Browsing through my CD’s I just came across Bnegao from Rio, who recently toured with Maga Bo as MC. Formerly he was singer of the hip hop rock band Planet Hemp, which was founded in 1993.
“Planet Hemp began attracting attention because their shows always ended up in big fights and confusion. In 1994 B Negão joined the group, they signed up to Sony Music and put out the disc Usuário, which shed light over the band and produced a number of hits, like Mantenha o Respeito and the polemic Porcos Fardados (or Pigs in Uniforms), criticizing police brutality. It went Gold. Planet Hemp has played along with big hip hop names, like Beastie Boys and Cypress Hill. The follow-up, Os Cães Ladram Mas a Caravana Não Pára, was made by the end of 1996 and went Platinum. Due to their engagement with legalization and their explicit lyrics, Planet Hemp has suffered a lot of legal distress. Seized albums, cancelled gigs and arrests are still part of the band’s routine.” (source www.cliquemusic.com)
Lateron Bnegao teamed up with his own band Os Selectores de Frequencia and toured Spain 2004. One song from their last album is like a freaky hybrid of hardcore rock and Baile Funk, which I think is a must for those of you collecting all this cheesy bad lyric Baile Funk from nowadays. Take a leap back in time, when Funky Carioca was just swapping over to Europe. And get a full version of the Funky Carioca History here!
Max
And here comes a new travel report from the far South of Brazil. Max is travelling around and doesn’t seem to come back. At least that’s what he last said. Even squat movements in Sweden and his future career as a graffitti artist in Sweden don’t seem to appeal too much to him right now. Oh well, globalization…
