DJ Jamaika: verbal attacks and new home
The Brasília-native rapper puts out Pá Doido Pirá, the first rap disc from the ghetto to be released on Warner
Silvio Essinger
27/12/2000
2000 is the year when Brazilian rap from ghetto debuts on major labels. First, the São Paulo group Doctor's MCs released Mallokeragem Zona Leste on BMG, produced by pop master Dudu Marote. Now, it is (former Câmbio Negro member) DJ Jamaika's turn to come up with Pá Doido Pirá. That's the beginning of the rap attack promised by the recording company, who's also delivering the next album by one of the greatest rap groups in the country, Pavilhão 9, who are playing Rock In Rio's main stage on January 19. "It just so happens that the major labels are paying attention to what goes on in the ghetto. It was about time that we showed our faces", says Jamaika.
"Rap has never depended on major labels", believes the rapper who spent 8 years working with the label Discovery, in Brasília. "But the small labels have grown rich, while the groups haven't", he pokes, even claiming that he had to give away the rights for the albums that he did on Discovery, so that he could sign up to Warner. On the new home, Jamaika says that he's pursuing "a more focused production". He started out by proposing a form of promotion that is still unknown for the major labels: community radio stations. "Those were absolutely essential to spread the rap word from the very beginning", he says. All in all, the rapper reckons that everyone will be profiting from this: "I'll learn from Warner, they'll learn from me."
Becoming part of the cast of a label that is more identified with rock groups was hard for Jamaika. He says he had to put up with prejudice, that his old pals from Brasília were claiming that his music would change. "I have not modified my style", he warns. Pá Doido Pirá
was produced by Plínio Profeta, who's more used to pop and rock. During the day, Plínio and Jamaika would choose the samples and sounds; the rapper would write the lyrics during the nights. Some of the songs will be familiar to the listeners. O Bem e o Mal was written upon Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2, and Dando Trabalho Pros Anjos features samples of a Brazilian version of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
The best writing in the CD is that of Minha Droga Pesada (or My Heavy Drug), which tells the story of how Jamaika, as a child, got addicted... to rap. In the beginning it was very underground. When his mother found out, she wound up helping him do it - and is still one of his biggest fans. The father, on the other hand, was a police officer who died in 1992 and never quite coped with his son's choices. "He used to think that it was outlaw's music", he says.
"Rap has never depended on major labels", believes the rapper who spent 8 years working with the label Discovery, in Brasília. "But the small labels have grown rich, while the groups haven't", he pokes, even claiming that he had to give away the rights for the albums that he did on Discovery, so that he could sign up to Warner. On the new home, Jamaika says that he's pursuing "a more focused production". He started out by proposing a form of promotion that is still unknown for the major labels: community radio stations. "Those were absolutely essential to spread the rap word from the very beginning", he says. All in all, the rapper reckons that everyone will be profiting from this: "I'll learn from Warner, they'll learn from me."
Becoming part of the cast of a label that is more identified with rock groups was hard for Jamaika. He says he had to put up with prejudice, that his old pals from Brasília were claiming that his music would change. "I have not modified my style", he warns. Pá Doido Pirá
was produced by Plínio Profeta, who's more used to pop and rock. During the day, Plínio and Jamaika would choose the samples and sounds; the rapper would write the lyrics during the nights. Some of the songs will be familiar to the listeners. O Bem e o Mal was written upon Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2, and Dando Trabalho Pros Anjos features samples of a Brazilian version of Bob Dylan's Knockin' On Heaven's Door.
The best writing in the CD is that of Minha Droga Pesada (or My Heavy Drug), which tells the story of how Jamaika, as a child, got addicted... to rap. In the beginning it was very underground. When his mother found out, she wound up helping him do it - and is still one of his biggest fans. The father, on the other hand, was a police officer who died in 1992 and never quite coped with his son's choices. "He used to think that it was outlaw's music", he says.
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