fbpx

Brazilian rap in Japan. Are you ready for trap music?

They are young, face prejudice through music and have an ambitious project: to spread Brazilian rap in Japan.

Text: Ooizine guide

Photos: Personal Archive

Gaijin Squad is a rap group formed in 2017 by young people from the community who came from Brazil for work and who came together for the ambitious project of spreading Brazilian Rap in Japan.

Its 6 members are aged between 14 and 19 years old, most come from the state of São Paulo and ended up meeting by chance through rap. They work in factories and even though they live in distant provinces (3 members live in Gunma and the other 2 in Gifu) they find time to do what they love most – rap.

Owners of a style that goes from trap rap (a genre whose main feature is a touch of electronic music mixed with rap beats) to hip hop, the group has a YouTube channel, Gaijin Squad, with more than 20 songs from own authorship. A highlight is the song Text me back which is sung in Portuguese, Japanese and English. According to the members, the inspiration to sing in 3 languages ​​came from a meeting where ideas were sought to reach a wider audience.

Among Gaijin Squad's main musical references are the collective Recayd Mob from Guarulhos, rapper Sidoka, Djonga, Leozin, Thiago and Duzz.

Do you know what Trap Music is?

The word trap translated from English means trap and is an American slang term for dangerous places where crime and racial discrimination predominate. Trap music is a rhythm that emerged in the 90s in the United States and unites the beat of rap, electronic music and repetitive sounds. In 2012, trap music gained tremendous fame with the Harlem Shake music video by Dj Bauuer (see the link below). You probably got to see, if not the original, some of the thousands of parodies with people dressed up as horse heads dancing wildly in the most unusual places.

Do you know what Rap is?

Rap is an abbreviation of "Rhythm And Poetry" (English rhythm and poetry) and is a musical style that emerged in the 70s among Afro-descendant communities in the United States. Rap is one of the 5 pillars of hip hop culture established by Afrika Bambaataa, recognized as the creator of the movement.
Rap singers are called rappers or MCs – the famous Masters of Ceremonies.
Learn a little more about the history of rap here on this wikipedia page.

Meet the Gaijin Squad

Lio

Getúlio Ikeda

Artistic designer, composer and director at the company

4sey

Richard Yoshimoto

Singer, composer and director at the company

Yuugen

Such

Singer, songwriter and digital influencer

murra¥pe

Gabriel Murray

Singer, songwriter and digital influencer

Kaique Santana

Singer, songwriter and digital influencer

John Paul

Video designer and editor

Project: to spread Brazilian Rap in Japan

The main objective of the group today is to bring national trap culture into Japan. His plans for the future also include opening online and physical clothing stores and founding a music production company in Gunma, to provide new opportunities for other MC's.

Follow and support Gaijin Squad on social media, Spotify and YouTube:

Search

Choose your language