Chico Science

Francisco de Assis França, mais conhecido pela alcunha de Chico Science (Olinda, 13 de março de 1966 - Recife, 2 de fevereiro de 1997) foi um cantor e compositor recifense, um dos principais colaboradores do movimento Manguebeat em meados da década de 1990. Líder da banda Chico Science & Nação Zumbi, deixou dois discos gravados: Da Lama ao Caos e Afrociberdelia, tendo sua carreira precocemente abortada por um acidente de carro. Chico Science participava de grupos de dança e hip hop em Pernambuco no início dos anos 80. No final da década integrou algumas bandas de música como Orla Orbe e Loustal, inspiradas na música soul, no funk e no hip hop. A fusão com os ritmos nordestinos, principalmente o maracatu, veio em 1991, quando Science entrou em contato com o bloco afro Lamento Negro, de Peixinhos, subúrbio de Olinda. Misturou o ritmo da percussão com o som de sua antiga banda e formou o Nação Zumbi. A partir daí o grupo começou a se apresentar em Recife e Olinda e iniciou o "movimento" mangue beat, com direito a manifesto ("Caranguejos com Cérebro", de Fred 04, da Mundo Livre S/A). Em 1993 uma rápida turnê por São Paulo e Belo Horizonte chamou a atenção da mídia. O primeiro disco, "Da Lama ao Caos", projetou a banda nacionalmente. O segundo, "Afrociberdelia", mais pop e eletrônico, confirmou a tendência inovadora de Chico Science e Nação Zumbi, que excursionaram pela Europa e Estados Unidos, onde fizeram sucesso de público e crítica. O Nação Zumbi lançou um CD duplo em 1998, depois da morte do líder, com músicas novas e versões ao vivo remixadas por DJs. English: Chico Science (aka Francisco de Assis França) (March 13, 1966 - February 2, 1997) was a Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the Mangue Beat cultural movement. He died in a car accident in 1997 in Recife, Pernambuco, at the age of 30. Born in the Rio Doce neighbourhood of Olinda in the state of Pernambuco in Brazil's Northeast, as a little boy he would sell crabs that he caught himself in the city's mangrove swamps. He became the lead singer and major creative driving force of the groundbreaking Mangue Bit band called Chico Science & Nação Zumbi (CSNZ). Influenced by such musicians as James Brown, Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow, their music cleverly fused rock, funk, and hip hop with maracatu and other traditional rhythms of Brazil's Northeast. Chico had a powerful stage presence that was compared by some to that of Jimi Hendrix. Before CSNZ, Chico was a member of the bands Orla Orbe and Loustal (the latter named after the French comic book artist and cartoonist Jacques de Loustal). Around 1991, Chico Science, along with singer Fred 04 of the band Mundo Livre S/A, founded the Mangue Bit cultural movement in response to dire economic and cultural stagnation in Recife and Olinda. CSNZ made their US debut at New York's Central Park SummerStage in 1995, opening for Gilberto Gil, with whom he collaborated during the encore. While in NY, they also performed additional shows at CBGB's, SOB's and at Bryant Park as part of the JVC Jazz Festival, on a bill with the Ohio Players. Chico Science & Nação Zumbi toured several times in Europe and brought massive attention to the new generation of Brazilian artists in the 1990s. With only two full albums released during his lifetime "Da Lama Ao Caos' ('From Mud To Chaos) and 'Afrociberdelia' (as well as a postuhumous double CD of remixes and live recordings "CSNZ'), his influence and vision became the foundation to a whole new generation of musicians in Brazil. Chico's genius was to celebrate the rich and fascinating local culture of his home state of Pernambuco state and fused it with all the modern global trends of the 1990s - Computers, Mud, Misery, Cyberspace, Hip Hop and roots music co-existed peacefully in Chico's world. Nação Zumbi have continued to record and tour internationally after Chico's death.