Thank You Little G-sus!

Cansei De Ser Sexy. Ever heard of them? All the style magazine articles about how they’re like “a cute version of Peaches” or “the ultimate favela party band”? That’s them. We were going to give them a miss until we remembered that they come from Sao Paolo, Brazil, which is so filled with gangs and cults that non-members are in the minority. Vice: What are the biggest cults in Brazil right now? Adriano Cintra: There’s a cult we can’t name for legal reasons but they will totally fuck you over. They present themselves as a normal church but they steal money from their followers any way they can. They’ve even fired their less attractive priests and have started screening new ones before hiring them based on how good they look in the media. What about all the chicken-killing voodoo and stuff? Adriano: In the neighbourhood where I have my studio there are a lot of Africans who’ve only been living in Sao Paulo for 10 years or so. They’ve combined the religion of their tribe with voodoo from the Indian witchdoctors and Brazilian Catholicism. The religion that came from that is called Candomblé or Umbanda and it’s freaky. They’ll go out with six people, drag a goat to a busy intersection, kill it and then sit down around it and start praying on their knees. They even get in some kind of trance right in the middle of traffic for, like, three hours or so. Are you guys religious or spiritual in any way? Ana Rezende: No, not really. Which is kind of strange given the fact that Brazil is a hardcore religious country. Religion is everywhere and even regular religious people are involved in an almost sectarian way with their faith. Give us an example. Ana Rezende: You’re constantly being reminded to thank God for everything. Every little piece of meat you eat has got to be blessed extensively. Adriano: But there are also a lot of splinter-religions with a more elitist vibe. A girl I know used to work as a hostess and was a follower of the Snowball Church. That’s a church that only punks and bored kids go to. The altar is a surfboard, the priest sports a mohawk and they frequently have orgy-parties. Carolina: She’s always saying, with this upper-class voice, “My church gives the best parties!” or, “These days evangelical hip hop is so much better than regular hip hop.” Really weird. Adriano: It’s so fucked up. She even has this sticker on her phone that says “Rock Me G-sus.” It has become sort of a running gag in our band. Every time we’ve done a show that went well we’ll say, “Thank you little G-sus.” Not that we’re Catholic or anything. Ana Rezende: But we are spiritual. Adriano: No, we’re not. Lovefoxxx: Are we going to talk about music anytime soon? DER A