Marcelo D2 (formerly of the band Planet Hemp) is an ex-punk rocker whose interests turned towards rap in the 1990s, and has established himself as one of Brazil's leading hip-hop artists. Here's a quick look at his work...
Marcelo D2 "Eu Tiro E Onda" (Sony-Chaos, 1998)
(Produced by Marcelo D2, Ze Gonzales & Rodrigo Nut's)
His first solo album is well-produced, classic, energetic, sample-a-delic hip-hop that gives hearty shout-outs to Elis Regina and Tom Jobim, as well as Afrika Bambaata, and all the n***as in the hood. In some ways this is the same-old, same-old gangsta routine, but if you're still into hip-hop, this is pretty good stuff, densely packed and richly textured, with plenty of guest performers from Rio and beyond. In terms of musical "Brazilian-ness," he does include some samples of classic bossa nova (old tracks by Sergio Mendes and Baden Powell) but not tons of it... Mostly this is made of modern beats, and other than the Portuguese lyrics and Brazilian street slang, this sounds a lot like American hip-hop... My favorite part of the record? I love how he pronounces "hip-hop" as "heepie-hop": it's so adorable!
Marcelo D2 "A Procura Da Batida Perfeita" (Sony, 2003)
Marcelo D2 "MTV Acustico" (Sony, 2004)
Marcelo D2 "Meu Samba E Assim" (Sony, 2007)
Marcelo D2 "...Canta Bezerra Da Silva" (EMI, 2010)
Brazilian hip-hopper Marcelo D2 pays homage to bad-boy samba star, Bezerra Da Silva, who took Brazil's "malandro" (gangsta) tradition and brought it into the modern era of drug kingpins and automatic weapons. Interestingly enough, Marcelo steps out of his usual rap/soul mode and goes mostly old-school samba on this one, keeping close to Bezerra's rootsy sound.
Marcelo D2 "A Arte Do Barulho" (EMI, 2008)
Marcelo D2 "Perfil" (Som Livre, 2007)
