The rapper releases the album Iboru, in which he uses rap and trap bass to create what he calls the new traditional samba
The day when the report of the Stadium he found Marcellus D2 for an interview in a café in the central region of Sao Paulo, the news of the death of the Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto (1940-2023) was one of the news headlines. abstrud, as well as Rita Lee (1947-2023) had been away from the stage for nearly two decades when she died.
The chat with D2 started with this question: have you ever thought about abandoning concerts and albums? “Of course, I wanted to do it, especially after 30 years of career. In the last five, six years it has been stronger. Sometimes it seems that we have nothing more to say. That’s why I always want to reinvent myself . , are you connected?”, says the singer-songwriter .
About that, Iboru – May our pleas be heard (Altafonte), the new D2 album that arrives on musical platforms this Wednesday 14, satisfies the artist’s desire to do something new and, of course, excuse the cliché, advance in his search for the perfect rhythm.
This time, a rhythm closer to the samba which, moreover, has always been in D2’s work. The difference is that now the genre becomes the protagonist of the rapper’s ninth studio album.
- The album features contributions from Alcyone, Zeca Pagodinho, Xandè de Pilares, Denies Duda, Matthew Hallelujah, Half and half AND B negao
- Kendrick Lamar and Clementina de Jesus were two of D2’s inspirers for this project
- The album will develop into a short film
With 16 new tracks – a great album by today’s standards -, iboru It was divided into three thematic parts. In the first, D2 shows what he proposes as a “new traditional samba”. Later, the album became very Terreiro and Baiano, with the participation of the group Metá Metá and the musician Mateus Aleluia. Then it becomes popular with the participation of Alcione and Zeca Pagodinho. It ends with a message of hope.
“Samba is not on the agenda for these trap listening kids, who are on TikTok. My idea is to change that.
D2 was aware of this since he recorded Marcelo D2 sings Bezerra da Silva, in 2010, the public expected him to make an authorial samba album. To conquer new listeners, he now finally unfolds the epilogue of the album dedicated to Bezerra: he takes the batucada so dear to his friend and subjects it to the influence of rap.
“My samba dialogues with tradition, but it’s damn contemporary because I put the bass of rap and hip hop culture into it. This has opened a door in my head that hasn’t happened since the days of A Looking for the perfect rhythm“, he says, excitedly. “Current pop music is serious,” he completes.
For D2, samba, which has always been on the cutting edge, hasn’t advanced since the 1990s, when romantic pagode dominated the charts. “I don’t know if this album of mine will be a turning point, but this sound is my new proposition. Samba, for having the surdo, was perhaps the last one to look for this serious sound”, he analyzes.
To get to his ancestors from the future, D2 took influences from American rapper Kendrick Lamar, who he heard, and mixed them with the singing of Clementina de Jesus. Both had to reconcile their roots with a new reality. Lamar for being a rapper turned pop star. Clementina, a maid who sang the songs of her ancestors, was chosen, after more than 60 years, to sing on TV and on records.
“I also think I’m a stranger in the nest for becoming a pop star, to this day. I’m a junkie and a suburbanite. Up until my 20s, I was invisible,” defines D2, 55, launched directly into success in the 1990s. 1990 , in the group planet hemp.
a spiritual album
The word Iboru, which D2 has chosen to print in the title of his new work, is part of the greeting “Iboru, Iboya, Ibosheshe” used by followers of Ifá, a religion of African origin that he became a follower of about two years ago. Its meaning: may our pleas be heard.
The search for something more spiritual began in This is how my drums playthe previous album by D2, released in 2020. The rapper Creole and the researcher and composer Luiz Antonio Simas, Ifá’s brother, contributed to this process. Simas co-wrote two tracks on the album.
“It was with Simas that I started this conversation about ancestors. He is a great connoisseur of people on the street. It took me a long time to understand where I come from. I am a black man who enjoys the privileges of a white man. I put doubt all that.”, he says.
In 2021, D2 lost his mother, Paulete Peixoto. It is she who opens the disc. The rapper played in the song Saravá, full of axé and greetings to spirituality, an audio message from her mother in which she praises a performance by her son.
in the lane Small pieces of Paulete, D2 summarizes the mother’s life. In To heal from the pain of the world, which closes the disc, his voice reappears, this time teaching his son to cook beans. “Until today I haven’t learned,” confesses D2.
Spirituality still appears on tracks like People of Faithwhich has the participation of Denies DudaAND steel drumdedicated to Ogum, with affirming verses.
Partnerships with Zeca Pagodinho, Carlos Sena, Otacílio da Mangueira, Xande de Pilares, Bundaleleh, with a more popular chorus, comes as a relief for the more “heady” songs, as defined by D2. ‘I’ll make your ass bigger when I find you. I’ll be the biggest asshole when we meet’, says the text full of mischief.
Once in São Paulo
D2 says it’s having a moment of “cautious optimism” after the last four years. This, however, does not prevent him from deploying Iboru in other projects.
One of these is a short film which narrates a fictitious meeting between Clementina de Jesus, Pixinguinha AND John of Bahia in 1923. In the story, Pixinguinha returns from Europe and convinces his friends of the need to create a new traditional samba, an analogy with Iboru. Written and directed by D2 herself and co-directed by the production company Luiza Macchadorapper’s wife, head of producer Pupila Dilatada.
The other actions cover fashion, visual arts and occupations in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador to discuss the idea of ancestry with the professionals who worked on the album and the short film.
D2 has the idea of making two more volumes with that hint of samba that he now calls his own. One of the songs for future releases, Your return, sorryanother unreleased track by Zeca Pagodinho, should be released soon as a single.
The rapper from Rio de Janeiro, who came to São Paulo for a month and is considering extending his stay for a year, has had his projects sponsored by four companies: Vivo, Puma, Budweiser and Jack Daniels. The value that does not reveal.
“I didn’t become an artist to do what people expect of me. Nor to make money, even though I like what money can give me. I became an artist to make a record like this. I think I’ve found what to do in the next five, ten years,” he says.
launch show
Iboru – May our pleas be heard
16/6, 10pm
Audio SP – AV. Francisco Matarazzo, 694, Água Branca
BRL 120
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
