Mangue bit


The mangue bit or manguebeat movement is a cultural movement created circa 1991 in the city of Recife in Northeast Brazil in reaction to the cultural and economic stagnation of the city. The movement largely focuses on music, mixing regional rhythms of Brazilian Northeast, such as maracatu, frevo, coco and forró, with rock, hip hop, funk and electronic music.

Overview

The movement has its own manifesto, Caranguejos com Cérebro, written in 1992 by singer Fred 04 and DJ Renato L. Its title refers to Recife's inhabitants as crabs living in Recife's mangrove environment. A major symbol associated with mangue bit is that of an antenna stuck in the mud receiving signals from all over the world.
Mangue bit can be divided into two distinct waves: the first in the early 1990s led by the music groups Chico Science & Nação Zumbi and Mundo Livre S/A, and the second in the early 2000s led by Re:Combo and Cordel do Fogo Encantado.
The original movement named itself mangue bit, mangue referring to Recife's mangroves and bit to the computer bit central to the movement's electronic music influences. Since then, mangue bit has commonly, albeit mistakenly, been referred as mangue beat.