A few days before Brazil's Lollapalooza 2017, Raffa Moreira received an unexpected phone call: a journalist from G1—the largest news organization in Brazil—managed to get his number and called to ask for his opinion on Haikaiss, an all-white rap group featured in the lineup for the festival, which ran from Saturday, March 25 through Sunday, March 26. "I cussed out the reporter for about five minutes," said the rapper from Guarulhos in an interview with Noisey. "I kept repeating: 'My phone number is for personal use or just to schedule shows, man. Not to talk about my opinions.' I thought it was someone trying to mess with me, record the audio, and share it around on Whatsapp." But it was no joke: the following day, Moreira woke up to a direct message from a friend who sent, along with several other funny messages, a link to the published G1 article.The reporter had looked for Moreira after Poetas no Topo ("Poets on Top")—a musical web series that showcases multiple prominent rappers on a single collaborative track—announced that Pedro Qualy, one of the members of Haikaiss, would be featured in their third video. Moreira took to social media to criticize the project, which is sponsored by Pineapple Supply, a popular Brazilian streetwear brand. "If I knew they were going to invite someone from Haikaiss [later on], I would have never accepted the invitation to participate in Poetas 2," Moreira posted (and stressed several times during the interview) on Twitter. His additional posts on the matter prompted a racial debate in the online hip hop community. The dialogue became so impassioned that it was covered by TV Globo, the largest and most-watched network in the country.Continue reading on Noisey.
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