MV Bill Brazilian Rap Activist

It isn’t everyday that you meet a man like Alexandre Barreto.

And this is the reason why. When you talk about the rap community in the U.S. you tend to think of drugs, promiscuity and opulence, and uncharted violence comes to mind. It’s a completely different scenario in Rio de Janeiro; the slums of Brazil aren’t that different from the slums of Los Angeles. Gang violence abounds, drugs and poverty is a daily way of life.

Alexandre Barreto – better known as MV Bill, rap artist – grew up in this environment. And he’s a rapper. It’s easy to imagine how an individual like him can be easily drawn into the world his music is usually associated with, especially given that the city he hails from, Cidade de Deus (CDD), is a festering cesspool of the Brazilian drug trade. (continue reading...)