O Rapa

Mixing samba with dub and drum'n'bass with funk, O Rappa has as its most visible features social criticism, racial awareness, and in attacks against police violence. The first album, O Rappa (1994), was celebrated only in small circles of the initiated, mostly in working-class suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Only the third CD, Lado B Lado A (1999), sold well: 150,000 copies in three months. In the same year, the music video for "Minha Alma" was nominated for seven categories on MTV Brasil's Vídeo Music Brasil, winning six of them; in the same year, the same music video won the Seventh Multishow Music Awards. In November 2000, drummer/composer Marcelo Yuka was shot and became parapalegic after he tried to avoid an assault by throwing his car against the bandits. In August 2001, O Rappa won the Video Music Brasil with "O Que Sobrou do Céu" in three categories: Best of the Year, Best Direction, and Best Photography. In the same year, the group launched its first live album, Instinto Coletivo, with a couple of tracks recorded in the studio and with the participation of Sepultura and Asian Dub Foundation. ~ Alvaro Neder