Marcelo Maldonado Peixoto (November 5, 1967), known professionally as Marcelo
D2, is a rapper from Rio de Janeiro who has been active in Brazil’s hip-hop
scene since the early 90s. He grew up in Rio's poorest neighborhoods, and lived
through a number of personal hardships during his youth, which influenced his
worldview as well as his burgeoning career in music. Widely regarded as one of
the pioneers of the “samba rap” subgenre, he started his career as the vocalist
for the influential rapcore group Planet Hemp, with whom he recorded four
seminal studio albums. After the group’s ...