Next attraction: Reggae Music! The sound of the ghettos is emerging for all classes!

Finally, to the pride of Brazilian reggae fans, reggae has reached the mainstream media. The story that reggae is the sound of the ghettos, surviving only in the underground music scene, is already a thing of the past. Today, the Jamaican style appears across all media, and in prime time!

Throughout the month of January, the City of São Paulo promoted several events commemorating the city's 450th anniversary. As could be expected, among exhibitions, cultural and historical showcases, sports and environmental events, concerts featuring renowned names in Brazilian music were not lacking. To the pride of the reggae community, the bands Planta & Raiz, Arkaya, Maskavo, To Fly, Expressão Regueira, Tribo de Jah and Cidade Negra took to the stages of São Paulo.

The major TV networks are also opening an important and significant space. Globo's new soap opera, for example, tells the story of the Maranhão band Mystical Roots; Bandeirantes broadcast the Maranhão Roots Reggae Festival, which took place in August, not to mention radio stations and the internet, which increasingly make room for national reggae.

Legend has it that Maranhão is the Brazilian Jamaica, but the style tends to expand since our current Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, is the country's most famous reggae artist. Not bad, since reggae is not an ordinary rhythm — it brings with it an entire tradition and a set of philosophies that preach peace, humility and fraternity, so necessary in 21st-century Brazil.