there is some debate about brazilian artists interpreting songs that could be considered to be rap even before the advent of the genre and its arrival, as we know it, in brazil.

one point in case is 'deixa isso pra lá' in 1964 by jair rodrigues - however, it is widely accepted that são paulo based rappin' hood in the 1980's was the first officially recognized rapper - although punk rock was becoming popular as well, a lot of people were more attracted to rap, which was seen as more creative, and sounding less violent.

the first brazilian rap album was the compilation: hip-hop, cultura de rua on 1988 - a second album of this series was released in the same year and launched the first household names of rap such as racionais mc's, consciência black, and vol.1.

rap continued to grow, mostly in são paulo but as its popularity grew so did the number of artists in other parts of the country, including rio de janeiro.