EN: Carlos Benedito Rodrigues da Silva, a pioneer of radiolas research in the Brazilian academia, published the first edition of his most acclaimed book in 1995. Disenfranchised people from the Brazilian state of Maranhão, far away from the routes of Jamaica’s diaspora but inside the territories of Africa’s diaspora, chose reggae music as their favorite […]
EN: Based on Carlo Benedeito Rodrigues da Silva’s Ph.D. dissertation, and first published in 2007, this book departs from the final remarks of his previous work, “Da Terra das Primaveras à Ilha do Amor”. The anthropological concept of syncretism is key to highlight the creative mixing between the reggae played on the radiolas and the rich […]
EN: This doctoral thesis in History and Philosophy completed by Kavin Paulraj in 2013 aims to trace the roots of what the author considers a cosmopolitan music scene by looking at the origins of the expression “Jamaica Brasileira”, or “Brazilian Jamaica”, by which Maranhão is known. The research implied extensive work, including participant observation, interviews, […]
EN: Ramusyo Brasil problematizes the political dimension permeating the relationship between music, popular culture, and media production in Maranhão’s reggae scene. The empirical framework for the research makes uses of the links between market-media power and institutional politics by focusing on Itamaraty, a radiola owned by reggae entrepreneur and politician Pinto da Itamaraty. The author […]
EN: The political resistance that takes place within the limits of the body and produces performative symbols that are disputed, shared, and hybridized by the urban youth collectives in different-but-similar Brazilian cities is the starting point of this visual narrative conducted by the researcher and musician Ramusyo Brasil. The cartographies of reggae music dances in […]
EN: Researcher and journalist Karla Freire proposes an updated interpretation of the rich and diverse reggae music scene in São Luís. Reflecting on middle-class participation to reggae dances she drafts a kind of geopolitics of the public spaces, where she introduces the thought-provoking notion of “reggae in high heels”. The book also introduces the differentiation […]
EN: Chapter included in the Global Reggae book, edited by Carolyn Cooper in 2012 and considered the first reggae reader. The author assumes that films, videos, and other audiovisual works are research resources as legitimate as written texts. Another premise is that national cultures are the result of cultural exchanges that go beyond nation-states, and […]
EN: This MA thesis by Thalisse Ramos examines the female presence in the reggae scene in São Luís since the beginning of the adoption of this popular music genre by the poor and Afro-descendant population until the completion of the thesis in 2016. The theoretical approach is based on the concepts of gender and memory, […]
EN: Maristane de Sousa Rosa shows how Jamaican reggae music was adopted by a broad segment of the population and especially the black youth in São Luís, becoming a relevant part of the local ethnic identity. By analysing reggae’s mystical, religious, and political characteristics as expressed in the songs’ lyrics, the author denounces ethnic and […]
EN: This study aims to understand the production and consumption relations in the radiola scene, identifying meanings, symbolisms, and marketing aspects from its operations in the city of São Luís. The text builds a thorough description of the local radiola scene at the end of 2000s, based on the dynamics and structure of the reggae […]
EN: Researcher, reggae historian, and journalist David Katz produced this radio documentary, originally broadcasted on Public Radio Internationa in 2019. The podcast begins with an encompassing characterization of the reggae music phenomenon in Maranhão. Katz also interviews key figures of the local scene, such as Riba Macedo, the first radiola owner to play reggae music […]
EN: São Luís is currently known as the “Brazilian Jamaica”, following reggae music’s presence and consolidation in the capital of the state of Maranhão for more than forty years. This article traces the process of creation and appropriation of this name brand by the people of São Luís and other cities of this Brazilian state, […]
EN: This text deals with the reggae circuit construction and structuring processes in São Luís, Maranhão. The activities of four main agents that shape this cultural circuit. The first two are the “magnates”: owners of reggae clubs and radiolas, respectively. They run the material apparatus that enables the scene to operate. The third one is the […]
EN: Documentary about the Maranhão-Jamaica connection, which seeks to tell a more comprehensive story but focusing on the role of the radio in this process. It includes interviews with radiola owner Serralheiro, DJ Neturbo, artists such as Stranger Cole, Lone Ranger, and Fauzi Beydoun, as well as experts like Carlos Benedito Rodrigues, Tarcísio Selektah, Stranjah, […]
EN: Three-part documentary about the reggae scene in Maranhão in the early 2000s, at the end of the so-called “golden age” of Brazilian Jamaica, the 1980s and 1990s. Informative interviews with radiola owners such as Serralheiro, Natty Naifson and others make up the major part of this short video. PT: Documentário em três partes sobre […]
EN: Official website for the first reggae-themed museum outside Jamaica, established in 2018, funded by the local Maranhão government, and directed by the journalist and tourismologist Ademar Danilo. The IG profile covers the museum’s program and events such as lectures, reggae dance classes, workshops, and music concerts in schools, as well as general news on […]
EN: YouTube channel covering the biggest radiola events in Maranhão, featuring hundreds of videos including the setting up and the sound check of these huge sound systems. PT: Canal do YouTube que cobre os maiores eventos de radiola, com centenas de vídeos, mostrando a montagem e testes de som dos enormes paredões de caixas. Link […]
EN: Reggae Total is a website launched in 2007, promoting and covering radiola events and reggae shows in Maranhão. The blog also includes an outdated news and interviews area, articles about reggae culture in this Brazilian state, as well as a web radio with several live programs. PT: Reggae Total é um site que existe […]
EN: YouTube channel that also covers events of the biggest radiolas, highlighting backstage and behind-the-scene activities as well as the calls of radiola owners for the dances, as well as the assembly and tests of the sound systems from Maranhão. PT: Canal do YouTube que também cobre eventos das maiores radiolas, ressaltando os bastidores e […]