Without even standing for or against any candidate in the upcoming elections, Planet Hemp put on the most political show in the 2022 edition of Virada Cultural. The band closed the public festival on Sunday evening (29) at the Viaduto do Chá stage, the largest on the schedule in the center of São Paulo.
commanded by Marcelo D2 and BNegão, the group talked about the police operation that killed more than 20 people in Rio de Janeiro and the death of a man in Sergipe stuck in a car filled with tear gas, in addition to condemning the work similar to slavery done by Julio’s father Lancellotti in assembling the structures of the Virada Cultural itself and the actions of the government in Krakoland.
The audience and guest Joao Gordo from Ratos de Porão had to shout and curse President Jair Bolsonaro (LP), a constant on several stages of Virada.
Planet Hemp took the stage only 15 minutes late, a rarity at the event, and took the stage without music, giving a message. “Take care of each other. Witch on the loose. They’re killing us,” said rapper Marcelo D2.
A group that drew a crowd comparable to the one seen Louise Sonza, earlier, in the same valley of Anhangabau, he started playing an unpublished song in which the verses from Luis Melodiya’s “Magrelinha” are saved. He then amended “Dig Dig Dig” to talk about the legalization of marijuana, as well as the “Legalize Já” theme played next.
BNegão invited the public to join the marijuana march on June 11 and asked that the head shaking groups scattered around Anhangabau form a large circle. The practice continued throughout the show, even in locations far from the stage.
D2 called on those who call themselves anti-fascists to shout “Mariel is present” after singing “Hip Hop Rio”, which talks about the beauty and brutality of Rio de Janeiro. “They can kill one, two, but they won’t kill the idea,” the rapper said.
B. Negao then commented on the police operation in Peña, Rio de Janeiro, and the death of a 38-year-old man in Sergipe. “This is attention and wrestling with the mind,” he said. D2 later corrected, “but a little beating now and then doesn’t hurt.”
BNegão also talked about the condemnation of work similar to slavery in the Virada Cultural collection made by Father Julio Lancellotti, which the rapper noted also at the end of the show. “This happens in many places. It is important that whoever is to blame for the registry office pays.”
João Gordo, São Paulo’s hardcore icon, arrived shouting “Out, Bolsonaro”, sang his band’s song “General Crise” and asked who had a marijuana cigarette.
Proudly helped the band turn the Viaduto do Chá scene inside out with fast-paced hardcore that increased the head shaking. He even thickened the broth in “Quem Tem Seda?”, which ended with Bnegao’s tribute to Mr. B. Katra, a Rio funk icon killed in 2018.
The atmosphere was agitated, with people climbing the metal structures supporting the screens, and many marijuana cigarettes were lit in the hall. Unlike what happened on Saturday in Anhangabau, when fights and looting forced funk singer Kevinho to stop his performance, on Sunday afternoon the military police were present in a public place. The day before, security on the spot was provided only by the capital’s civil guard. There were no thefts or fights in the report, episodes that were also not condemned by the artists on stage.
After performing “Stab”, B. Negao said that he wrote the chorus to illuminate the future of his audience. “We have a very crazy year ahead of us. Be healthy mentally, psychologically and physically,” he said, referring to the upcoming elections.
The chorus of “Udar” says that “our victory will not be accidental”, and the audience responded with curses against Bolsonaro. The president was also cursed by the audience in “Who is to blame?”, where there is a line “the military tortured and did not go to jail.”
There was still time to pay tribute to Chico Science, the late Nação Zumbi singer who appeared on the big screen in an old interview. He was made famous in the song “Samba Makossa”, one of the songs that the public sang the most when D2 asked for solidarity with Recife, a city that has been hit in recent days by heavy rains that have killed nearly 100 people.
The self-proclaimed “Brazil’s most famous stoners” even sang the hits “Contexto” and “Mantenha o Respeito” before saying goodbye to “Dig Dig Dig”. D2 noted that there were no fights on the show. “That’s what a party is all about, São Paulo,” he said before BNegao left the stage, shouting, “Krakolandia’s lives matter.”
