The Racionais’ commitment, since their start in 1988, has been to raise awareness of structural inequality in Brazil using raw lyrics, beats and scratches that are unique. Through their music, they inspired a whole generation to understand that art could be a path to overcome hardship.
In the 90’s the hip hop movement and its core values, introduced in Brazil by the Racionais, played a main role in shaping a new neighborhood identity in Sao Paulo and after that across the county.
Learn moreIn 1990, Racionais MC's first album was released. Two of the six tracks, "Pânico na Zona Sul" and "Tempos Difíceis" had been released, in 1988, on the compilation Consciência Black, Vol. I, from the Zimbabwe Records label (specialized in black music). In Holocausto Urbano, the rap group from São Paulo denounces racism and poverty in the outskirts of São Paulo, marked by violence and crime.
At the end of 1992, the Racionais MC's released an EP entitled Escolha o Seu Caminho, with the tracks "Black Limit" and "Voz Ativa", which also had two mixes.
In 1993, Racionais MC's were already popular on the outskirts of São Paulo. That year, they recorded their third album, the LP Raio X Brasil. The album was released at a party, with an estimated audience of 10,000 people, at the Rosas de Ouro samba school. The great successes of this album were the songs "Fim de Semana no Parque" and "Homem na Estrada".
At the end of 1997, Racionais MC's released Sobrevivendo no Inferno, their fifth studio album. The album reached the milestone of 1,500,000 copies sold, despite being released on an independent label.
It is considered the most important album of Brazilian rap. In 2007, it ranked 14th on the list of the 100 best albums of Brazilian music by Rolling Stone Brasil.
After the great success of Sobrevivendo no Inferno, the Racionais MC's released the double album Nada Como um Dia Pós o Outro Dia in 2002.
Like its predecessor, it was praised by critics as yet another album that reaffirmed the rap group from São Paulo, not just for alternative hip hop, but for Brazilian popular music in general. The LP was chosen in a list of the Brazilian version by Rolling Stone magazine as the 88th best Brazilian album of all time.
Cores e Valores is the sixth studio album by the Brazilian rap group Racionais MC's, released in 2014. Unlike previous albums, all marked by several long-lasting songs, Cores e Valores features several short and direct raps - the longest track is "O Mal e o Bem", with exactly five minutes.