Emicida grew up in the northern area of the city of Sao Paulo, listening at home mostly to hip hop music and imitating every MC he heard, rapping in his own version of English until he decided to turn to his own strong lyrics in Portuguese. His career as a MC started when he sang his first rhymes in freestyle battles (improvised rhymes) underground parties that used to happen in the center area of the city. Some tracks recorded at these battles went viral online. He soon became a household name in the scene and began making his own tapes and beats with a makeshift home set up. In 2008, EMICIDA released his first single: “Triunfo” ("Triumph"). One year later, his first mixtape was dropped: “Pra Quem Já Mordeu um Cachorro por Comida Até que eu Cheguei Longe”.
The independent distribution worked out just fine and the album sold over 10,000 copies. Popular all over the country as a result of his mixtape sucess, EMICIDA was brought to the media’s attention and was in major TV interview programs, newspapers and magazines covers. In 2010, the rapper released two other mixtapes: “Sua Mina Ouve Meu Rep Tamem” and “Emicídio”. At that point, EMICIDA was already the leading name of Brazilian new hip hop generation, which took its culture to different audiences. EMICIDA’s first international tour started in April, 2011, when he performed in California, at Coachella Festival. He was the first Brazilian rapper to perform at the festival, one of the biggest in the world. He then went to New York, where the EP “Doozicabraba e a Revolução Silenciosa" (organized with the producers K-Salaam and Beatnick) was recorded. His music pleased the American critics, who nicknamed him “Brazilian Jay-Z”. In that same year, EMICIDA was invited to perform at the two majors music festivals of Brazil: Rock in Rio and SWU. After that, he won the Act of the Year award, from the MTV VMB Awards. And the big news kept coming in 2012. The first one was “Zica, Vai Lá” videoclip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIofXdI1w5U), featuring Neymar, Brazils latest soccer idol. Soon after, EMICIDA received a very special invitation: to record an exclusive song to the video game Max Payne 3, new release of Rock Star. EMICIDA wrote the song “9 Circles” especially for the game. Besides this, 4 other songs of the rapper were included in game’s official soundtrack. After the US tour, in July 2012, EMICIDA went to Europe, performing at Back2Black festival in London, at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and in Berlin, Germany. Back to Brazil, he was nominated for VMB, Brazilian MTV awards, in the best song category, with “Dedo na Ferida”, and for an EMA, Europe MTV awards, in best Brazilian act category. In the first half of 2013 EMICIDA travelled to the US for two tours, performing in New York clubs and at SXSW festival in Austin. The rapper also went to Europe, performing in Portugal (including a show with Mos Def), Germany and Switzerland. Emicida released a DVD with his hip hop partner Criolo and recorded his first studio album, after two EPs and two mixtapes. “O Glorioso Retorno de Quem Nunca Esteve Aqui” (The glorious return of who was never here”) mixes genres like samba, soul and Brazilian funk with rap, with lots of percussion. The album has featuring of Rael, Pitty, MC Guime, Juçara Marçal, Fabiana Cozza, Quinteto em Branco e Preto and Wilson das Neves. The album was released in 2013 August, with sold out concerts around Brazil, also being praised by critics and chosen album of the year in leading press music lists - including album of the year by Rolling Stone Magazine.