Samba Rap

Samba rap is the Brazilian fusion of rap with samba, in which MCs deliver verses over samba's percussion battery, cavaquinho and seven-string guitar, or over beats sampled from samba records. It emerged in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in the 1990s as hip hop's Brazilian practitioners sought a native rhythmic ground, and was codified by *Marcelo D2*, former frontman of *Planet Hemp*, whose solo records from "Eu Tiro É Onda" (1998) to "A Procura da Batida Perfeita" (2003) made the hybrid a commercial force. *Rappin' Hood*, *Black Alien* and *Sabotage* each developed the style, which binds rap's social reportage to Brazil's national rhythm.