Marcelo D2 & SambaDrive — Night Dreamer

MARCELO D2 & SAMBADRIVE
DIRECT-TO-DISC (Pre-Order)

Trailblazing Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2 announces the release of new direct-to-disc album via Night Dreamer

Recorded alongside electrifying live band Sambadrive, the album revisits some of Marcelo D2’s most important tracks, mining 25 years of ground-breaking music from the Brazilian legend and capturing his now timeless ‘samba hip-hop’ sound in full flow.

A generational voice in Brazil who emerged in the mid-‘90s as founder of hip-hop group Planet Hemp, Marcelo D2 has achieved the charmed status of both household name and musical innovator, collaborating with the likes of the late great Sergio Mendes and esteemed producer will.i.am. Since the release of his debut solo album Eu Tiro É Onda in 1998, he has developed an instantly recognisable sound that skips between classic Brazilian groove and contemporary rap, guided by the motto ‘looking for the perfect beat’ which graces his second album À Procura da Batida Perfeita.

Now, in 2024, Marcelo D2 is telling his story again in a new light. Inspired by the iconic jazz-samba trios of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Sambadrive emerged from the improvised and often spontaneous jams that would preface Marcelo D2’s live shows. Touring the world and reunited with producer Mario Caldato Jr., the group dropped in on Amsterdam’s Artone Studio in October 2022 to record an album of 10 tracks, drawn from four of Marcelo D2’s most loved albums.

First single ‘MD2 (A Sigma no TAG)’ reimagines the syncopated boombap of the 2013 original into an elastic piece of funky, Azymuth-esque, jazz-samba, carried on the wings of Marcelo D2’s featherlight vocal flow. The first of three tracks taken from Nada Pode Me Parar, ‘MD2 (A Sigma no TAG)’ sets the tone for an album that bubbles with astute musicianship and virtuoso lyricism.

Up next, ‘A Maldiçâo do Samba’, strips out the back beat and horn stabs of the original - released in 2003 on À Procura da Batida Perfeita - in favour of sparse and syncopated instrumentation, the serpentine bass line ducking and diving between shuffling drums and piano vamps. Opening out into expansive jazz samba solos against which Marcelo D2’s strident verses stand tall, ‘A Maldiçâo do Samba’ (which translates as ‘The Curse of Samba’) shimmers with energy and intensity.

Raising the pulse one notch more, ‘Desabafo’ drops into a classic piano-led jazz samba groove, referencing the iconic sound of Claudia’s 1973 track ‘Deixa Eu Dizer’, which is sampled on the original. Taken from 2008 album A Arte Do Barulho, ‘Desabafo’ showcases the stunning breadth of Marcelo D2’s sound, traversing eras, rhythms and styles with ease.

A celebration of Marcelo D2’s legacy, an exposition of a master at work and as consummate a recording of live samba rap as you’re ever likely to hear, Marcelo D2 and Sambadrive looks back to light a way forward, each track shining like a blueprint of the genre-defying hits they would become.