heart and soul, and symbol of rio, samba flows through every street in the city.

hailing from the irajá neighborhood of rio de janeiro, zeca pagdinho grew up around the smooth sounds of traditional samba - wanting to develop his own style, pagdinho started mixing samba and pagode, and has become one of brazil's most popular artists.

closely associated with rio de janeiro's, unidos de vila isabel samba school, is samba musician martinho da vila - known for making some of the countries most recognizable sambas, martinho's reach extends further than just music, as he is also an active political figure.