by Clarissa Beretz,
This interview was publised by JungleDrums Magazine
Gaining
notoriety for defending drugs-use is a far cry from
earning critical acclaim as a creative musician. Ask
Marcelo D2. Front man of Planet Hemp, a group formed
in 1993 in Rio, D2 was persecuted by the police and
had shows cancelled because of singing about marijuana.
The rapper's solo career, developed alongside the band,
has gained him greater respect from both critics and
public alike. |
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His
latest album, ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’,
mixes traditional samba, rap, hip-hop and funk and looks like
being album of the year in Brazil. 33 years old and the father
of three children (with three different women) the eternal
bad boy talks to JungleDrums about his intense relationship
with samba, his family life and his hopes for success on the
international scene. "I think that as soon as the British
public hears my sound, they'll be hooked", he believes.
How
would you define your music for a foreigner who's never heard
of you before?
The aggressiveness of the streets of Rio mixed with the city's
beauty (laughs). No... It's difficult to say, the music speaks
for itself... I like to think it's the finest of Brazilian
rap.
Your
new album has gained a lot of good reviews, hasn't it?
Yeah, I'm pleased. I think we're representing contemporary
Brazilian rap. Fuck, man, everyone's talking about it. People
are calling me a genius! What happens today is that the temptation
of getting a song played on the radio is more important than
making good music, that's why there's so much pop shit out
there. Copies of American and British pop! So when someone
starts to show the good things that Brazilian music has to
offer, like Tropicália, bossa-nova, and samba, the
crowd goes wild, and you become a genius. I think it's important
to keep this connection going, so that the kids out there
start to appreciate good musicians and good music, rather
than fame and fortune.
That's
why you decided to mix samba and rap?
I grew up listening to samba, my family is into it,
I lived in Padre Miguel, my aunt was from Vila Isabel...
When I started making music, I was into hardcore rap,
hardcore lyrics. The band's lyrical content reflected
this. Now that I've decided to make my own sound, I've
gone back to my roots, I felt it was time to work in
some samba and some of the big names that influenced
me, like Bezerra da Silva and João Nogueira.
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Your
music's got international success written all over it. What's
your impression of the music scene outside Brazil?
The way I see it, if the album was well received in Los Angeles
- and you know that Americans aren't into foreign language
- it's going to blow up in Europe. The people there are more
open, interested in other things. I'm really up for going
there. I'm into some Brazilian artists who made albums for
the gringo market, like Sergio Mendes. But Chico Science said:
"It isn't Brazilian music, it's universal music".
When I make a rap album, this is what I think: I'm making
a Brazilian rap album, not an album for gringos that just
happens to be in Portuguese.
I just got back from Portugal; we played the Mike Paton festival.
It was great, class A! More than 5000 people really feeling
the music. It's a shame that we can't tour more. Now, with
my album coming out in Brazil, it's complicated... Even still,
I found the time to take a trip to Spain with my wife.
So,
there's no British show on the line-up?
It's a bit difficult at the moment... but I think that as
soon as the British public hear my sound, they'll be hooked.
Who knows, maybe next year?
And
how are things with Planet Hemp? The band's still going, isn't
it?
Of course, everything's cool. Everyone's working on their
own projects, like Bê Negão who's also launched
a solo album. At the moment, the band's on hold, but we might
record a new album next year.
You've
been quoted as saying that, for a long time, you felt that
people saw Planet Hemp as a bunch of lay bouts. Is this still
the case?
I don't think so. The band's been going for ten years now,
I'm getting older, the public as well. It was the price we
paid for our beliefs, the content of our lyrics, which reflected
the daily reality of a Third World country. But, without a
doubt, we got our message across. Today, we're not just the
"cannabis band".
Do
you think that, with this new album, the public has started
to respect you more and that you've reached a new audience?
I think that I've managed to make my intentions clearer. It's
the first time, in six albums, that I've sung the word ‘love’.
I always had the public's respect, but I think that now different
people are starting to think, "Damn, this crazy, tattooed
dope-head is pretty good". (Laughs)
What's
it like being the figurehead of the "cannabis band"?
Is this always going to be the band's trademark?
I'm only going to stop talking about dope when I stop smoking
it, because then it won't make any sense. Today I might say,
"I'm going to smoke till I die", but who knows what
tomorrow will bring. Bê Negão, for example, quit.
But our message remains the same. I'm smoking a lot less now,
just to chill out. Today, for example, I haven't smoked at
all (editor's note: it was five o'clock in the afternoon).
I think that everyone's got to do what they feel like, decide
what's best for them. I know that smoking dope wipes out your
short-term memory. A lot of the time I forget the lyrics to
a song, but someone's always there to remind me. (Laughs).
Do
you think that if Lula had been in power, you wouldn't have
been imprisoned?
Yeah, I think that this would all have been avoided. The Governor
of Brasília at the time was a member of the PT (Lula's
party), but he didn't stick to his guns. I think that, with
Lula, it would be different.
Do
you have any regrets about this period?
None. Normally, I regret the things I haven't done. At the
time, I think the band had reached its limit, taken things
to the extreme. I ended up hurting my family. My son, my mom,
everyone was crying. I even received death threats. But it
was all anonymous. No one had the guts to say it to my face.
But
do you think that Brazilian legislation has evolved in relation
to cannabis use?
No way! The worldwide ban on cannabis is a big mistake. Once
upon a time, some American came up with some shit saying that
it was bad for you and the whole world bought it. In reality,
they just want to control minority groups, send the police
in so that everyone tows the line. It's all explained in that
film.... what's it called? Oh yeah, "Grass"! It's
a film about the drugs trade, the FBI...
What
do think about other drugs?
They should legalise everything. You want to snort coke,
go ahead, you want to shoot up, whatever turns you on...
Just keep it away from the kids. This way, everyone
is responsible for their own actions. It's like that
in Holland, and the country's really peaceful. The level
of violence is extremely low. Urban violence takes place
because of the war on drugs, and not because of drugs
use. It's a problem that needs to be solved with cultural
incentives and education, not repression. |
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Your
son is 11. You started smoking at 12. How's the father-son
relationship when it comes to drugs?
My son's reaching the age where he'll want to start experimenting.
He knows that he's got a lot of love at home. He sees me smoke
and drink... but I don't think he's going to be a problem,
he won't want to drink. And if one day he wants to smoke a
joint, I want him to smoke it with me.
How's
life as a family man?
At the moment it's crazy, but they all understand that I'm
caught up with promoting the new album. But I always take
time out to see my kids, stay at home, play with them, take
my wife out...These days I don't even pick up the phone. It
could be the Pope on the line, but my family comes first!
Returning
to your album's title, do you think that you've found the
perfect beat?
It would be really pretentious to say yes, but I can say that
I'm very satisfied. The search never ends; I'll always be
on the look out. If I had my say, I'd release another album
tomorrow!
MARCELO
D2 IN CONCERT IN LONDON SATURDAY 25 JUNE
www.BrazilianArtists.net
would like to thank Jungle Drums Magazine for allowing us
to publish this interview www.jungledrums.org
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