O mangrovebeat it was a movement of counterculture that appeared in Pernambuco, in the beginning of the 1990s. Conceived by Chico Science, this movement sought to denounce the inequalities and poverty of Pernambuco and, at the same time, promote a cultural and artistic renewal throughout the state. The crab and the dish in the mud were its two great symbols.
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movement context
at the beginning of 1990s, the city of Recife was one of the worst Brazilian capitals, and the population suffered from poverty and the social inequality. Furthermore, culturally, there was a huge gap to be filled, as the state did not have a very strong cultural scene. The stagnation of the cultural scene in Pernambuco is related to the movementarmorial.
This movement was idealized, in the 1970s, by names like Herom Vargas and Arian Suassuna and tried to preserve the northeastern culture
, keeping it untouched and uninfluenced by foreign culture. This movement was understood as conservative and as the direct responsible by the weak cultural scene of Pernambuco in the early 1990s.Despite this, the closure of culture in Pernambuco was not absolute and the scene of the democratic opening of the Brazil, in the 1980s, allowed some changes to happen. the end of military dictatorship and the relaxation of censorship enabled greater contact of the population with elements of pop culture.
This allowed for a growth in Recife's artistic scene. Contact with pop culture and the political scene in Brazil encouraged the development of an artistic and cultural scene adept at protest ideas.
understanding the mangrove beat
Mangue beat is a counterculture movement that emerged in the city of Recife in the early 1990s, specifically in 1991. This movement emerged in a context of renovationcultural and had as a precursor chicoscience, the person responsible for naming it as “mangrove”. Other creators were Fred Zero Four, Mabuse, hederAragon and Renato L.
The mangue beat made a mixture of elements of the regional culture of Pernambuco, such as the maracatu, O coconut and the sieve, with elements of pop culture, such as the hip hop it's the rock. The purpose of this proposal was to promote a revitalization of Pernambuco's cultural scene by mixing traditional elements with modern elements.
The idea of naming this movement as mangrove came from Chico Science himself, vocalist of the band that best represented him: Chico Science and Nação Zumbi. The idea was to establish a style that brought together new musical beats and new cultural ideas. Chico Science's goal was to shake up Recife's musical and cultural scene.
Chico Science stated that the mangrove would be a movement that would install a satellite dish in the mud, this symbol being the expression of the union of the traditional with the modern, but that it would also point to a criticism of the innovator (technologies) establishing themselves in the midst of the misery that exists in Pernambuco.
The mangrove beat also brought ways to visually manifest itself, and, in addition to the innovative rhythm, the clothes used by its representatives mixed modern clothing (sunglasses, printed shirts, etc.) with traditional clothing (straw hat, very common in Pernambuco). The mangue beat was not limited to music and was extended to other arts, such as movie theater, photography, theateretc.
The songs of the songs of the mangue beat were, in general, protest songs and questioned the poverty and social inequality that affected Pernambuco and the Brazilian Northeast. The manifesto that represented the mangrove beat makes it very clear that its members do not comply with social inequality.
Crab Manifesto with Brain
The manifesto, known as Crab with Brain, was written by Fred Zero Four, lead singer of the band Free World S/A. The document defines mangroves, provides a brief history of the city of Recife (already with a critique of the city's problems) and talks about the importance of an artistic and cultural renewal in the city.
The criticism of Recife's cultural stagnation and the proposal that presented the mangrove beat as a renewal movement can be identified in the following excerpt:
Emergency! A quick shock or Recife dies of a heart attack! You don't have to be a doctor to know that the simplest way to stop a guy's heart is to block his veins. The fastest way, too, to infarct and empty the soul of a city like Recife is to kill its rivers and fill in its estuaries. What to do not to sink into the chronic depression that paralyzes citizens? How to revive spirit, delobotomize and recharge the city's batteries? Simple! Just inject a little energy into the mud and stimulate what remains of fertility in Recife's veins|1|.
The mangrove beat then positioned itself as a movement that wanted to remove Pernambuco from its cultural stagnation. Regionalist culture would continue to be respected, but new cultural elements would be integrated into it. This would be a way to ensure that new generations take an interest in the elements of regional culture.
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term origin
The origin of the term mangue beat is quite simple. The mangrove is a reference to mangrove, a very common ecosystem in the Northeast (Pernambuco included) and which is marked by the meeting of river waters with sea water. Mangroves have brackish waters and a wet, muddy soil, which is home to a huge variety of living creatures, such as crabs.
The proposal for artistic and cultural renovation proposed by Chico Science was named only as mangrove. O beat, claim the members of this movement, it was a press addition Brazilian when the style gained notoriety. beat is an English word meaning “beat”.
The reference to the mangrove made the crab one of the great symbols of the mangrove beat, since this crustacean is one of the living beings that resides in the mangroves and is captured by residents who survive from its sale.
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representatives of the mangrove beat
The mangrove beat is considered by many as one of the great cultural and artistic innovations in Brazil during the last decades. This movement became popular and made Chico Science and Nação Zumbi internationally known. Despite its fame, commercially, the band that symbolizes the mangue beat sold few records.
The great representatives, as mentioned, were Chico Science and the band Nação Zumbi, but other exponents of this counterculture movement were:
- Free World S/A
- DJ Dolores
- Sheikh Tosado
- Master Ambrose
Note
|1| Crabs with Brains. To access, click on here.
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
