Kaskata’s Records | Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil |LPS

6 min readNov 9, 2022

Hello diggers!

Today I would like to introduce you to an iconic Brazilian record label, Kaskata’s Records, founded in 1986 in the city of Santo André, São Paulo.

When I first saw the Hip-Hop LP ‘’Vozes De Rua Vol.1" on KollektivX, I knew I wanted to dive deeper into the history of the label, with several stories and releases from worth talking about (and discovering!).

https://kollektivx.com/projects/4562

The emergence of Kaskata’s Records

The Kaskata’s brand has been around since before the company became a music label. DJ Carlinhos and his brother DJ Wagnão, partner-owners, bought Kaskata’s in 1981, when they were just 21 years old. At that time, Kaskata’s Disco Club was a renowned place in the state of São Paulo.

The club opened in 1979, and Carlinhos immideately saw an opportunity to use this space, located in the Mauá neighborhood, to hold his “ bailes” (slang often used to refer to parties in the 70’s and 80’s) in his own way.

Since then, Carlinhos and Wagnão were DJing around the state and hosting events at their new disco club. Within two months, they were able to pay off the investment for the club purchase — something the previous owners saw as unlikely to happen any time soon.

Back then, the club was torn between two very different styles: “pauleira rock’’ (a slang term for heavy rock music, used by Carlinhos to describe this genre) and the music enjoyed by the African descendants that lived in Brazil. In the end, only one of these genres would come out on top and become part of the club’s musical identity.

DJ Carlinhos fell in love with African American culture and started playing at the club, introducing the music of the African Americans as the main vibe of the new musical space in Santo André. This attracted many people from different parts of the capital to the Kaskata’s Disco Club.

Inspired by other groups that often performed in town, such as Chic Show (formed by DJ Marcelo, Luizão and GM Duda), Black Mad (formed by Maurício Oliveira), the two brothers shaped their musical identity, as did Kaskata’s Disco Club’s.

There came a time when Kaskata’s Disco Club became so well known in the city of São Paulo, that Carlinhos and his brother felt the need for the brand to expand into becoming an event organizer. Thus, as was Chic Show, Black Mad and Zimbabwe, soon expanding the brand to several other venues in the state of São Paulo.

The Birth of Club House and Kaskata’s Records

In 1987, the then Kaskata’s Disco Club, changed its name to Club House and the Kaskata’s brand remained as an event team, performing in the club itself and in other musical spaces as well. At a certain moment, when holding a dance competition and then planning a rap contest, the idea came up to award the winner with the recording of a vinyl record.

Brazil’s first rap album

Together with DJ Cuca, who worked for Rede Bandeirantes,they held the event and awarded the winner of the contest with the making of the first national Rap vinyl record in the Brazil history. “A Ousadia do Rap” was then released in 1987 and was composed by De Repente, Mister Theo, Electro Rock, The Singing MC Breeze & Hand Master Flash, DJ Cuca, ZY DJ and Kaka House.

V.A — A Ousadia do Rap (1987)

At the same period, another Rap record was also released, but in the year 1988, which is also recognized by many Brazilians, such as “A Ousadia do Rap”, the first record intended for this musical genre on the rise in Brazil.

The Collection — Hip-Hop Cultura de Rua (1988), was recorded and mixed at Eldorado Studio and produced by Nasi and André Jung, in which artists such as Thaíde and DJ HUM, MC Jack and Código 13 were featured.

Hip-Hop Cultura de Rua (1988)

In historical moments with congruent paths, that is, after the founding of Kaskata Records and the release of their first vinyl record, “A Ousadia do Rap’’, many other records followed, jointly accompanying a new era of the underground Rap and National Hip Hop scene in Brazil.

Editor’s Favorites

Following are the songs and covers of the Brazilian albums of this scene, released by Kaskata Records, which constitute a special space in the heart of this editor who shares these songs and lines with you.