Caribbean Beat — March/April 2018 (#150)

The São Luís skyline: old tiled roofs
and skyscrapers in the distance
Marco Paulo Bahia Diniz/shutterstock.com
The story of reggae in São Luís is a long and complex one, spawned by
the efforts of a few early record collectors during the 1970s, including
Ademar Danilo, whose pioneering radio show helped to introduce reggae
culture to the city — so much so that Danilo has been appointed the Reggae
Museum’s first director. Merchant seamen and the operators of radiolas — as
sound systems are locally known — also played important roles, with a range of
resident characters all aiding the music’s dissemination and local identification.
The city clearly retains one of the most unique reggae scenes in the world
— hence the motivation behind the museum, which aims to “materialise the
memories of a song that conveys messages of equality, peace, freedom, and
love,” looking at the “yesterday, today, and tomorrow of reggae in Maranhão,
Brazil, and the world,” according to the official opening statement.
“Reggae is important in São Luís for a lot of different reasons,” Rodrigues
says. “The reggae scene emerged here in the late 70s among some of Brazil’s
poorest people, similar to how it developed in Jamaica: through competing
sound systems, open-air dances, and specialist radio programmes. And
although the music’s religious subject wasn’t absorbed, the social message and
especially the romantic mood found a friendly territory in which to spread.
“The scene got bigger and bigger throughout the 80s and 90s, building a
cultural bridge between the two countries which more recently fed the rise
of local studio production and superstars, pushing reggae music in different
directions. So it’s easy to imagine what reggae did, and continues to do, for the
people of São Luís’s self-esteem.”
“In São Luís, one soon understands that reggae plays a profound role in the
local economy,” adds Kavin D’Palraj, a musician from Chennai who wrote his
doctoral dissertation on São Luís reggae. “It has affected political practices
and outcomes, defines relationships between neighbourhoods and different
socio-economic strata, and continues to stir passionate debate on the destiny
of the city and its people.”
Ultimately, Rodrigues feels that São Luís’s
Reggae Museum is primarily concerned with
local validation and the potential to increase the
number of overseas visitors. “We’re talking about
forty years in the timeline, which includes big
and colourful sound systems, rare records, radio
diffusion, dance crews, pioneers, DJs, and others
that worked to get it going. So from this point of
view, the museum will help maintain the history,
honour a lot of local people, and evoke reggae’s
relevance in the local culture.
“On the other hand,” he adds, “São Luís is a
touristic city with colonial architecture, beaches,
and folkloric festivals, and reggae became an
appeal for visitors here too. But the local scene
is still authentic, with radiolas playing far in the
outskirts or other places where tourists prefer not
to go. For most of them, the so-called ‘Brazilian
Jamaica’ is visible only on t-shirts and some
red-gold-and-green things at the souvenir shops
in the old town. So in this sense, a museum will
contribute to keeping the reggae spirit alive and to
broadening its appeal.” n
Caribbean Airlines operates daily flights
from destinations across the Caribbean to
Miami and Paramaribo, with connections
on other airlines to São Luís
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