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Biography
When the reggae artist Papa Winnie arrived in Brazil in 1993 he required a backing band and enlisted the services of Nelson Meirelles, Marcelo Lobato, Alexandre Menezes, and Marcelo Yuka. Following the conclusion of Papa Winnie’s tour, the four musicians continued to play together later adding lead singer Marcelo Falcão. By 1994, O Rappa had issued their debut album “O Rappa”, which found favour among select groups within the working class suburbs of Rio. Two years later O Rappa’s follow-up “Rappa Mundi” was released produced by Liminha. Introducing the band to a wider audience, slowly increasing O Rappa’s exposure, the record was a success aided by the Jimi Hendrix cover “Hey Joe”.
It was the group’s third album however that marked O Rappa’s mainstream breakthrough. 1999’s “Lado B Lado A” sold over 150,000 copies upon release and was marked by musical experimentation throughout. Taken from the album, the single/video “Minha Alma” went on to win six MTV Brasil’s Video Music Awards doing wonders for the group’s national exposure. A year later drummer Marcelo Yuka was shot during a robbery in which he attempted to ram his car into the bandits. The bullet affected his spine and Yuka was left as a paraplegic, forcing him to leave the group.
In 2001 O Rappa released their debut live album “Instinto Coletivo”, which featured a pair of studio tracks recorded with Sepulture and Asian Dub Foundation. Following the release the band returned to the studio, the fruit of which was the well-received 2003 full-length “O Silêncio Q Precede O Esporro”. Produced by Tom Capone the record subsequently earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album. In 2005 O Rappa were invited to record an MTV Unplugged session that resulted in the release of “Acústico MTV”, which later secured two Latin Grammy nominations for Best Brazilian Rock and Best Long Form Video. The full-length “7 Vezes” appeared in 2008 marking the group’s seventh album, followed by “Nunca Tem Fim” in 2013.
Live reviews
When Caribbean reggae artist Papa Winnie landed in Brazil 1993 and realised he had no band to accompany him at shows, he quickly recruited Nelson Meirelles, Marcelo Lobato, Alexandre Menezes and Marcelo Yuka to play with him. Having created that explosive creative spark, the band decided to continue taking on the name O Rappa whilst adding Falcão as an additional vocalist. In 1994 they released their debut self-titled album through Warner Records which became a local success largely within Brazil’s working class. It wasn’t until they released their third album ‘Lado B, Lado A’ which really catapulted them into the spotlight selling over 150,000 copies. As the band became more successful they became more socially active in the Brazillian community creating many projects within the slums and were musically inspired by their surroundings, connecting even more with these communities and therefore extending their appeal.
Full of live and energy, O Rappa have successfully fused all their influences of reggae, rock, samba and hip-hop to create their unique sound. With their patriotic and passionate nature, the band create this overwhelming sense of warmth as they create that personable and relatable connection with the audiences. Playing crowd favourites like ‘Nunca Tem Fin’, ‘Brixton, Bronx Ou Baixada’ and ‘Cristo E Oxalá’, O Rappa continue to win hearts. With fun fuelled energy, there is never a dull moment when watching this band perform.
EvieCriedWolf
Reggae was not confined to Jamaica when you look back to its history, many countries adopted the roots stylings from the greats and one of the most celebrated is Brazilian collective O Rappa. They have been active since 1993 and since then have amassed a large, dedicated following across North and South America and have even travelled to Europe and Australia to share their sunny sounds.
Incorporating the genres of rock, reggae, funk and even samba into their sounds, the live show is both unpredictable and incredibly upbeat as the musicians onstage do not stay still for a second and neither do the crowds. There is a great feeling of unity and joy from the band as it is clear they completely adore being onstage together and live to make music, they explain how privileged they are to be sharing it with fans which of course received rapturous applause. It is a fantastic, enjoyable evening for both performer and patron.
sean-ward
The Rappa show was perfect because the place where was realized is very organized.
The band is so cool because they played the new musics and the old famous musics. The player´s band are contangious and when we looked to the face of people, everyone were happier.
I had never gone to this band show and now I don´t have doubt that I´ll go soon again hehehe
luissandrini
Vibrant show as usual, but the bar was terrible, insufficient staff serving hot beer all the time, thumbs down really. O Rappa deserved a better venue. Moreover I don't know why it's required at minimun 30 words for a comment.
ana-carolina-schuh
