ilê aiyê began in curuzu, a neighborhood of salvador, and they paraded in 1975 blending the rhythms of samba and reggae, and creating a whole new musical style.

their participation in the carnival opened the door for many new blocos afros in bahia, such as olodum, which revolutionized samba by creating the rhythm samba-reggae, which mixes various caribbean musical styles.  

despite this new sound cocktail, olodum and other blocos afros, have preserved the music's foundation which means having a large percussion section with a defined and powerful sound and a mixture of rhythms.