Emicida: Brazil’s Artistic ‘MC Killer’ – From São Paulo to the World

I had the honor of meeting Emicida in New York after his trip to South by Southwest (SXSW) festival earlier this year. It’s no wonder I’d heard his name for several years, Emicida is definitely a force in his home country of Brazil where he’s able to rock stadiums with thousands of eager fans chanting his rhymes. He is fast becoming one of the hottest international MCs on the planet.

Emicida’s live show is full of energy, rawness and compassion for his hometown, always showing pride and respect for his roots and come up. He combines a lot of heavy guitar and instrumentation within his production as well as spitting harsh and clever words. He’s both a lyricist, and musician.

Fans in Portuguese speaking countries can’t get enough of him, and neither could we. Here is my Q&A with São Paulo’s Emicida!

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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 influences 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: We’ve been collaborating with other artists. We cheer and support them the way we can, because their victory is also ours. If we talk specifically about other artist on who we wager, I would say he is Rael, because people always get amazed with his big talent.

Fiona: How do you describe your sound/style and what are some of the subjects you talk about lyrically?

Emicida: I believe I’m a continuation of a poetic genre that exists in Brazil from long time ago. Our poetry is rich due to human material that we have here. We had some of the best teachers: the samba composers. In a lyrical and rhythmic way they are close to insuperable. Brazil-Africa fusion generated wonderful things regarding to that in Brazil. So I find myself as a contemporary poet who speaks about streets and my time. I like São Paulo’s chaos. It inspires poetry in an incredible way. I don’t need to necessarily work with rap clichés. I think Brazilian rap evolution will intensify increasingly, because this approach is involuntary and with no way back.

Fiona: Do you write and produce your tracks too or work with different collaborators?

Emicida: I work with a lot of different partners. I almost always renew things each new project. I like to hear to new people’s songs. I like to search for new music. I produce some things, but I dedicate my time most to studying than to the execution of this kind of thing. I prefer working with these guys I admire and do that very well.

Fiona: What’s your highlight so far of all the places you’ve toured?

Emicida: I don’t use to work with this logic of a highlight. This is delicate. Rise and fall surrounds art day after day and with no compassion. I prefer to be grateful for having performed in festivals like Coachella, SXSW, among others around the world and I keep myself humbly on my way. I like to travel the world doing my music. We’re going to Europe again. This year we went to U.S. again and it was lovely. For a young Brazilian with an origin like mine, this is much more than I drew in my dreams.

Fiona: I know you were just recently at SXSW— how was that experience? Was there anyone you met there or saw perform who you’ve always wanted to see?

Emicida: I’ve met a few artists. There’s a lot of things happening at the same time at the SXSW festival, lots of information. It has interesting workshops and I went there with this intent more than anything else. I always do this. I’m interested in understanding the 21st century music market. The festival is a good place to exchange experiences.

Fiona: On the collaboration side, you just recently worked with K-Salaam & Beatnick, also Dead Prez… Anyone else we should know about or who you’re going to be working with?

Emicida: I made a collaboration with Blitz Tha Ambassador, an artist that I’m a big fan. I’ve made Max Payne 3 video game soundtrack and one of the songs, called “9 Circles,” had a good remix by Freddie Gibbs and Styles P. I’ve got other things ongoing, but I prefer to wait the confirmations to say the names.

Fiona: Who’s your dream collaboration? Who would you love to work with?

Emicida: I’m a big fan of Jay Z. It’s not a business thing, I’m a real fan. Lyrically speaking, he is amazing. I’m a big admirer of his poetry, but there are other great artists from the U.S. that I listen to and would love to meet and maybe collab with.. Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Dj Premier, Evidence, Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli among others… It’s a big list

Fiona: I know you’re a video game fanatic. What was it like when Rockstar Games approached you to do the soundtrack for Max Payne 3? A dream come true, I’m sure. How was it to work with them and what did you learn or discover? Will we see you on any other videogames in the future?

Emicida: Rockstar company was working on a game acclimated in São Paulo. That’s why they were looking for an artist that could describe the city and they found me. We were in the U.S. at that time, so everything happened so fast. It was one more dream realized. I love to be in soundtracks. The possibility of creating for a different context out of the usual, it’s lovely. Theater, cinema and other kinds of entertainment are things that I love to be in.

Fiona: And… what’s your fave video game now and why.

Emicida: GTA. Because I love GTA!!!

Fiona: Brazil is calling you the best MC — I’m sure you’d like to take that title around the world – is there any region or country you’d love to tour and are you ready to be received around the world? Are you hungry and ambitious for the globe to hear about you and see you perform?

Emicida: I’ve been travelling to lots of places in the world. I really wanna perform in Africa. I think it will be a great experience. I have this ambition to expand my career to another countries. That’s what we have been building. This is the goal, isn’t it?

Fiona: You rhyme in Portuguese. Are there any other languages you would think about doing a song in?

Emicida: Yes, but I need to learn better to be able to sing and compose like I do in Portuguese.

Fiona: There’s quite a few Portuguese speaking countries. I’m actually off to Cape Verde, one of them — Have you performed in all these places and how do the audiences receive you and how are they different.

Emicida: There are a few countries, like Portugal, Angola, Moçambique and Cape Verde. I don’t recognize others now, but I know there are obviously more Portuguese speaking countries. I always receive lots of emails and messages from those countries. I believe when we get there will be great!

Fiona: What’s one thing you LOVE about Brazil that you can’t find anywhere else?

Emicida: It’s a cliche, but samba and feijoada. There’s no music or food like here.

Fiona: Outside of hip hop, what do you enjoy?

Emicida: I’m a big fan of comics, folklore, history, vinyl, fashion, design, illustration, BMX. My dream when I was a young boy was to be designer and work at Marvel Comics. I love X-Men, but I’m a mix of lots of different references, things that I admire and some way I put in my rhymes.

Fiona: When it comes to social platforms, is there a favorite one you like to communicate to your fans with?

Emicida: I like Instagram. Facebook and Twitter are also interesting sometimes.

Fiona: Do you have a favorite hang out in São Paulo?

Emicida: There’s a place called Samba da Vela and another one called Cooperifa, both in South Zone of São Paulo. If someday you come to São Paulo, be sure to go to these places!

Fiona: And when you want to escape? Where do you go?

Emicida: I can’t escape. It’s my dream, but if could, I would go to some quiet place. Brazil has a lot of wonderful places. Northeast is a region that enchants me for gastronomy, scenario, music… And the people are very interesting!

Fiona: Are you into any extreme sports besides BMX?

Emicida: BMX is cool. I love it, but I stopped practicing because I had a knee problem due some street fights when I was teen. I like to skateboard, but it’s hard to have time to do, so in the end, the most risky thing I’ve been doing is rap.

Fiona: How often to you write new songs and what’s your creative process like?

Emicida: My music is a trip. I try to bring sensory experiences in it, different trips, different places. This happens due to rhythm and the poem, but I work hours, days and sometimes months on a verse I think It has to be done. After this I search for a producer to compose with me over an instrumental.

Fiona: Are you into films/movies and what’s the latest one you’ve seen.

Emicida: The latest I saw was Marighella, a história de um revolucionário Brasileiro.

Fiona: There is a documentary on your life, The Rise of Emicida. How did that come to fruition and how long did it take to make?

Emicida: It’s very cool. Shows a little about a phase of my life and my first U.S. Tour, the EP with K-Salaam & Beatnick recording, shows a lot of the process. I participated of a project called Creators Project, from Intel and Vice Magazine, and through this partnership I was able to establish a more direct communication with the U.S.

Fiona: What’s next for you? Do you have anything new coming out?

Emicida: We’ve been studying the possibility of recording a DVD and a documentary about the history of our label, Laboratório Fantasma. I’ve been traveling with my newest album tour and soon will be spreading new music around the world.

Fiona: When you come back to the U.S. and could pick one stage to ROCK, where would it be?

Emicida:  There are so many places, I don’t know exactly. If we talk about places I would like to go, I went to California once and would like to go back there. The concerts were cool. I like New York, it reminds me São Paulo in a certain way.

Fiona: And lastly, any words of wisdom you can share for artists who are starting out and want to be in your shoes?

Emicida: Don’t give up. Fuck the problems, be greater than them. We are the streets.