Queer POC rap group Quebrada Queer is taking on Brazil

The Brazilian hip-hop group Quebrada Queer has quickly grabbed media attention since forming in 2018. The six members of the group are young, black, queer, and from the impoverished outskirts of São Paulo — identities that are relatively rarely represented in Brazilian mainstream media, despite the fact that 54 percent of the country’s population is of African descent. Additionally, unlike most music in the genre, the group’s songs are not macho or prejudicial but instead focus on themes like social justice and homophobia.

The group —  Murillo Zyess, Harlley, Lucas Boombeat, Guigo, Tchelo Gomez and Apuke — all spoke to The FBomb about their creative process and how they deal with the prejudice they face — not only in the rap scene, but in Brazilian society at large, especially since the far-right-wing turn the country took in the last electoral process. 

The FBomb: Your group's members are all from the poor outskirts of São Paulo and all identify as Black and LGBTQI+. Why did you form this group? 

Murilo Zyess: Rap is the language that speaks to all of us, but the lack of representation in the space has always been huge. That hole is still evident in that although we have five gay rappers making good music, opportunities are still scace for us in the rap lineups and concerts in our country. There is a whole community of LGBTQ people making rap, and they are also not included in these concerts. This prejudice still endures, and it’s a major motivation for us. Representation matters in rap, especially because the core principles of this genre are unity and also giving a real portrait of the cultural moment and era. Given the moment Brazil is going through, we have to keep our heads up as we have been doing since day one to bring changes in the diversity of rap and awareness of our experiences and others. We hope those changes will come sooner than later, but we have a lot of strength to keep fighting.

The last election made it clear that Brazil is experiencing a resurgence of extremism and fundamentalism. How does Quebrada Queer contend with that in your work? What makes your work necessary at this time?

Murillo Zyess: Yes, that election pointed to a backward shift of ideas, conscience, and civil rights for our community. Minorities still don’t have access to some basic civil rights and opportunities. We’ve mostly been spreading information, as I believe it is a great way to create consciousness. Through our songs, we try to introduce empowerment, build self-esteem, and also entertain. That leads to representation because we are the ones doing it. That’s something that we didn’t have and now we can offer because we know how important and necessary it is.

The world of hip-hop has historically had problems with prejudice and toxic masculinity. How does Quebrada Queer navigate that environment?

 Lucas Boombeat: For LGBTQIA+ artists [who are] part of the hip-hop scene, it is very hard because it isn’t only the public that doesn’t perceive us as a rap group, but also those who hire [musicians for] concerts. This isn’t a problem exclusive to rap, but is itself a social reflex. There are other music genres where we don’t see us (LGBTQIA+) represented yet.

The majority of rappers are still straight men. Many of them don’t want to associate themselves with us, even if they like our work, because of prejudice or their projections of fragile masculinity. 

On the other side, some members of the LGBTQIA+ public don’t even listen to our music because of the stereotypes that rap is macho and homophobic. There has been no representation of the kind of music we make until some years ago, so many LGBTQIA+ listeners don’t know we exist.

So even though our music hardly meets the masses, we keep thriving in this path and showing people with the same experiences that we have had that we can also make rap music. We also want to show them the beautiful culture behind hip-hop. Rap is rhythm and poetry with a unique power to change society, that also makes a lot of sense to those who are still marginalized by society because of who we are.

Your lyrics re-appropriate words commonly used to offend the LGBTQI+ populace. Why did you decide to do this?

Harlley: I believe that every LGBTQIA+ person has heard such words when growing up. When these words have come from the oppressor, they are explicitly meant to offend us. That is exactly why we re-appropriate them — to show that they don’t offend us anymore and such words just reaffirm our existence in a new dialect. Our self-esteem won’t be crumbled by oppressors.