Biography
The folkloric and highly influential face of the mangue beat umbrella denomination, the harsh-voiced and underrated Selma do Coco spent her childhood and adolescence in the hinterlands of Pernambuco, specifically Vitória de Santo Antão, where she immersed herself in local traditions and absorbed the coco style. She later endured decades of poverty in Recife and Olinda, both in Pernambuco, while peddling homemade tapioca on city streets. Deeply devoted to coco—a Brazilian form rooted in African dances and passed down to her by parents and grandparents at sugar mills across Alagoas and Pernambuco—she hosted weekend gatherings at her home for thirty years; these events gained wide renown, drew in pop musicians such as Chico Science (who later presented her to larger crowds), and generated offers for performances throughout the region. Those shows featured ganzá, pandeiro, surdo, and conga, supported by handclapping and stomping, as Selma danced in her signature manner and sang verses that prompted replies from listeners. Her profile rose sharply after her appearance at Abril Pro Rock in Olinda, Pernambuco, in 1996, where “A Rolinha” became a hit later covered by multiple artists and ranked among the most-played tracks during Carnaval 1997. That same year she traveled by plane for the first time, at age 62, to perform for São Paulo crowds at the Babel event alongside her protégés Coração Tribal and Mestre Ambrósio. She also received an invitation to the Caruaru Forró-Rock-Fest, sharing the bill with Jorge Cabeleira, Devotos do Ódio, Dona Margarida Pereira, Faces do Subúrbio, Cascabulho, Paulo Francis Vai Pro Céu, and Eddie, and she appeared at the Rec Beat festival in Recife, Pernambuco, in 1999. Although many pop artists eagerly embraced the genre, her foundational role often went unrecognized. After taping four CDs in Germany and Belgium, she issued her Brazilian debut, Minha História, in 1998. In 2001 she reached American listeners at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.