Learn about the work of Nzambiapongo, who in addition to translating the songs into sign language has also released his own songs
Those who enjoyed the show of the twins Tasha and Tracie at the Cena Festival, held in June in Sao Paulo, also followed on stage the work of a third woman, the interpreter of Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) Nzambiapongo Brito, 21 years.
Nzambi, on that occasion, also appeared on the screen of the festival, for the thousands of people present at the Anhembi Sambodromo, in the north of Sao Paulo, but she is very used to the smartphone screen.
His Instagram profile has over 17,000 followers. It is there that she, who is also a singer, “translates” funk, rap and trap hits into sign language. The video in which she interprets the song “Sei que tu like a lot”, by L7nnon and Biel do Furduncinho, has over 1 million views on the social network.
Production of the Instagram videos of Nzambi, a resident of Parelheiros, in the far south of São Paulo, began in 2020, after performing a song for his deaf parents.
“I was once at home watching a video of MC Lipi, ‘Victoria Arrived’, and my mother saw it. In the video she nods, she doesn’t speak in Libra, but she does [os gestos de] a wooden house, and my mother wanted to know what he said about the house, ”recalls Nzambi.
“I was always ashamed to show my parents what I felt, but then I said, ‘You know what, I’ll show what I really feel and they’ll like it.’
This first video has just over 2,000 views, but success came in the subsequent interpretation of the song “Homenagem aos Relíquias”, which also sees the participation of MC Lipi.
“My grandmother called me from the beach to congratulate me. Then I saw that several people liked it, had fun. And it’s crazy because I don’t know how it got there. The video in question has over 54,000 views.
From that point on, Nzambi began working as a Libra interpreter in in-person lives and events, but the focus of her social media content continued to be peripheral rhythms. “I felt it was something I like to do, that I was missing in this environment, people who translate funk, translate complaints and what we hear,” she says.
Differentiated pounds
Nzambi reports that, even among Libra interpreters, there is a linguistic bias towards the peripheral dialect. “I had a teacher who asked me if I had a degree, because it was difficult to talk to me. This has brought me immense frustration, ”she recalls.
“Deaf peripheral people have their own way of communicating, which is totally different, totally peripheral,” he adds.
It is with this in mind that Nzambi developed Libras Diferenciada, a free training project to spread the Brazilian Sign Language the way it was presented on social networks: full of swing and slang.
“I’ve seen some videos where the person reluctantly taught. You have to put a color, a mood. Several people came after me to learn Libra because they liked my videos, ”she says.
Classes took place online between late last year and early 2022, but his goal is to offer the course in Casas de Cultura, on the outskirts of São Paulo.
Nzambi acknowledges that there has been a popularization of Libra among the listening population due to the lives of artists during the pandemic, but that the way the performers appeared did not get the prominence they deserved.
“I know I’m part of a moment that makes people understand [a importância das Libras]. I understand that there are people who have been doing this for a long time, but they have no longer made other people want to learn, ”explains Nzambi, reinforcing the purpose of his project:
“This was my intention, to instigate and annoy people to understand that Libra is something that is ours.”
Speaking of one of the most striking features of the peripheral dialect, slang, Nzambi says that he sometimes creates a translation for a word, but that in some cases he considers the slang “too good” to be translated, choosing to write it (despite doing more work).
“For ‘mandrake’ I use the sign of the trickster. I wanted it to be something different, but sometimes there isn’t much to change and add a lot of decorations. Slang is very difficult to construct. It is one thing for everyone. Sometimes it’s jargon we’ve never heard, ”she says.
More than an interpreter: singer
Although Brazilian Sign Language is currently the main source of income, Nzambi likes to point out that his focus is on music. As a singer, she has so far released only one single, the song “Todos Vilão”.
Having hearing-impaired parents, Nzambiapongo learned to communicate through gestures before he could even speak. Fearing that their daughter would develop some difficulty in this regard, her parents made her go to her aunt’s house more often.
It was there that he began to fall in love with music, especially funk. “When I was a kid, I didn’t like funk. If my parents saw me dancing it was ‘no you can’t’. My cousin lived at baile funk and I thought ‘I want to be like this’, then I grew up and got worse ”, jokes the singer.
Writing, on the other hand, entered the life of the performer in his teens, when Nzambi began taking acting lessons. “I like to write to better understand what’s going on in my life. When I write, I begin to understand where I am in my life, to understand my feelings and to organize them “.
The union of these experiences is the basis of his compositions. Nzambi says he wanted to perform in “Todos Vilão”, a song full of rap influences.
“I say that I am a person who likes ‘silver’, that my family comes first, I talk a little about my vision. I like to navigate through various aspects because I’m finding myself, but I really like funk, ”she says.
After taking the stage of the Cena Festival as a performer, Nzambi commented on whether he imagines being back there one day with his songs. “I just prefer someone to play on my side because otherwise it will be a very heavy load – singing and doing Libra – maybe it won’t go as I would like. I should train a lot, maybe it will work ”, he concludes.
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
