OPINION Getting down in a Rio favela -A meeting with one of Brazil's most popular hip-hop men By Roselyne Mburu and Nicholas You MV Bill, one of Brazil's most popular hip-hop artists, was born in the western part of Rio de Janeiro in 1974. The letters in his name, MV derive from Messageiro de Verdade or messenger of truth. His real name, he keeps a close secret. The Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP) interviewed MV Bill in Rio in May as part of its collaborative effort with the Universal Forum on Cultures - Barcelona 2004 - to identify people and practices worldwide involved in promoting conditions of peace, cultural diversity and sustainability. "Although much of my music is against many things and against specific trends and issues, I rap about positive things, and try to promote positive change. I use my music to communicate," he says. "Controversy still lingers over the music video I made on Soldiers of the Favelas, released in 2000. It shows images of gunshot victims and orphans living in dilapidated slums. The video showed me with actual drug dealers and gangsters, holding various firearms and firing assault rifles. Because of these scenes, I was indicted on criminal charges." He has not sang that song since the indictment. "But I did get a documentary made with one of the girls featured in the video talking about herself and her life in the favelas. The documentary was expanded to include the lives of 16 kids who work in the drug trade. Of those 16 kids filmed in 2000, only one remains alive today," he says. "I made the documentary because I have lost three brothers and sisters to drugs and violence and I wanted to show kids that death is real, and to encourage them to take a critical look at their lives and their situation. I also wanted to raise awareness of the situation of youth at risk and to open up a dialogue between people living in the favelas and the government." MV Bill is not alone in his mission. In neighbouring Colombia, La Ethnia is a multiracial group that sings about ethnic pride and dignity. From Europe to Africa, and from Greenland to New Zealand, hip-hop is a new international genre in local lingo that gives a voice to underprivileged youth. Indeed, it is fast becoming the most popular form of pop music in the world. Experts agree that there is a general hip-hop trend across the globe. In contrast to the American hip-hop scene focusing on sex, flashy cars, clothes and bad language, in poorer countries the young artists rap about problems in their communities.   Pondering the future of Rio de Janeiro's grim slums, MV Bill raps for his people. Photo: © N.You/UN-HABITAT Much of African hip-hop informs the public about AIDS and corruption. Gidi Gidi Maji Maji's number one hit in 2002 Unbwogable raps about the political scene and played an important awareness building role among Kenyan youth in ensuring free and fair elections in 2002. In Algeria, members of the group MCLP use rap to denounce both sides of the ongoing strife between Islamic fundamentalists and the government. In New Zealand, Maori groups rap about cultural identity and being proud of one's heritage. The same goes for Nuuke Posse, an Inuit rap group in Greenland, credited with bringing back pride in the Eskimo way of life. Much like in the United States which set the trend, rap music in Brazil was created by marginalized groups and is regarded as the voice of the disenfranchised. To fully understand hip-hop in Brazil, one needs to understand the larger social-economic context and the situation found in urban settings. Of a total population of 169 million, close to 50 per cent are of African or partially African descent. Most of them live in the favelas with poor access to utilities and basic services. Today, there are more than 600 favelas in Brazil. Violence is the order of the day, with most favelas run by drug lords. Publicly, many Brazilians champion their supposedly harmonious race relations. Those of African heritage have, however, almost no social mobility and very little representation in the government or the media. After centuries of oppression and decades of mockery of the idea of African aesthetics, most Afro-Brazilians chose not to acknowledge their African heritage. The revolution, as MV Bill calls it, seeks to deconstruct the myth of racial democracy and to present the real face of racism, poverty and social exclusion. MV Bill now devotes the better part of his time to TUFA, the Centre of the Songs of the Favelas. "It is a centre dedicated to the development of youth in the slums. Most kids in the favelas sell drugs and walk around with firearms. But they could become doctors, lawyers or poets. Our centre provides training for 4,000 youth at any given time. They learn how to read and write, as well as other skills. With their interest in the music scene, we teach them how to record music and make videos. All the people working in the centre are volunteers and we receive no money from the government," he says. "My biggest wish is for black culture to become part of the mainstream culture in Brazil, and for our kids and our people to become empowered." Roselyne Mburu, is a consultant with UN-HABITAT. Nicholas You is chief of the agency's Best Pracitices and Policy Section and coordinator of its Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme. The first Universal Forum on Cultures will be held in Barcelona, May to September 2004. Best Practices will form part of this vast event of concerts, conferences and exhibits to celebrate human ingenuity and resourcefulness in tackling critical social, cultural and environmental problems. A group of hip-hop artists will be brought to Barcelona to talk about these and other issues.They will participate in the world's first inter-cultural Best Practices rap-jam session.