Chico Science (Francisco de Assis França) was a Brazilian singer and composer. Chico was killed in a car crash in February 2, 1997 at the age of 30.
Born in the Rio Doce neighborhood in Olinda, when a little boy he used to sell crabs that he caught himself in the surrounding mangue. By this time he was already a huge fan of James Brown, Grandmaster Flash and Kurtis Blow.
Lead singer of a world music band called Chico Science & Nação Zumbi (CSNZ); his music was a fusion of rock, hip hop and rap with maracatu and other Brazilian rhythms. One of Chico´s greatest strengths (along with his vocals and his ability to mix rhythms) was his powerful stage presence, so powerful that some people even compared him to Jimi Hendrix.
His death had an impact rather like that of Nivana's Kurt Cobain as ChicoScience was perceived as a figure head for a generation of Brazilians,particularly in his native northeast.
Perhaps ChicoScience's most significant contribution to Brazilan music is that he has made afro-brazilian percussion cool for teenagers who had previously been far more interested in heavy metal, rave and rap from abroad.
Chico always promoted local rhythms and musicians and met his death at the tragically young age of 30, coming back to Olinda to party with his friends at carnival.
ChicoScience (Francisco de Assis França) (March 13, 1966 - February 2, 1997) was a Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the Mangue Bit cultural movement.
Around 1991, ChicoScience, along with singer Fred 04 of the Mundo Livre S.A. band, founded the Mangue Bit cultural movement in response to dire economic and cultural stagnation in Recife and Olinda.
Chico's genius was to celebrate the rich and fascinating local culture of his home state of Pernambuco state and fused it with all the modern global trends of the 1990's - Computers, Mud, Misery, Cyberspace, Hip Hop and roots music co-exhisted peacefully in Chico's world.
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