Our adventure begins in Salvador in the northeastern state of Bahia. MV Bill is an early riser and the 4REAL crew shadowed him as he headed into the favela Nordeste de Armalina. Like many communities in Brazil, Nordeste de Armalina is poor and violent and MV Bill arrived to share his message of peace, equality and empowerment. Not only an MC, MV Bill has co-authored a book entitled Cabeca de Porco. Over the past two years he has interviewed 16 children in nine different cities across Brazil. The children speak of their experiences in the drug-trafficking business. Much to MV Bill's sorrow all of the children he interviewed have been killed.
The event was facilitated by a community program Projeta Viva Nordeste, MV Bill was greeted by local Hip Hop kids and in his typical humble fashion he made sure it was a discussion rather than just a speech. He encouraged the kids to become active in their community.
We left Nordeste de Armalina in a crush of fans and piled into the van headed for the television stations where MV Bill did a quick interview. While other Brazilian Hip Hop artists refuse to engage with mainstream media, MV Bill keeps it real and refuses to change his message. After all his name does mean messenger of truth.
We took a small break in the middle of the day, actually MV Bill kind of shook us off for a little alone time before the concert. Meanwhile Sol managed to rangle Mos Def and his crew from Rio. Arriving in classic 4REAL style we went straight to the room to make the introductions between MV Bill and Mos Def. To see these two brothers together, talking about Hip Hop and relating to each others personal stories was amazing. You could feel the love and mutual admiration in the room. The reality of the power and influence of the Global Hip Hop movement was apparent. These brothers from another mother clicked instantly. We spoke for a bit and prepared for a performance where MV Bill would introduce Mos Def during his headline set.
As the crew arrived Josh and Sol realized that this was the SAME venue that they had come to in 2003 to see the group Oladum. As soon as MV Bill stepped on stage the crowd went nuts, fans knew every word. Bill stalked the stage and moved the crowd like a true veteran. Half way through the set he stopped the show and introduced Mos Def, again the crowd went crazy, Mos broke through the language barrier with ill renditions of Definiton and Ms Fat Bootee. What an amazing night, it truly can`t get any better than this, these type of connections hold more power than we think. We have to see our brothers and sisters around the world, understand their situation and circumstance and stay connected. As Bill said it was a great night and a first for Hip Hop - but only the beginning.
Tomorrow we head back to Rio to MV Bill´s neighbourhood, the infamous favela, Ciuda De Deus (City of God).