Gabriel o Pensador

Biography

Gabriel Contino (born March 4, 1974), better known as Gabriel o Pensador (Portuguese for "Gabriel the Thinker") is a Brazilian rapper, writer, and composer known for his conscious lyrics which speak of activism, and issues of race, politics, social problems, and the Catholic church. Gabriel began his music career when he launched a demo tape containing the song "Tô Feliz (Matei o Presidente)" I'm Happy (I killed the President) landing him a contract with Sony Music. Since then he has released eight albums: Ainda É Só o Começo×Ainda é só o começoJune 1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Só o começo0:322Pão de cada dia6:593Filho da pátria iludido5:094Tô contigo e não abro5:405Blitz 10:546Estudo errado5:137Fdp³6:098Dentro de você5:389Mentiras do Brasil5:0010Blitz 20:2311Rabo de saia6:5612Como um vício6:2413Faça o diabo feliz4:09, Quebra-Cabeça×Quebra-CabeçaJuly 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Pátria que me pariu4:2222345meia784:503Cachimbo da paz5:334Sem saúde5:245Prá onde vai?5:596En la casa2:427+1 dose4:258Dança do desempregado4:309Eu e a tábua4:3710Bala perdida4:2711Festa da música6:0912O sopro da cigarra4:20, Nádegas a Declarar×Nádegas a declararOctober 1999 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Cantão6:102Tô vazando5:063Xaxado chiado6:154Nádegas a declarar5:085Cachorrada5:336Matador5:367Amigo urso/Resposta do amigo urso4:358Não dá pra ser feliz4:449Brazuca (remix)4:5510Porca miséria4:1211Astronauta4:44, Gabriel o Pensador, Seja Você Mesmo (mas não Seja sempre o Mesmo), MTV ao Vivo, Cavaleiro Andante and Sem Crise (this last one was released independently). Gabriel has also written three books: Diário Noturno, Um Garoto Chamado Rorbeto and Meu Pequeno Rubro-Negro. Um Garoto Chamado Rorbeto won the Prêmio Jabuti, for best Children's literature.

Biography

Coming from a middle-class family, a unique background among Brazilian rappers, Gabriel is the son of a well known journalist in Brazil. He received his hit fame in 1992 with the song "Tô Feliz (Matei o Presidente)" ("I'm happy, I've killed the president"), the debut single from his first and eponymous album. This song was written in protest of President Fernando Collor de Mello and his corrupt administration. Gabriel's mother was Collor's press secretary. The same album also yielded other hits, including "Lôrabúrra" ("Dumb Blonde", shortened) and "Retrato de um Playboy" ("Portrait of a Playboy"), bringing hip hop mainstream attention in Brazil by catering to the middle class. Although rapping about everyday life, Gabriel also found time to talk about social injustices with his fourth single, "O Resto do Mundo" ("The Leftovers of the World", a pun on the word for "leftovers" and "rest" being the same in Portuguese), a more downbeat track about homeless life, with a purposefully depressive melody and flow. Gabriel was "notorious for his biting attacks on some of the major ills of Brazilian society: poverty, racism, violence."
His following albums were also commercially successful, with a careful blend of socially relevant tracks mixed with airwave-minded pop anthems. His third album, Quebra-Cabeça×Quebra-CabeçaJuly 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Pátria que me pariu4:2222345meia784:503Cachimbo da paz5:334Sem saúde5:245Prá onde vai?5:596En la casa2:427+1 dose4:258Dança do desempregado4:309Eu e a tábua4:3710Bala perdida4:2711Festa da música6:0912O sopro da cigarra4:20, was released in 1997 and sold over one million copies. History-minded, Gabriel was highly influenced by other Brazilian music, including bossa nova, samba and MPB, as well as using hip hop's traditional methods of sampling jazz, funk and disco ("2345meia78", for example, sampled Chic's "Good Times").
In 1994, while touring in Portugal, Gabriel's song "Lavagem Cerebral" (Brainwashing) was received with much praise. The piece was accepted as "a strong social critique of Brazilian society and of the ideology of the dominating classes."
Besides his native Brazil, Gabriel, o Pensador is also well known in other Lusophone countries such as Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and has worked with Portuguese musicians like Sérgio Godinho and General D. In 2004, he recorded his first song in English entitled, Who's The Enemy?, that appeared on American rapper Ithaka's album, Fishdaddy Flashbacks.

Other projects

The musician has also released three books: "Diário Noturno" (Brazil and Portugal; poems and short stories), "Um garoto chamado Rorbeto" (Brazil; fiction poetry for children) "Meu Pequeno Rubro-Negro" (Brazil; about children who support Flamengo, like himself). He has been a juror on the spelling bee contest "Soletrando" (in its second edition) on the program Caldeirão do Huck.
Concerned about the truancy among a group of boys he helped in Rocinha, in Rio de Janeiro, Gabriel put his hands to work and created an NGO called "Pensando Junto"(Portuguese for Thinking Together), an organization serving a social, educational and cultural purpose for children and youth in the community of Rocinha, providing its participants with access to culture, education, leisure, food, medical, dental and psychological care. The organization offers tutoring and courses for a group of underprivileged children in the Rocinha district, located in Gabriel's hometown of Rio de Janeiro, where he still lives in today. Gabriel is also a member of the Dreams Can Be Foundation, a nonprofit charitable supporting organization and a Brazilian NGO dedicated to aiding street children and impoverished youth in Brazil, working in partnership with local organizations and NGOs to provide: education, moral and social development, humanitarian relief, and the offering of opportunities where there were none before.