“I don’t think the stage is a bubble or that the life of an artist is a bubble. Artists didn’t fall from Mars, you know?” he appreciates in the face of the debate that always escalates on social media when there’s a big festival like Rock in Rio.

He will take part in the festival this Sunday (4th) along with Drick Barbosa, Rael and Priscilla Alcantara. His speech, as always, should be full of speeches, at a time when the country is politically tense, on the eve of the presidential election.

The rapper was one of the first representatives of his genre to receive a place at such events. Today, after “four decades of rumors that rap was a fad,” he sees rhythm at the top of the chart. This does not mean that festivals are balanced for him.

In an interview with g1, the singer reflects on the lack of space for established rhythms such as samba. He also talks about the accumulation of work, his relationship with faith, which is always present in his show, and the “story” he intends to tell in the presentation of Rock in Rio.

• LIVE: Follow the performances of the festival in real time.

g1 – At Lollapalooza 2022, you put on a non-obvious show that omitted some of your biggest hits. How is the selection process for songs that will be featured on festival shows like Lolla and Rock in Rio?

emicide – What I do is think first of all about history: what kind of story I would like to tell about this. At Lollapalooza we expected to see Foo Fighters in a more rock style. At each festival, you need to want to have a different artistic experience, because it ultimately shows that we can adapt to any universe, that we can talk to everyone. I think festivals are good for that too.

Lollapalooza made me want to do this heavier show, start playing the guitar. Now, with Rock in Rio, we’re in the same vein. Rock in Rio is an overwhelming experience. It’s a sea of ​​people and on the Sunset stage, in particular, Zé Ricardo [curador do espaço] managed to create a community of people who are very open to a wide variety of musical experiences.

g1 – Due to ticket prices, only an elite niche of people have access to these events, especially in Brazil today, with the economic crisis. Does this affect the design of your show?

emicide – It is very difficult for you to create a stereotype of who pays to visit your show, regardless of the context. After two decades of playing, the shows travel through very different universes, where people may not have the same origin of life as I do, they may not have the same characteristics as me, but they are there, excited and in love with my music. . I think it’s very sincere because more than once I’ve identified myself with the songs that came to me that weren’t necessarily reproductions of my lifestyle.

I think that if in some way we manage to transcend all of this and connect as human beings, that’s the most beautiful thing we can do. I appreciate it too much.

In general, people like to hit this key, because of the ticket price, I agree with that. I think we need to put in place mechanisms to make this more accessible, and I think it’s urgent. Throughout our trajectory, we have actively participated in all these battles and continue to be present, because the ultimate goal is for the music to reach as many people as possible, so that the people who have accompanied us throughout our trajectory are not deprived of some or experience.

I believe that the bridge that music creates – especially my music, especially today – does not allow me to stereotype the people who listen to it. I also don’t want people to stereotype me.

g1 – Roberta Medina, vice president of Rock in Rio, said in an interview that there is no politics on the stage of such festivals. What do you think?

“People associate our art with what we have in mind, with what we create artistically, and also with what we dream for ourselves and for the world.”

In this sense, I think that there is no area of ​​our artistic creativity that in one way or another would not touch on political issues. I don’t think the stage is a bubble or the life of an artist is a bubble. Artists didn’t fall from Mars, you know? A non-political position is itself a political position. I can’t go to Palestine, take a selfie and say that I have nothing to do with political issues. My silence also becomes a manifesto.

I personally disagree [com a opinião de Medina]. Thank God, people understand what I mean, they know what I believe in, what I fight for. I understand that the festival is also suffering from pressure from other universes and I think they are trying to position themselves in a more neutral way, which I also consider legal, but that is not what you should expect from artists. And I’m not talking about the artists who agree with me. Art is art and our positioning should be free.

g1 – Will this Rock in Rio be any different because of the proximity to the elections?

emicide – At Lollapalooza at the beginning of the year, the energy was already like this [a edição de 2022 do festival foi marcada por manifestações políticas]. You cannot gather 100,000 people and want those 100,000 people not to exercise their civil rights. This is a citizen’s right. And this is also a desire, a dream.

Brazil has a dream to create dignity, it is lost in a thousand ways to fulfill this dream, but it continues to move forward. And if there’s one thing that’s been increasingly emphasized, it’s that [o presidente] Bolsonaro is the opposite of everything decent we can dream of in this place.

g1 – Can crop damage be assessed during the pandemic?

emicide – I don’t think so yet. The euphoria of the moment in which we live does not allow us to make this pragmatic analysis of how the cultural world works. A cultural world that has been heavily attacked for even what it means, for its ability to make people imagine how different the world could be.

We haven’t finished reading the panorama of scorched earth in which we found ourselves. How many houses are closed? In Brazil and in the world, establishments that were opened 50, 100, 300 years ago have closed. These kinds of things are a big loss and change the cultural character of some regions.

Now we will have a season of various events. Then let’s fast forward to summer and get better at the carnival. Maybe after the carnival next year we can get a better idea about it.

g1 – You were one of the first names in rap to be included in the schedule of major festivals, and today you see how the genre is taking more and more space at these events. Apart from the quality of the artists, what do you attribute this movement to?

emicide – Great teamwork.

“Four decades have passed, four generations have been pejoratively told that rap is a fad. But there is no fad that lasts four decades.”

Being a part of this construction is a great achievement. I just think that the generations that come after ours should focus on the magic of this collective building. This allowed so many rap artists to perform on these stages, touring Brazil and the world. It is important that future generations focus their attention on continuing this. If I can be a little uncle now and listen, my ear is: keep the fire lit, young people.

• View full Rock in Rio schedule
• How and where to watch live broadcasts?

g1 – Can we say today that the festivals are balanced in terms of musical genres?

emicide – I think no. We just played in Belo Horizonte, at the Sarara festival, and there was something that really touched me. Zeca Pagodinho played before us. I even got emotional, I invaded the stage to watch Zeki’s show. We had a lot of fun.

But look at this madness: in all these years of participating in so many festivals in Brazil, for the first time I saw an artist like Zeca in the same lineup as us.

“I am very upset by the absence of samba in the program of major festivals. The absence of samba in the lists of the best albums of the year – this happens all too often – makes me very upset.

This is one of the achievements that we are still producing and achieving. I am very happy to be a part of this achievement. When we state our influences, how samba is in our construction, how it is a way of life, how solid it is in our music, we open up space for these kinds of encounters that happen live. And to make people think less and less about the genre, After all, we are all like that: music workers.

g1 – Pastor Enrique Vieira participated in your show at Lollapalooza and at Rock in Rio you will sing with Priscilla Alcantara. These two names are closely associated with the Christian religion. You also talk a lot about faith in your songs, what role does this theme play in your work?

emicide – I was born in a very poor, very sad reality. When you are born into this reality, the only thing you have is to believe. I am not talking about faith as something institutionalized, broadcast by religious institutions. I’m talking about the human need to believe in something, and even atheists find themselves in this.

We need to believe in something, earthly or spiritual, but a person needs to believe in something, even if it is a utopia. The function of faith, after all, is to keep us moving forward. So I like to stop the music, and I think it’s cool when people put on their headphones and feel that in the music that I make, they find a reason to continue.

g1 – You’re a multitasking artist: you’re in music as well as TV, games, fashion… Do you think there’s pressure on musicians today to always be more than just musicians? Is it easy to deal with this backlog in work?

Emicide – Calm, calm…. no.

“If I could just sit down and take up the piano, I would love to. But I understand that the market does not behave that way.”

This is not an invention of our time, it has only become more visible. If we go back a little, we will see, for example, Alice Regina and Jair Rodriguez, hosts of television shows.

How many artists already had a sort of Swiss army knife? James Brown accompanied the bordereau [planejamento financeiro] from exhibitions to the last day of life. The artist has always been and always will be a multi-tasking figure because, as I said, we did not fall from Mars. We are where we are because of the number of things we are connected to.