AfroReggae is the band from Rio de Janeiro that is part of the cultural organisation of the same name working for social change within the favela communities. The organisation has achieved phenomenal success in the last 13 years, using music and cultural programmes to change the lives of thousands of people in the areas hardest hit by drug-traffiking, violence and poverty. The band and the foundation have won huge acclaim in Brazil and beyond.

Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae (GCAR) was inspired after 21 innocent people died in the favela Vigario Geral in 1993. It was the brain child of singer Anderson Sa and AfroReggae director Jose Junior. Together these two set up the organization which has been working tirelessly in the favelas of Rio offering an alternative way of life to young people seeking to escape drug trafficking gangs. They are championed in Brazil by their musical ‘godfathers’ Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and actress Regina Casé.

AfroReggae, the first band of Grupo Cultural Afro Reggae (GCAR) to become professional, appeared in 1995, as a result of dance and percussion workshops in the favela of Vigário Geral.

Until 1998 the history of the band is marked by rehearsals and concerts throughout Rio. Slowly but surely the visual and musical aesthetic of the band took shape, with the addition of kit drums, guitar, bass, caixas de folia carnival drums and the presence of a DJ. It was also around this time that the band started to compose its own songs which tell the story of life in the favela through samba, reggae and hip hop. The live show demonstrates all the fervent energy out of which AfroReggae was born. Since 1998 the band has toured within Brazil and internationally, releasing their first album ‘Nova Cara’ on Univeral in 2001.

Live performances to date range from regular favela performances in Rio to supporting the Rolling Stones at their Copacabana Beach earlier this year. They have also played several European festivals, including performing to over 100,000 people at Piazza del Popolo in Rome and dates in Italy, France, Holland, Portugal, Germany and the UK. In 2000 AfroReggae were invited to play in the US at “Stop Racism”, an event organised by Canadian and American students fighting against racial prejudice. AfroReggae’s participation had such an impact on the event that the White House awarded them official recognition for their work. In April 2004 they opened for Caetano Veloso at the Carnegie Hall in New York. 2005 began with Afroreggae performing with Margareth Menezes, one of Brazil’s most renowned popular music stars at Canecão, the most prestigious concert venue in the country. The band was also invited to participate in Amnesty International’s project “Make Some Noise”: Yoko Ono donated the rights to Imagine and other John Lennon songs to Amnesty for a year. AfroReggae were invited to record their own version of Imagine to be used as one of the launch songs for the project. Most recently in March 2006 AfroReggae performed two sold out shows at the Barbican Theatre, where they have been invited to return in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

2006 sees the UK release of the documentary film Favela Rising, which tells the story of Anderson Sa, lead singer of AfroReggae and a former drug-trafficker who turned his back on crime to reconnect with his community and form AfroReggae. The film, directed by New York journalists Zimbalist and Mochary was short-listed for Film of the Year 2005, International Documentary Association and won Best Emerging Documentary Filmmaker award at the Tribeca Film Festival 2005.

Afroreggae’s new album Nenhum Motivo Explica A Guerra (‘nothing justifies war’) features Ty, Estelle and Manu Chao and will be released in the UK later this year.

www.afroreggae.com.br

Buy this release here