MV Bill, real name Alexandre Pereira Barbosa (born January 3, 1974), is a Brazilian rap singer, actor, songwriter and co-author of the best-selling book ''Falcão - Meninos do Tráfico''. The initials "MV" stand for "Mensageiro da Verdade",

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "''Messenger of Truth''", and the nickname Bill came from a favorite childhood toy. MV Bill is one of the leading and most controversial rappers of

Brazilian hip hop Brazilian hip hop is a national music genre in Brazil. From its earliest days in the African-Brazilian communities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the genre has grown into a countrywide phenomena. Rappers, DJs, break dancers and graffiti artists ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. Rio remains as the center of developing Brazilian politics. MV Bill is an advocate for getting the Brazilian youth out of the drug trade and into some more uplifting activities. He founded a network of NGOs located in Rio including

CUFA CUFA (Central Única das Favelas) is a non-governmental organization in Brazil. Celso Athayde, a music producer and community organizer born in Favela do Sapo, founded the organization in 1999 with rapper and social activist MV Bill. Beginning Rio ...

, which strive to teach hip-hop skills, graffiti, and break dancing to children, alongside educational classes such as computer training. Many of his songs contain lyrics discussing the Brazilian youth lost to the trades and confrontations in Rio. MV Bill has also funneled his passion for social justice into a book, ''Cabeça de Porco'', that he co-authored with Celso Athayde and Luis Eduardo Soares, one of Brazil's foremost social anthropologists. The book, published in 2005, revolves around the issue of social injustice and violence in Brazil and discusses what must be done to solve the problem. MV Bill appears in an episode of "Black in Latin America". He has been credited with releasing one of the first Brazilian grime songs, "''Cidadão Comum Refém''", in 2002 after being influenced by a

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

CD.

Early life

Alex Pereira Barbosa was born in the Cidade de Deus neighborhood of

on January 3, 1974. His father, Mano Juca Barbosa was a firefighter while his mother Dona Cristina was a housewife.

Discography

*1998: ''Traficando Informação'' *2002: ''Declaração de Guerra'' *2006: ''Falcão, O Bagulho É Doido'' *2010: ''Causa E Efeito''

Soundtracks

*2011: '' Beat the World''

References

1974 births Living people Brazilian rappers Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Universal Music Group artists Brazilian actors Actors from Rio de Janeiro (state) {{Brazil-musician-stub