MV Bill, real name Alexandre Pereira Barbosa (born January 3, 1974), is a Brazilian rap singer, actor, songwriter and co-author of the best-selling book Falcão - Meninos do Tráfico. The initials "MV" stand for "Mensageiro da Verdade", Portuguese for "Messenger of Truth", and the nickname Bill came from a favorite childhood toy.[1]

MV Bill
Background information
Birth nameAlexandre Pereira Barbosa
Born (1974-01-03) January 3, 1974 (age 50)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
OriginBrazil Brazil
GenresBrazilian hip hop, Political hip hop
OccupationRapper
Years active1998 – present
LabelsUniversal Music Brazil
Websitemvbill.com.br

MV Bill is one of the leading and most controversial rappers of Brazilian hip hop in Rio de Janeiro. Rio remains as the center of developing Brazilian politics.[2] MV Bill is an advocate for getting the Brazilian youth out of the drug trade and into some more uplifting activities. He founded a network of NGOs located in Rio including CUFA, which strive to teach hip-hop skills, graffiti, and break dancing to children, alongside educational classes such as computer training. Many of his songs contain lyrics discussing the Brazilian youth lost to the trades and confrontations in Rio.[3]

MV Bill has also funneled his passion for social justice into a book, Cabeça de Porco, that he co-authored with Celso Athayde and Luis Eduardo Soares, one of Brazil's foremost social anthropologists. The book, published in 2005, revolves around the issue of social injustice and violence in Brazil and discusses what must be done to solve the problem.[4]

MV Bill appears in an episode of "Black in Latin America".[5] He has been credited with releasing one of the first Brazilian grime songs, "Cidadão Comum Refém", in 2002 after being influenced by a Dizzee Rascal CD.[6]

Early life

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Alex Pereira Barbosa was born in the Cidade de Deus neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro on January 3, 1974. His father, Mano Juca Barbosa was a firefighter while his mother Dona Cristina was a housewife.[1]

Discography

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  • 1998: Traficando Informação
  • 2002: Declaração de Guerra
  • 2006: Falcão, O Bagulho É Doido
  • 2010: Causa E Efeito

Soundtracks

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Selected filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Malhação Antônio
2013 Odeio o Dia dos Namorados Tonhão
2018 Me Chama de Bruna Cícero
2024 Volta por Cima Lindomar de Souza
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References

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  1. ^ a b Dowdy, Calenthia S. (2012). "Young Voices from the Periphery". Youth, Music, and Agency: Undoing Race, Poverty, and Violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (PhD). American University. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  2. ^ Behague, Gerard. "Rap, Reggae, Rock, or Samba: The Local and the Global in Brazilian Popular Music (1985-1995)." Latin American Music Review 27, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2006): 79-90.
  3. ^ Hodgkinson, Will (2006-01-13). ""Only hip-hop can save us"". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-10-20. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  4. ^ www.BrazilianArtists.net, the A-Z of Brazilian Arts, Entertainment & Cultural Events in the UK Archived 2008-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Black in Latin America". Archived from the original on 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  6. ^ brasamag (2021-05-01). "Como MV Bill fez o primeiro Grime brasileiro com Charlie Brown Jr. e DJ Luciano". Brasa Magazine (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2022-10-17.