Cláudio Márcio de Souza Santos, better known by his stage name Speedfreaks or simply Speed, was a Brazilian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, composer, musician, and member of the

Underground Hip Hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

duo Black Alien & Speed. He was a pioneer in the Brazilian Underground Hip Hop genre. His lyrics talked about the reality of the Brazilian streets, dealing with crime, poverty, prejudice, drugs, and money. According to ''Isto É'' magazine, Speedfreaks created "one of the best rap records of recent times". He died on March 26, 2010.

Career

Speedfreaks initiated his career in 1989,

Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...

. He started performing with Rap freestyles, and at local shows, typically as a featured guest. He wrote his first rap song, "Sinistro", in the early 1990s. His second song was "Eu Sou o Capeta". In 1993, he released his demotape called ''Speedfreaks'', with former musical partner Gustavo Black Alien. During the same year, he participated in the compilation album ''No Major Babies'', with the song "Hit Hard Hip Hop" released in Brazil, Europe and the United States. He was featured in Planet Hemp's album ''Usuário''. In 1996, he released his first solo album called ''De Macaco'' on an independent label. From 1997 to 1998, he released several songs on websites such as Som da Glock and Timoneiro. In 1999, along with Gustavo Black Alien, he formed the Hip Hop duo Black Alien & Speed, which debuted with the song "Guerrilha Verbal". Speedfreaks had a feature on

Marcelo D2 Marcelo Maldonado Peixoto (born November 5, 1967), also known as Marcelo D2, is a Brazilian rapper, singer and songwriter, co-founder of Planet Hemp. Biography A former vocalist of the band Planet Hemp, he started his solo career in 1998 ...

's first solo album, ''Eu Tiro é Onda'', specifically in the song "Império Contra Ataca". In 2000, he recorded the album ''Na Face'' with

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

producer Carlo Bartollini, released independently. He recorded with

Fernanda Abreu Fernanda Abreu (born September 8, 1961) is a Brazilian singer. Biography Fernanda was born and raised in a middle-class family of the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Her first notable public appearance was the backing vocal of the band Blitz until ...

the song "O Som do Sim", which appeared on

Herbert Vianna Herbert Lemos de Sousa Vianna (born May 4, 1961) is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer mainly known for his work with Brazilian pop rock band Os Paralamas do Sucesso. Biography Herbert was born in João Pessoa, P ...

's album. That same year, he was featured on the albums ''Tributo a Luiz Gonzaga'' and ''Baião de Vira Mundo''. In 2001, Speed released his album ''Expresso'', which featured Rappin' Hood and Otto. Along with Black Alien, he released one of the duo's greatest hit songs: "Quem que Caguetou?", which was also released in Europe. It received remixes from

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...

and

Fat Boy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of samples from eclectic genres, combined ...

, and was re-recorded in the United States under the title "Follow Me, Follow Me". In 2003, he released the instrumental album ''Sangue Sob o Sol''. Still in 2003, after various discussions with Black Alien, the duo ended. In 2006, he released the album ''Só o Beginço'', which featured Rhossi, from Pavilhão 9. In 2008, Speedfreaks released a new project called ''Meu Nome é Velocidade'', which featured singer BNegão in the song "Você Morreu". The following year, he released ''De Volta no Jogo'', through his independent label, Speed's Hits. He was about to release ''Remixxx-Speedfreaks Features'', a compilation of songs with special appearances by Speed. He recorded the song "Trocando Ideia" with fellow Carioca rapper Tigrão Big Tiger, which was part of the album ''De Volta no Jogo''. A documentary film about his life was scheduled to be released in 2020.

Death

Santos was found dead on March 26, 2010, in the neighborhood of São Lourenço,

, Rio de Janeiro. According to police, the bodies of Santos and another person were found inside a ditch on Capitão Evangelista street with gunshot wounds. The case was treated as a double

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

. Investigators speculated that he may have been killed by drug dealers who mistook him for a police officer.

Discography

Albums

* ''Expresso'' (2001) * ''Sangue Sob o Sol'' (2003) * ''Só o Começo'' (2006) * ''Meu Nome é Velocidade'' (2008) * ''De Volta No Jogo'' (2009) * ''Remixxx-Speedfreaks Featurings Vol. 1'' (2009)

Video Clips

* 2008 – ''São Gonçalo/Niterói'' (with Tigrão Big Tiger) * 2009 – ''Trocando Ideia'' (with Tigrão Big Tiger) * 2010 – ''Follow Me, Follow Me'' (with Black Alien)

References