Somos Nós a Justiça

This is cross-posted at The Joy of Daily Living.

This is one of my favorite SNJ songs. I'm so happy to find it has a video! Two years ago there was no trace of this song online.

In 2006 I spent two months living in Brazil. I checked out many music stores and attended a few concerts, but could not for the life of me find the underground & Brazilian hip-hop scene. Everyone I asked led me to Will I. Am and Wyclef. (Note: Neither Brazilian, nor underground.) (It probably didn't help that I don't speak the language.)

My final week there I found a music store that seemed to carry more titles by independent artists. They had a little boom box there and would allow customers to pop in CDs. I spent a couple of hours there listening to crappy song after crappy song, then I came across Somos Nós a Justiça. I immediately snapped up both CDs available. Their sound is chill, their flows are tight, and although I cannot understand every word, it's clear the lyrics are meaningful. If I could find SNJ music reviews, I'm guessing reviewers would throw them into the "enlightened" or "conscious" hip-hop category.

Somos Nós a Justiça have no Myspace, but one album is on Amazon for purchase and small song "samples" are available for listening. Another site shows the same album available for free download, but of course I cannot endorse that. (If you're still interested, click here.) You can also find their sounds at lastfm.

SNJ's story is available here, but it is in Portuguese. My gleaning is that they came from northern Sao Paulo and started making music in the 1990s. Their members have changed a lot over the years due to various problems. They put out a simple CD-R that hugely impacted hip-hop. They defend respect, honesty, personality, dignity, and humanity. They have taken part in events defending workers and the Black movement. They have exploded on the radio and in shows.