Pedro Luís

Pedro Luís emerged in the mid-'90s as a fresh voice in Brazilian pop, fusing rap, funk, and hip-hop elements into samba and maracatu frameworks. Fernanda Abreu, Ney Matogrosso, Lenine, Ed Motta, O Rappa, Cidade Negra, and Adriana Calcanhotto all cut his material, including “Tudo Vale a Pena,” “Fazê o quê?,” “Miséria no Japão” (featured on Olhos de Farol), “Birinaite,” “Miséria S/A,” “Cidade em Movimento,” and “Mão e Luva.”

His band Pedro Luís e a Parede achieved domestic traction while extending its reach abroad, serving as backing unit for Japanese pop artist Miyazawa Kazufumi on tours through Tokyo and Osaka and on the recording Afrosick. The group’s debut album Astronauta Tupy moved 50,000 units, 10,000 of them purchased by Japanese listeners, and “Pena de Vida” lingered for weeks inside Japan’s Top 50. In 1999 Pedro Luís e a Parede appeared at the Free Jazz Festival in both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; the following year the ensemble performed in Paris at Euro Disney, Café L’Opus, and La Fête de la Musique.

Earlier, Pedro Luís had joined Marcos Leite’s choral ensemble Cobra Coral for appearances at the TV Globo festivals of 1980 and 1981, shared the stage with Cazuza and Bebel Gilberto in the theatrical production Pára-Quedas do Coração, and served as backing vocalist for Chico Buarque’s 1981 presentation Canta Brasil. He helped shape the Brazilian rock wave that surfaced in the ’80s, performing from its outset in 1982 at Rio’s Circo Voador with Banda Voadora. As a member of Paris 400 he supported the theatrical troupe Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone, whose alumni supplied several key figures to the influential band Blitz. His track “Sambock” received regular rotation on Fluminense FM (Maldita). In 1984 he assembled the punk outfit Urge, which issued an independent album in 1981. Recognition also arrived through his roles as guitarist and musical director for Arícia Mess.