Emicida About Kids, Hips, Nightmares And Homework

Born Leandro Roque de Oliveira (Emicida is a play on ‘MC’ and ‘homicide’), 31 years ago in a northern suburb of São Paulo, Emicida began, as many others before him, by imitating every MC he heard and rapping in his own version of English. However he soon shifted to Portuguese and via circulated recordings of his appearances at freestyle rapping battles and, later, mixtapes from his own makeshift studio, his fame spread. In 2011 he embarked on his first international tour and two years later, with sell-out concerts in Brazil, Emicida had performed and recorded in the USA, toured Europe and alongside his conventional releases, had provided the soundtrack and songs for successful video games.

‘About kids, hips, nightmares and homework …’ arose from a specially conceived 20-day trip to Africa, specifically Cape Verde and Angola, where he worked with local musicians and recorded some of the tracks. These include “Mufete” with percussionist João Morgado, noted for his playing of Angolan ‘semba’, the roots of Brazilian ‘samba’, and “Passarinhos” and “Madagascar” where you can hear Kaku Alves, Cesária Évora’s guitarist for many years. But never forget the uniquely Brazilian component, and together with MCs from the new generation of Brazilian rap this album also includes collaborations with Vanessa da Mata on “Passarinhos” and on “Baiana”, Caetano Veloso.