Gangsta Rap’s Forefather Dies in Brazil

Brazilian Sambista Bezerra da SilvaBrazilian singer and musician Bezerra da Silva, known for his songs glorifying Rio de Janeiro’s slums and underworld, has died at the age of 77.

Doctors say he had been hospitalized for several months due to a lung infection.


Da Silva is known as the architect of the “Sambandido” style of music – which depicts life in the slums over traditional samba music. The style is often considered a precursor to American “gangsta rap.”


Da Silva’s lyrics focused on drugs, crime, poverty, police brutality and the persona of the “malandro,” or a street-hustler who presided over Rio’s slums several decades ago.


His songs included “Somebody Kidnapped my Mother-in-Law,” and “Cocaine Overdose.”


Born in northeastern Brazil, da Silva reached Rio de Janeiro at the age of 15, working as a house painter before performing professionally as a musician.


VOA

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Paint Industry Hits Record in 2007 with US$ 2.6 Billion in Sales

The Brazilian paint industry had its best year ever in 2007. according to information ...

Brazil Is Mad: ‘We Pay the Bills. Why the High Premium Abroad?’

The Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, said that ...

China Is Third Largest Importer of Brazil’s Farm Products

China licensed 14 new poultry producing establishments from Brazil to become their suppliers. With ...

Brazilian Bishop Decides to Starve to Death Over River Transposition

With the aim of stopping the São Francisco River transposition project, the Catholic bishop ...

Brazil’s Lula Warns that Mercosur Needs to Mature Fast to Achieve Integration

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Brazil, said today that the larger countries ...

Lula Urges Arab Leaders in Brazil to Challenge Economic Order

The expansion of economic relations was one of the main topics discussed yesterday during ...

Exports of Brazilian Agricultural Products to Arabs Up 23%

Brazilian agribusiness exports to the Arab countries generated US$ 2.583 billion between January and ...

Brazilian Catholic Bishop Resumes Hunger Strike and Accuses Lula of Betrayal

Brazilian catholic bishop Dom Luiz Flávio Cappio of the Barra diocese, state of Bahia, ...

Beef and Chicken Drive the Surge of Brazilian Exports to Iraq

Other countries in the Middle East have been showing potential to establish themselves as ...

Brazilian Market Volatile Mirroring the U.S.

Brazilian and Latin American markets ultimately finished lower on the day, after see-sawing between ...