Selma do Coco

Selma Ferreira da Silva was born in the countryside of Pernambuco, where she lived till age 10. By that time, Selma started learning all about that region’s folk music, especially the coco, which is regarded as a "samba relative". Selma moved with her family to the capital, Recife, where she got married, had 14 children and became a widow at age 30. As she moved to Olinda, north of Recife, Selma dedicated her free time to the promotion of coco meetings in her backyard. Those meetings made her famous, causing Selma to travel and perform around the country. In 1996, her participation in the rock festival Abril Pro Rock engendered a turning point in her career. She produced a hit, A Rolinha, recorded by other artists and heavily aired during Carnival of 1997. She then performed in São Paulo and headed to Germany. In 1998, Paradoxx released the album Minha História in Brazil and in Europe.