(photo: Miguel de Castro)
The history of Brazilian sound systems inspired by Jamaican culture begins to be traced in the 1970s, in Maranhão, with the traditional radiolas - huge walls of speakers. A little before that, but echoing other sounds, the ?sonoros? from Para emerged in the mid-1950s, which had a boom in the 1980s with the growth and popularization of local events of technobrega/tecnomelody, a rhythm considered historical heritage.
However, another way to celebrate Jamaican culture in Brazil has emerged since the early 2000s. Then began the trajectory of the sound systems national - so known from then on, with the pioneering of the Dubversão Sistema de Som boxes in the São Paulo capital.
Almost two decades after the beginning of this cultural and musical movement, which has expanded to the four corners of the country, the first panorama related to this vast culture has been outlined and, now, transformed into printed material. The illustrated catalog ?Sound System Brazil Map?, created by the researchers and selectors (as DJs are called in Jamaican culture) Daniella Pimenta and Natan Nascimento, will be released on June 29th and includes more than 120 Brazilian sound systems inspired by Jamaica. The number of sound systems in the country is even greater than the total raised for the book - and it keeps growing, week after week.
Sound system in Brazil and the historical growth
The book is the physical embodiment of the Sound System Brazil Map online, a project started in 2015 on the blog Groovin Moodby Daniella. When the Map started, the idea was to visualize the activities of reggae sound systems in Brazil. Besides the big names and the pioneers, I was curious to find out who were the new names in the scene and how they were working?
In 2018, Daniella, an advertising executive, and Natan, a designer, got together to create the print publication, which features testimonials from local and also international artists, such as Jamaican Walshy Fire, from the duo Major Lazer, and Caribbean music producer based in Europe Mad Professor.
The catalog does not intend to be a definitive guide to the Brazilian sound system. The idea is not to close a list: okay, these are the systems from here, because there are more sounds than those that appear in the catalog. Our objective is to give the reader - Brazilian and foreign readers alike - a more general visual panorama of the movement of Jamaican style reggae sound system culture in Brazil. We want to bring a sample of what has been happening here," concludes Daniella.
SERVICE
Launch Sound System Brazil Map
6/29/2019, Saturday, from 4pm to 9pm
Free entrance - free classification
Place: Casa Brasilis - Rua Clélia, 353 - Pompeia - SP/SP