Black Alien (Brazil) + Special Guests

Gustavo de Almeida Ribeiro (June 7, 1972; São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro) — known by his artistic name “Black Alien” — is one of the most respected and influential Brazilian rappers and hip hop artists of all time.

Gustavo found his way onto the music scene through fellow skaters and hip-hop artists he met at a skate park in a poor neighborhood of São Gonçalo, an industrial city bordering Niterói, across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. Part of his family lived in São Gonçalo, but Gustavo grew up in a wealthier neighborhood of Niterói, where he was the only black student in his class at the American school. He therefore said he felt somewhat like an “alien” in both environments. This upbringing also meant he was fluent in English by age 12, and prefers to rhyme in English.

In the 1990s Black Alien quickly became known and revered for his sophisticated rhyming and flow — in both Portuguese and English — and for switching seamlessly between hip-hop, rap, reggae and samba sounds and rhythms. Likewise, his songs weave the socio-political commentary characteristic of the genre together with literary and cinematographic references, humor and romance, without sounding trite or like he’s trying too hard. On top of all that, he has a resonant, expressive voice that’s just pleasurable to listen to.
Rappers and hip-hop artists in Brazil almost invariably cite him as one of their main inspirations, as Criolo did in his recently released song “Esquiva da Esgrima.” And Gustavo Black Alien achieved this level of regard in spite of having only released one solo album (whose title has begged a sequel for ten years now): Babylon by Gus, Vol. 1: O Ano do Macaco, from 2004. The title is a play on the Bob Marley album Babylon by Bus; Gustavo just switched in his nickname, Gus.

Gustavo started out rapping with Speedfreaks (Cláudio Márcio de Souza Santos) — a fellow skater and rapper who had taken his nickname from this popular 1989 Santa Cruz skate video — and his friend DJ Rodrigues, in the band Speedfreaks. In the band, Speed took on the name Speedy Gonzalez and Black Alien was known as Bulletproof, because he had escaped a bullet by “running zigzag.” But later on he decided the nickname was dangerous — “people could try to test it” — and took the nickname Black Alien, which DJ Rodrigues had come up with.

Last time he played in Australia in 2019 was a sold out event.