Fiona: I love the name Emicida, it has a magical feel to it. What does it mean?
Emicida: Emicida is a merger between the words ‘MC’ and ‘homicide,’ something like a MC killer. I’ve started in rap with freestyle battles and this nickname comes from there. In the course of time I’ve created an acronym to the name that represents very well my purpose: as long as my imagination composes insanities I own the art.
Fiona: You started rhyming and realized you wanted to be a part of hip hop culture from an early age. What was it like growing up in Brazil as a young kid, discovering your love for hip hop?
Emicida: I had my first contact with hip hop very young. My parents used to have an involvement in some street parties, like the block parties you have there in the U.S. My father was a DJ and my mother used to help with organizing. There I had my first contact with music. In the end of the 1980s, I met rap music there, sung in Portuguese, listening to a Brazilian MC called Pepeu. Then I met U.S. hip hop. It was crazy because as I first met Brazilian hip hop, I believed it was a Brazilian genre. Later, studying about it, I discovered more about the culture and that it was born in Bronx. Hip hop, to me, was always about freedom, the culture gave voice for many people that didn’t have one, and this made us feel a special love for it.
Fiona: Where did you get your inspiration from and who were some of your biggest in fluences coming up?
Emicida: I was very influenced by a group which is the biggest in Brazil and for us one of the best in the world, called Racionais MCs. They’ve changed our lives and our perspective about the street realities in Brazil. They were equally or more important than textbooks. My inspiration always came from samba, from rap later, but I grew up listening to a lot of samba because my family had a strong bond with samba associations from São Paulo. So rhythmically and poetically I’ve learned a lot from samba.
Fiona: Who are you listening to now in Brazil? Which local artists do you like.
Emicida: I like some very creatives artists in special, like Amiri, Raphao Alaafin, Tássia Reis, Russo Passapusso and Rael, among other new names that have emerged with a lot of creativity.
Fiona: Is there a growing hip hop scene in Brazil and any industry to support it?
Emicida: Brazilian hip hop has been growing a lot year after year, as Brazil’s political and social context is very complex and the consequences of hip hop as an activity with a strong political position are numerous, for better or worse. But unrelated to the entertainment industry in Brazil — which seems to be so slow for me — lots of cultures are breaking barriers and consolidating themselves, surviving and making art. Even though they don’t have a great distribution, they get stronger over the years.
Fiona: I know you have your own record company which is quite well known, Laboratorio Fantasma. Do you release your own music through your company too?
Emicida: Yes, all my albums were released and managed by Laboratório Fantasma, which manages 2 artists careers: Mine and Rael’s, a fascinating artist that mixes reggae, samba and rap in a very particular and special way.
Fiona: How many other artists and collaborations have you released through Laboratorio. Anyone that’s about to blow up too?
Emicida: Emicida is a merger between the words ‘MC’ and ‘homicide,’ something like a MC killer. I’ve started in rap with freestyle battles and this nickname comes from there. In the course of time I’ve created an acronym to the name that represents very well my purpose: as long as my imagination composes insanities I own the art.
Fiona: You started rhyming and realized you wanted to be a part of hip hop culture from an early age. What was it like growing up in Brazil as a young kid, discovering your love for hip hop?
Emicida: I had my first contact with hip hop very young. My parents used to have an involvement in some street parties, like the block parties you have there in the U.S. My father was a DJ and my mother used to help with organizing. There I had my first contact with music. In the end of the 1980s, I met rap music there, sung in Portuguese, listening to a Brazilian MC called Pepeu. Then I met U.S. hip hop. It was crazy because as I first met Brazilian hip hop, I believed it was a Brazilian genre. Later, studying about it, I discovered more about the culture and that it was born in Bronx. Hip hop, to me, was always about freedom, the culture gave voice for many people that didn’t have one, and this made us feel a special love for it.
Fiona: Where did you get your inspiration from and who were some of your biggest in fluences coming up?
Emicida: I was very influenced by a group which is the biggest in Brazil and for us one of the best in the world, called Racionais MCs. They’ve changed our lives and our perspective about the street realities in Brazil. They were equally or more important than textbooks. My inspiration always came from samba, from rap later, but I grew up listening to a lot of samba because my family had a strong bond with samba associations from São Paulo. So rhythmically and poetically I’ve learned a lot from samba.
Fiona: Who are you listening to now in Brazil? Which local artists do you like.
Emicida: I like some very creatives artists in special, like Amiri, Raphao Alaafin, Tássia Reis, Russo Passapusso and Rael, among other new names that have emerged with a lot of creativity.
Fiona: Is there a growing hip hop scene in Brazil and any industry to support it?
Emicida: Brazilian hip hop has been growing a lot year after year, as Brazil’s political and social context is very complex and the consequences of hip hop as an activity with a strong political position are numerous, for better or worse. But unrelated to the entertainment industry in Brazil — which seems to be so slow for me — lots of cultures are breaking barriers and consolidating themselves, surviving and making art. Even though they don’t have a great distribution, they get stronger over the years.
Fiona: I know you have your own record company which is quite well known, Laboratorio Fantasma. Do you release your own music through your company too?
Emicida: Yes, all my albums were released and managed by Laboratório Fantasma, which manages 2 artists careers: Mine and Rael’s, a fascinating artist that mixes reggae, samba and rap in a very particular and special way.
Fiona: How many other artists and collaborations have you released through Laboratorio. Anyone that’s about to blow up too?
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