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Music

Milestones Pave The Way Of Emicida's US Debut

Details on the Brazilian rapper’s upcoming album produced in collaboration with The Studio, and a recap of his Coachella performance.

This month Emicida made not one but two career milestones. The self-made Brazilian rapper, who rose to fame through YouTube, visited the US for the first time first to perform at Coachella and then went on to New York City where he is currently recording his first official studio album.

With support from our newly launched arts initiative, The Studio, he’s recording five songs with producers K-Salaam & Beatnick. He’ll finish the rest of the 9-song EP back in Brazil where he’ll invite other local recording artists to be a part of the record.

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We chatted with Emicida over Skype and in the studio to find out more about his first trip to the States, how the recording process is going, and what some of his favorite acts at Coachella were.

In New York, he was surprised to see that K-Salaam & Beatnick’s recording studio was quite similar to what he’s used to in São Paulo, but despite the fact that it wasn’t as flashy as he imagined, he was nevertheless excited to be collaborating and performing for the first time outside his home country.

Though Emicida raps in Portuguese, he’s not worried about breaking into international markets. In his eyes, the enjoyment of music is not dependent on language and lyrics alone, it’s more about the feeling music conveys. He says that people unfamiliar with English in Brazil will sometimes murmur the sounds they think resemble the lyrics of popular American songs, and that perhaps the reverse will happen with his music in the US and other countries.

Having two mixtapes, one EP, and several hit singles behind him, he’s happy that he’s continuing to stay independent with his first legitimate album, free from the reigns of record label executives.

“These record company dudes come to me and promise me the world. They promise me that they will make me famous, that if I sign with them I will make 20 grand a show, that if I sign with them journalists will always be hounding me, and that I won’t be able to go out into the streets without being mobbed by people. Well, whoever told them that’s what I want with my life?”

Besides a minor holdup at immigration, causing Emicida’s Coachella set to be delayed, he and his crew had a blast at the festival. "We had to play for a smaller audience, but it was dope—we played with our usual excitement. I was very happy with the guys that got together to watch our show."

During the three-day festival, Emicida met with fellow Brazilian Creator, Muti Randolph, who developed the visual installation inside the Sahara dance tent, and the two talked about a possible future collaboration on a crazy light and sound project.

Emicida and his entourage also got their fill of live music, “I felt like I was inside iTunes,” Emicida said. Some of his favorite sets were other rap acts like Nas & Damian Marley, Wiz Khalifa, Erykah Badu, and Kanye West, but surprisingly he was also really amped about seeing The Strokes.

“Just being there and seeing the concerts I saw… their conceptions of what concerts and events are, it’s just so amazing. Being there was a huge lesson for me. I saw many things that will change me and change the way that I’ll work from now on. Be it musically, or in presentations and events.”