From Capão to VMB: the journey of Racionais and the rise of national rap

In the late 80s and early 2000s, rap moved from the outskirts, cassette tapes, and community radios to occupy the center of cultural conversation in Brazil. Names like MV Bill, Facção Central, RZO, Gabriel o Pensador, Planet Hemp, and, of course, Racionais MC’s, broke barriers with rhymes and narratives that portrayed the real life of the neighborhoods — without concessions.

Since then, the genre has reinvented itself, beginning to win awards, festivals, timelines, and playlists, while maintaining its connection to its roots and social function.

Today, we celebrate 52 years of hip hop — a culture that was born on the streets of the Bronx in 1973 and spread across the world as a tool for denunciation and a bridge between communities. In Brazil, this story is also about resilience, transforming pain into artistic expression and occupying spaces that were previously denied.

From Capão Redondo to the top of the charts, rap remains alive, relevant, and necessary. Check it out below:

THE RISE OF RAP

Still at the height of pop culture in the 2000s, with the spotlight on them, Racionais celebrated their achievement by taking the stage at VMB 1998. In the early 90s and the beginning of the 2000s, Brazilian rap emerged from its niche and entered media spaces beyond the streets. The genre was primarily sustained by small rappers and peripheral dances, as well as cassette tapes and community radios.

However, this reality turned around with the rise of artists like MV Bill, Facção Central, RZO, Gabriel O Pensador, Planet Hemp, and, of course, Racionais MC’s, who raised the public's awareness of the rap universe and peripheral experiences. Based on a strong and fearless language, along with discourses of resistance and captivating lyrics, these names opened doors for the future of rap in Brazil, starting to compete in media and musical spaces.

What was once contended by pop, rock, and MPB, now rap takes its place as a genre present in competitions, contests, and among screens and radios. This moment of growth marked the rise of these artists and of rap itself. Music videos began to be aired on a large scale in TV programming, such as MTV Brazil, and even opened up in talent shows and festivals, spaces for receiving artists and rappers for performances and interviews.

During this time, rap began to move out of a musical inertia and started being viewed as one of the popular pillars of Brazilian music.

RACIONAIS

Within this transition, there is one group that symbolized this rise in an impactful way. The group composed of Mano Brown, Ice Blue, Edi Rock, and KL Jay formed Os Racionais. They brought with them a discourse that went far beyond entertainment, having an autobiographical role as a social pointer and urban chronicle.

The story of Racionais MC’s begins in the late 80s, in Capão Redondo and the Pirituba neighborhood in São Paulo. Mano Brown, Ice Blue, Edi Rock, and KL Jay, still teenagers, met at black music dances that thrived in the periphery — spaces where rap and American funk arrived on imported vinyl and became the soundtrack of the neighborhoods.

In 1988, the four decided to join forces to rhyme about the life they knew: violent streets, social inequality, racism, police repression. It wasn't fictional; it was the daily portrait of those who grew up in Brazil, outside all the glamour displayed by the music industry. From the start, the group caught attention for their serious stance and long, dense lyrics, like sung chronicles.

Their first record came in 1990, with the EP Holocausto Urbano — a direct, raw, and politicized album. Songs like "Pânico na Zona Sul" already made it clear that Racionais was not there for empty entertainment: it was music as a weapon of awareness. The work caught the attention of the underground audience and the hip-hop movement, which was growing in São Paulo at the time with literary gatherings, encounters, and battles.

In 1992, they released Escolha o Seu Caminho and Raio X Brasil (the latter in 1993), which featured impactful tracks like "Homem na Estrada", consolidating the group as an undeniable voice of the periphery. Racionais became more than a rap group; it turned into a political and cultural reference.

But it was in 1997 that Brazil as a whole heard about them intensely. The album ‘Sobrevivendo no Inferno’ stood out as a sales phenomenon with over 1.5 million copies. With tracks like "Diário de um Detento", "Capítulo 4, Versículo 3", and "Fórmula Mágica da Paz", the album had a social impact that almost became a manifesto. The cover, featuring a Bible, reinforced a narrative of faith and survival, and the album was studied in entrance exams, such as those for Unicamp. The recognition in the industry came at VMB 1998 when they won with the video of Diário de um Detento. For the first time, a national rap group took the stage of a major award ceremony as winners, paving the way for peripheral music to be recognized by institutions as well.

In 2002, they released ‘Nada Como um Dia Após o Outro Dia’, a double album that mixed introspection and aggression, addressing themes of overcoming, racism, and inequality, while also celebrating individual victories. Songs like "Vida Loka I and II", "Negro Drama", and "Jesus Chorou" became anthems. The repercussions were so great that at that year's VMB, Racionais' performance was marked by the dark visuals on stage, along with a more serious and impactful appearance.

From then on, the group adopted a spaced-out release rhythm, focusing more on shows and special appearances. The 2000s and 2010s were a period of consolidation of the myth: Racionais no longer needed to prove anything; every appearance was an event. In 2014, they released ‘Cores & Valores’, a shorter and more direct album that maintained the essence and brought new stories. In recent years, the group has performed sporadically, always to sold-out crowds and a massive presence from different generations. Documentaries, interviews, and video records reinforce their role as a treasure of Brazilian culture.

The “end” never came officially. Racionais MC’s did not announce separation and remain active, even though not as frequently releasing new music as in the past. Mano Brown continues with a solo career, as does Edi Rock, while KL Jay continues to act as a DJ and producer.

Finally, they were a group that carried the periphery into the music industry without formalities or censorship, and that meant exposing themes like police violence, structural racism, inequality, and survival in the neighborhoods, subjects previously marginalized by the mainstream. They did not need to adapt to the industry; it was the industry that had to adapt to them.

VMB AND ÉPOCA

VMB (Video Music Brasil) was MTV's main award show, the mirror of the country's youth music. And, in 1998, Racionais MC’s entered history by winning the “Best Rap Clip” category with “Diário de um Detento” — an unprecedented achievement for the genre. Diário de um Detento is one of Racionais MC’s most emblematic songs, part of the album ‘Sobrevivendo no Inferno’. The song is based on the real testimony of Jocenir, a former inmate of Carandiru, who wrote about the routine and tension in the prison. Mano Brown adapted this text into the lyrics, transforming it into an intense and cinematic rap.

The victory was not only for the group but for all national rap: for the first time, a genre born in the periphery was officially recognized on a nationally relevant stage. This award set a precedent for the category to remain and for other awards to begin consistently including rap. Until then, recognition depended on niches and isolated initiatives.

We are talking about the late 90s, a time when Brazil was undergoing social and media transformations. The internet was still nascent, and open TV, along with MTV, dictated musical trends and careers.

The country was witnessing a rise in urban violence, the expansion of favelas, and pronounced inequality. However, pop music of the period rarely addressed these issues. Rap, on the other hand, transformed these experiences into art — and for this, it was viewed with suspicion by the media and the cultural elite.

At that moment when the band took the stage to receive the award in 1998, they were not just celebrating an artistic achievement but claiming the territory that had previously been denied to peripheral culture.

Awards

Starting in 1998, the institutional recognition of rap began to gain real traction. Other awards opened space, and new initiatives emerged specifically to celebrate hip-hop culture. The Hutuz Prize, created in 2000 by CUFA (Central Única das Favelas) and idealized by Celso Athayde, became the largest award dedicated exclusively to Brazilian hip-hop. It honored artists, DJs, producers, independent record labels, and specialized media outlets. The Hutuz remained until 2009 and marked an era by consolidating a network of internal appreciation for rap and hip-hop.

In 2008, the São Paulo City Hall established the Sabotage Prize, recognizing the role of hip-hop as a tool for social and cultural inclusion. Focused on the São Paulo scene, it honored artists who stood out in the city, reaffirming rap’s role in social transformation.

With the rise of the internet, 100% digital awards also emerged, created by pages, collectives, and specialized media:

• Genius Awards / Prêmio Genius Brasil de Música (2014-2021)

• Prêmio Sh!t de Ouro / Prêmio Inverso de Rap BR (2015-2021)

• Prêmio Nacional RapTV (2020-2021)

• Prêmio 5lemento Hip Hop (2019 – present)

• Prêmio Rap Out of Context (2023)

• Prêmio Rap Nacional (2023)

These online formats accompanied the transformation of rap into a digital phenomenon, connecting the audience and artists without the mediation of mainstream media.

LEGACY

What began as a struggle for visibility is now a fundamental symbol in Brazilian music. Rap has won awards, stages, and narratives, but above all, it has solidified a legacy in the identity and essence of its message and culture. From the VMB of 1998 to today's virtual awards, each victory and sub-niche represents not only the rise and success of artists or a group but a collective. Through their acts of contestation, we can now enjoy what they paved the way for in the current scene — increasingly stronger and more influential.

And that is why, more than two decades later, that moment on the VMB stage remains remembered as a milestone: the day rap not only celebrated the conquest and assertion of its space but also how a group defined the tone of the genre in Brazil.