Gabriel Contino, better known as Gabriel, o Pensador (Gabriel the Thinker) is one of the best known rappers in the brazillian hip-hop scene. Coming from a totally different background than most brazilian rappers, Gabriel, the son of a well known politician in Brazil, hit fame in 1993 with the song Tô Feliz (Matei o Presidente) - I feel happy, I killed the president - the debut single from his first and eponymous album, which yielded other hits, including Loira Burra (Stupid Blonde) and Retrato de um Playboy (Portrait of a Playboy), bringing hip-hop mainstream attention in Brazil, by catering to an emmerging middle class. Although rapping about common everyday life, Gabriel also found time to talk about social injustices with his fourth single, O Resto do Mundo (The Rest of the World), a more downbeat track, with a purposefully depressive melody and flow.

His following albums kept on being commercially successful, with a careful blend of socially relevant tracks mixed with airwave-minded pop anthems. History-minded, Gabriel was highly influenced by other brazilian music, including bossa nova, samba and MPB, as well as using hip-hops traditional methods of sampling jazz, funk and disco (12345meia78, for example, sampled Chic's Good Times).

Besides his native Brazil, Gabriel, o Pensador is also well known in Portugal, and has worked with portuguese musician Sérgio Godinho .

Discography

• Gabriel, o Pensador (1993)
• Ainda é só o Começo (1995)
• Quebra-Cabeça (1997)
• Nádegas a Declarar (1999)
• Seja Você Mesmo, Mas Não Seja Sempre o Mesmo (2001)
• MTV Ao Vivo (2002)

Website

Gabriel, o Pensador official site