I just have to share the awesomeness of something I’ve found with you. The first rap group formed by the Brazilian indigenous released the first high-definition video for ‘Koangagua’ a few weeks ago. The video shows native youngsters dressed in modern hip hop style, swinging to the sound of speakers connected to a cart pulled by a horse, right in the middle of the forest.
Bro MC’s write their songs in a language which blends Brazilian-Portuguese with the endangered indigenous language Guarani (in which “Koangagua” means “nowadays”). The group was formed in 2008 in the Jaguapiru settlement in Dourados-MS, where the indigenous tradition has been threatened by violence, poverty, abuse of alcohol and drugs and other problems caused by the contact with the white man.
Still from video ‘Koangagua’
While mostly being neglected by the mainstream media, their art has become an expressive tool for combating social issues and preserving their people’s identity, as it can be heard in this excerpt of Koangagua:
“I speak the truth and don’t want to be the only one. I’m coming to sing our daily life. The indigenous voice, the voice of the present. My rap talks about reality. We are here altogether”.
And:
“Newsprints tell their stories. TV tells its stories. However the truth is often hidden. But we have people here with strong ideas. So please stop spreading false information about us. Sadly you have no idea about our reality. You haven’t seen anything, you don’t understand anything”.
