Digging for Gold: Brazilian Hip-Hop and R&B

Digging for Gold is HYPEBEAST’s monthly playlist series that highlights regions across the world and the genres that come out of them. By putting together a mix of essentials and hidden gems, we hope to add to how you discover music and to deliver the thrill of finding new tracks.

As HYPEBEAST Brasil makes its official debut, we’re delving deep into how the country’s innovative sounds are flipping the script. With homegrown genres like bossa nova, samba, and baile funk slowly making it onto some of our favorite artists’ radars (case in point: Juice WRLD’s Death Race For Love, Pharcyde and J Dilla’s “Runnin,” Lucky Daye’s “Call,” and plenty more), its musical influence continues to simmer.

Few places loom as prominently as Brazil on hip-hop and R&B’s maps. Staying true to local roots, the rap movement is a product of fierce political expression, an exploration of Afro-Brazilian culture, and a shift in personal identities. The region’s R&B world channels a similar soundscape by fusing trap with Brazilian funk rhythms and pagode, a popular samba subgenre.

The meteoric rise of both genres has been widely embraced by pioneers such as Emicida, Racionais, Dina Di, Criolo and Marcelo D2 to name a few. And in no particular order, acts like Tasha e Tracie, Don L, Rico Dalasam, Bivolt, Vandal and N.I.N.A are also considered key artists to watch in the scene.

Brazil’s hip-hop and R&B landscapes will continue to stake their claim as cultural powerhouses. To get you started, check out our eight-hour playlist below so you don’t miss out.