Francisco de Assis França (March 13, 1966 – February 2, 1997), better known as Chico Science, was a Brazilian singer and composer and one of the founders of the

manguebeat The mangue bit or manguebeat movement is a cultural movement created circa 1991 in the city of Recife in Northeast Brazil in reaction to the cultural and economic stagnation of the city. The movement largely focuses on music, but it has its own fas ...

cultural movement. He died in a car accident in 1997 in

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

, Pernambuco, at the age of 30.

Biography

Francisco de Assis França was born in the Rio Doce neighbourhood of Olinda, Pernambuco, in Brazil's Northeast Region. As a little boy he would sell crabs that he caught himself in the city's mangrove swamps. He became the lead singer and major creative driving force of the groundbreaking Mangue Bit band called

Chico Science & Nação Zumbi Chico () means ''small'', ''boy'' or ''child'' in the Spanish language. It is also the nickname for Francisco in the Portuguese language (). Chico may refer to: Places *Chico, California, a city *Chico, Montana, an unincorporated community *Chic ...

(CSNZ). Influenced by such musicians as James Brown, Grandmaster Flash and

Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), professionally known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record/film producer, b-boy, DJ, public speaker and minister. He is the first commercially successful rapper ...

, their music cleverly fused

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, funk, and hip hop with

maracatu The term maracatu denotes any of several performance genres found in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil. Main types of maracatu include ''maracatu nação'' (nation-style maracatu) and ''maracatu rural'' (rural-style maracatu). Maracatu Nação Marac ...

and other traditional rhythms of Brazil's Northeast. World music critics found his music "original and distinctive of his region." Chico had a powerful stage presence that was compared by some to that of Jimi Hendrix. Around 1991, Chico Science, along with singer

Fred 04 Fred 04 (born in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Pernambuco, on July 11, 1965) is the leader, singer, guitarist and Cavaquinho player of Brazilian band Mundo Livre S/A. He is the co-author, along with DJ Renato L, of the Mangue Bit manifesto, "Carang ...

of the band

Mundo Livre S/A Mundo Livre S/A is a Brazilian mangue bit band, formed in 1984 in Recife, Pernambuco. It is also one of the founders of that musical style, which became popular in the 1990s. Fred Zero Quatro, the band's singer, was one of the authors of Carang ...

, founded the Mangue Bit cultural movement in response to dire economic and cultural stagnation in Recife and Olinda. CSNZ made their US debut at New York's Central Park Summerstage in 1995, opening for

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration ...

, with whom he collaborated during the encore. While in NY, they also performed additional shows at

CBGB's CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, SOB's and at

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...

as part of the JVC Jazz Festival, on a bill with the Ohio Players. Chico Science & Nação Zumbi toured several times in Europe and brought massive attention to the new generation of Brazilian artists in the 1990s. With only two full albums released during his lifetime, 'Da Lama Ao Caos' ('From Mud To Chaos) and 'Afrociberdelia', his influence and vision became the foundation to a whole new generation of musicians in Brazil. At the time of his death, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said he was "widely hailed as the future of Brazilian music." The Governor of the Brazilian state of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...

declared three days of mourning. In 1996, Chico Science contributed ''Maracatu Atômico'' along with

Nação Zumbi Nação Zumbi (formerly Chico Science & Nação Zumbi) is a Brazilian band formed by Chico Science. They have been hailed as one of the most important groups to come out of the manguebeat movement in the 1990s. The musicians of the group continued ...

to the AIDS-Benefit Album

Red Hot + Rio ''Red Hot + Rio'' is a compilation album produced by Béco Dranoff and Paul Heck as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series intended to promote AIDS awareness. This installment is a contemporary tribute to the bossa nova sound, especially the mus ...

produced by the Red Hot Organization.

have continued to record and tour internationally after Chico's death.

Death

Chico Science died in a car accident on February 2, 1997. He lost control of his Fiat Uno and hit a side light post after another car cut him off. He was rescued alive but he did not survive his injuries. He was buried on February 3 in Cemitério de Santo Amaro located in

. 10 years after his death, his family was compensated by Fiat due to a failure in the seatbelt that could have saved his life.

Legacy

In 2008, Rolling Stone Brasil ranked Chico Science as the 16th greatest Brazilian artist in their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time in Brazilian music

Discography

*1994: ''

Da lama ao caos ''Da Lama ao Caos'' () is the debut album by the Brazilian band Chico Science & Nação Zumbi. Released in 1994, the album presents a fusion of funk rock and maracatu and contributed for spreading the music of Pernambuco around the world. ''Da L ...

'' *1996: ''Afrociberdelia'' *1998: ''CSNZ'' (posthumous)

References

Sneed, P. M. (2019). The Coexistentialism of Chico Science and Brazil's Manguebeat. Latin American Research Review, 54(3), 651–664. DOI: http://doi.org/10.25222/larr.451

External links

Channel Chico ScienceMemorial Chico Science
{{DEFAULTSORT:Science, Chico 1966 births 1997 deaths Brazilian rock musicians People from Olinda Road incident deaths in Brazil 20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers