Drum/percussion duo
Opening Show Act São Paulo - 2006

TUCA E MELL is the name of a drum/percussion duo from Brazil who have been active in the Hip Hop scene for more than five years. They are well known B-Boy battle percussionists in South America because their drum-beats follow the classic B-Boy break-beats.

In addition to performing shows with DJs, MCs, and rap groups, the idea of the project TUCA E MELL is to act within Hip Hop culture to create the soundtrack for breaking crews. In one of their first shows, they performed with the “Footwork Crew” from Curitiba, Paraná, drumming as the crew performed their choreography.

The musical language is the break-beat. “Imagine two drums on stage, each one playing simultaneously the beats that the B-Boys and B-Girls love to dance to,” says TUCA. After people saw them, they received lots of invitations to play at open jams and finally they got asked to play at competitions and they started playing at jams and battles all over Brazil.

TUCA E MELL’s relation with Hip Hop culture came about through the strong support from dancers of the Backspin Crew, one of the first Brazilian breaking crews from the early ‘80s. Further support came from the Super Sonic B-Boys from São José do Rio Preto, the Footwork Crew, and the Superstar B-Boys from Curitiba. The girls also performed with rap celebrities such as Xis, at the 450 anniversary of the city of São Paulo.

The girls give workshops combining break-beats and breaking to teenagers, some of them homeless, TUCA E MELL formed a crew called “Levantamento de Rua – LDR” which emphasizes the reintegration of young people into society. They worked on another social project called “Quadrilátero” with the MC group “Jigaboo” inside Febém Tatuapé, an institution for kids that have committed crimes.

A very special moment for them was their performance at the International Battle of the Year, 2005 in Germany. This show created the opportunity to take part in the production of a music CD and a DVD of “Battle of the Year/2005.”

TUCA E MELL are grateful to be able to show their work with Discipulos do Ritmo at the RED BULL BC ONE and to demonstrate how music and dance depend on one another.