activities"), which seek to raise the political and social consciousness of their peers.

In order to fully understand the strong political slant of Brazilian Hip Hop, it is necessary to be aware of a few facts. Brazil is a county of 169,806,557 people, of which at least 60% are of African ancestry. Of every four people killed by the police, three are Black. Only 2% of the students in Brazilian universities are Black. And every four hours, a Black man dies violently in Sao Paulo.

Much of what is learned is reflected in rap lyrics. The all too typical urban problems of crack, alcoholism and police violence are the source of the powerful verses that flow from radios and fill the hundreds of frequented Hip Hop clubs.

Even with such a large Afro-Brazilian population, Brazil never had a Black consciousness or civil rights era, in which people of color acquired access to the country's economic and political sectors. In short, Blacks are usually found at the bottom of the society's totem pole. Currently, the white status quo of discriminatory practices and mockery of the idea of African beauty remains a prominent part of life. And Afro-Brazilians, largely misguided by centuries of oppression, choose not to acknowledge or study their African heritage and accept European features as standards of beauty. It is in the area of awareness that the Brazilian Hip Hop movement functions. The movement seeks to deconstruct the myth of a racial democracy, in which Brazil has long prided itself, and present Brazil for the country it is: a nation contaminated with racism, poverty, and inequality.

See more stories tagged with: hip hop

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »