Tasha & Tracie is a Brazilian hip hop duo formed by twin sisters Tasha Okereke and Tracie Okereke, who work in art, fashion, activism and music.

Tasha & Tracie
Birth nameTasha Egine Nascimento Okereke
Tracie Ona Nascimento Okereke
Born (1995-06-15) June 15, 1995 (age 28)
OriginSão Paulo, SP, Brazil
Genres
Years active2019–present
LabelsCeia Ent. (2019-2022)

Tasha & Tracie unite rap with funk carioca in their songs. In their music, the twins address various topics related to black culture, peripheral living, sex and ostentation; further, they talk about fashion, confidence and self-esteem.

The rise began with the release of the EP Rouff (2019) and consolidated with the EP Directoria (2021). The good repercussion of the album led to an invitation to participate in the albums of Ludmilla, Djonga, Gloria Groove: Vilã (2023), Lady Leste (2022) and O Dono do Lugar (2022), respectively.

Biography edit

Tasha Okereke and Tracie Okereke grew up in Jardim Peri, in the North Zone of São Paulo. They are the daughters of Roseane Aparecida do Nascimento and James Okereke.[1] Okereke is a surname of African origin. It comes from their Nigerian father, as their mother is Brazilian.[2] Both were arrested at different times for undisclosed reasons, which caused the girls to alternate between their childhood homes. There was also a period when the mother, with whom they spent most of that phase of their lives, moved to another city and they, as teenagers, had to support themselves. They worked in a store, restaurant and telemarketing. At 17, they already lived alone and had to work to pay the rent.[3]

Sisters of Bitrinho, one of the founders of Batalha do Santa Cruz, the sisters still very young began to attend one of the most important rhyming battles of the São Paulo rap scene, responsible for revealing names like Projota, Emicida and Rashid. Just not necessarily to rhyme. Shy at the time, they met Drik Barbos and were encouraged by the rapper to start the blog "Expensive Shit".[4]

Musical career edit

At the age of 16, they attended Batalha de Santa Cruz, an open space for rhymes at the exit of the Santa Cruz Metro. There, they watched women who became their references. However, as they needed money, they were unable to start their career with rhymes, as they would like. As such, they started DJing, and learned everything by themselves without the necessary equipment and under judgmental eyes. Thanks to the duo's musical curation, it worked. As the sisters' set rocked the night, they prepared to become MCs. Since they were little, they were sure that they wanted to make music, but, out of respect for Hip Hop, they didn't have the courage. Because they started to gain control, they saw what their work had to offer the movement.[4]

The univitelline twins became more and more known in the underground scene of São Paulo,[4] for starting in national rap as DJs,[4] and dedicating themselves to other areas as art directors, designers and speakers, calling themselves "peripheral activists".[5] Until they signed with the Ceia ent seal. and finally debut as MCs, launching the first musical project "Cachorra Kmikze", soon after the acclaimed EP "Rouff" was released, in partnership with rapper Ashira.[6] The EP reached one million streams.[7]

In 2020, they released the song "Tang" in partnership with rapper Kyan, which later went viral on the social network TikTok. Throughout 2020, they released the songs "Pouco", "Agouro" and "Salve", occupying more and more space in the music scene.[8]

2021–present: Diretoria and national recognition edit

In 2022, the duo was nominated for several awards, including winning the "Revelation" category of the WME Awards by Music2[9] and Singer Revelation of the Geração Glamor Award,[10] they were the only Brazilians nominated for the BET Hip Hop Awards 2022 in the category "Best International Flow ",[11][12] as well as being nominated for the 2022 Multishow Award in the categories "Double of the Year" and "Revelation of the Year".[13] In April 2022, they graced the cover of Elle magazine.[14]

In February, they caught the attention of the public when they participated in the new album by singer Gloria Groove, "Lady Leste".[15] The sisters shared vocals with Glória on "Pisando Fofo". In August, they announced the departure of the Ceia Ent label. to pursue independent careers in music with their own company "Expensive Shit".[16]

In the same year, the sisters performed on the Rock in Rio[17] stage and at important festivals such as Primavera Sound, CENA 2K22, Coala Festival and Rock the Mountain.[3]

In 2023, the rappers announced the creation of a label, their own studio and the release of two new albums. The first, following the trend of the single "Willy", will be love songs and hits the platforms in the first half. The second will be denser and will talk about the history of the duo. In February 2023, they released, in partnership with the singer Ludmilla, the song "Sou Má".[18]

Discography edit

Extended plays
  • Rouff (2019)
  • Diretoria (2021)
  • Yin Yang (2023)

Awards and nominations edit

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2021 MTV MIAW BRASIL Beat BR Nominated [19]
2022 WME Awards Best New Artist Won [20]
BET Hip Hop Awards 2022 Best Internacional Flow Nominated [21]
Multishow Brazilian Music Award Duo of the Year Nominated [22]
Artist of the Year Nominated
Award Geração Glamour Breakthrough Artist of the Year Won [10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Pretas, chaves e da favela". Elástica – Todos do mesmo lado (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. ^ Catraca Livre [@CatracaLivre] (20 July 2022). "2) Okereke é um sobrenome de origem africana, vindo do pai de Tasha e Tracie que é nigeriano, já a mãe delas, é brasileira". Twitter. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b Vanini, Eduardo (8 January 2023). "Conheça Tasha & Tracie, a nova sensação do rap: ' A nossa vontade é revolucionar'". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Moura, Beatriz (4 August 2021). "Entrevista: Tasha e Tracie – As meninas que *s menin*s gostam - Casa Natura Musical" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Tasha & Tracie: Quem são os novos rostos do rap nacional?". Novabrasil FM (in Brazilian Portuguese). 6 November 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Quem é Tasha e Tracie, irmãs gêmeas revelação do rap nacional?". issuu. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  7. ^ Geremias, Priscilla (4 November 2022). "Tasha e Tracie: as meninas que todo mundo gosta". Marie Claire (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  8. ^ Marçal, Gabriela (30 September 2021). "Gêmeas Tasha e Tracie: da quebrada paulistana à carreira ascendente no rap | Metrópoles". www.metropoles.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  9. ^ Splash (21 December 2022). "Tasha & Tracie vencem na categoria prêmio musical; cantora denuncia boicote". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  10. ^ a b Tasha e Tracie falam sobre premiação. glamour.globo.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  11. ^ Pétala, Isabela (16 September 2022). "Conheça as gêmeas Tasha e Tracie, revelações do rap nacional: "um sonho que a gente sempre quis ver acontecer"". Glamour (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  12. ^ Ferreira, Karine (13 September 2022). "Gêmeas Tasha e Tracie são indicadas ao Bet Hip Hop Awards 2022 -". KondZilla (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Prêmio Multishow divulga lista de indicados; Anitta e Glória Groove lideram". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  14. ^ Santa Clara, Marina (13 September 2022). "Do blog ao BET Awards: Tasha & Tracie relembram o início da carreira". ELLE Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  15. ^ Nunes, Bruna. "A juventude que se identifica e leva a dupla Tasha & Tracie bem mais longe". Capricho (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  16. ^ Bernardo, André (25 August 2022). "Tasha e Tracie anunciam saída do selo Ceia Ent". Rap Mais (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  17. ^ Nicolau, Analice (2 September 2022). "Conheça as novas atrações da parceria Itaú e TikTok para o Rock in Rio". Jornal de Brasília (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  18. ^ Ferreira, Mauro (20 December 2022). "Ludmilla anuncia 'Sou má', música gravada com a dupla Tasha & Tracie". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Confira as categorias e indicados do MTV Miaw 2022". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Tasha & Tracie vencem na categoria prêmio musical; cantora denuncia boicote". www.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Conheça as gêmeas Tasha e Tracie, revelações do rap nacional: "um sonho que a gente sempre quis ver acontecer"". Glamour (in Brazilian Portuguese). 16 September 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Prêmio Multishow divulga lista de indicados; Anitta e Glória Groove lideram". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 30 August 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2023.

External links edit