NOVA CARA

"August 29, 1993, 21 people murdered by the hatred and butality of vendictive police officers." That's how the story starts being told on Som de V.G., the opening track in this Nova Cara, the debut album for AfroReggae, a band from the favela Vigário Geral, in Rio de Janeiro. Eu Tô Bolado goes further into the issues brought up in their music: innocent bystanders from the favela were shot dead by the police "because four drug dealers had shot a cop one day before." The tragedy that awakened the country to the cruel reality which ruled that community also encouraged its members to seek after solutions for the youth that was stuck between poverty, crime and the police. Thus, the Grupo Cultural AfroReggae was founded in 1993 as an attempt to shed new light into the lives of those kids through cultural activities. This band emerged from music workshops. Caetano Veloso was the artistic director for this first CD of theirs.

In Nova Cara, AfroReggae uses all different elements to tell their tale and keep it in the past: samba, funk, reggae, axé, rap, the Miami bass adaptation that is now known as funk carioca (made in Rio), punk, hardcore... a sort of summary of the music mix promoted in the 90s by artists like Planet Hemp, O Rappa, Fernanda Abreu, Cidade Negra, Pedro Luís e a Parede, all of whom from Rio, and Nção Zumbi (from Pernambuco). Producer Dudu Marote tries to combine such diversity into one pop product, but sets the band free to go over assorted styles, even in one single track.

Sometimes they end up sounding like of the aforementioned artists. Iguais Sobrepondo Iguais rings a Planet Hemp bell. Mesmo Assim is O Rappa with a flute. What matters, though, is that the lyrics pass on the message and the percussion is loud enough, occasionally adorned with electronic beats, like the drum'n'bass Poesia Orgânica. There are also moments to catch the breath, like the reggae Me Espere, the groovy funk Pegajoso and the ballad Meus Telefonemas. Tough and Tender. (Silvio Essinger)