1 of 2 MC Bin Laden is part of Camarote in “BBB 24” Photo: Disclosure MC Bin Laden is part of Camarote in “BBB 24” Photo: Disclosure
MC Bin Laden was the first member of the Camarote group to be announced this Friday on “BBB 24” (5). At the age of 30, the funk singer was born in São Paulo and celebrated a breakthrough across the country in 2015 with the hits “Tá Tranquilo Tá Favorável” and “Bololo haha”.
He also became known for a song in collaboration with the British group Gorillaz.
His achievements include foreign tours, participation in a groundbreaking Jack Ü show, a Diplo and Skrillex project at Lollapalooza in São Paulo, praise from the trade website Pitchfork and star performances with the likes of Gorillaz.
But not everything in the man's career was glamorous. Remember the stories of MC Bin Laden.
G1 Heard MC Bin Laden: “The name Bin Laden: I smoked several and saw a movie”
Before Jefferson Cristian dos Santos Lima became known to the public as MC Bin Laden, he was MC JK. “Back then I almost got into the drug trade because I was starving, I was having a really hard time,” Bin Laden said in an interview with g1 Ouviu.
“Actually, I asked to join the drug trade. But I already sang funk. Usually we would make the kids happy there, make some rhymes while we were playing, and people would say, 'No, don't join in. You are very smart, very.' happy. 'These are the guys who bring us joy.' It was me and MC Rayak.”
He says that some time later, Rayak was arrested while performing a show in Baixada Santista for being in the same house with people wanted by the courts. “We were walking together and he told me not to get on those stops,” he says.
“After so many people said, 'You are a lot of light,' 'You are a lot of joy, a lot of mood,' 'This world is not for you,' I said, 'That's right, I.' “I’ll try Funk.”
While selling sneakers on Rua 25 de Março in São Paulo, the funk artist performed at small dances in the outskirts and was asked to sing at fairs. The funk popular at the time was flashy, a different style than JK. “I had nothing to show for it. I wore sneakers with holes in them.”
When Jefferson was still JK, an aspiring successful funk player, KL, then one of the main producers of the style, organized a series of tests to discover new talent in the scene.
Wanderson Cardoso de Oliveira, producer and talent scout known as Mano DJ, called JK for one of these tests.
“There were a lot of MCs there. Mano DJ said that there was a manager who wanted to see me sing because I sang Prohibition. “It was all his lies,” Bin Laden said.
“It’s time, he [Mano DJ] He said, “Next, no one wants to see you, but I know you sing like hell, and people will enjoy your style, your charisma, and you will pass.” He trusted.”
He was still the last to sing like JK. The song chosen was a banned funk song, “Senhor das Armas,” which already mentioned bin Laden.
“They were impressed because back then everyone was singing about pretentiousness, bitchiness and audacity. I arrived and sang a different kind of music. In the end I went along with it.”
The song that mentioned bin Laden came about after Jefferson saw a documentary and the name stuck.
“I looked at it and thought about the song. We looked for other names, Kabum, Bola 7, Bola 8, Grenada, many others. But the guys said I should put bin Laden in there. 'This is too crazy, this.' suits him'. It was Bin Laden. I wanted MC, it was: MC Bin Laden.”
The radio singer says he had no idea that taking the name of a terrorist, leader of AlQaeda, responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US, could cause him problems in the future.
“I thought it was going to explode right on my block. I didn't think it would be this big. [Para mim era] “It won’t do any good.” We are young, full of dreams. It was about getting us to sing on stage,” he says.
According to him, there are plans to change his stage name, although this is an idea for later. One of the options is BL, to stay closer and not lose artistic identity.
“When they ask me if I’m happy [com o nome]Actually, I’m not, because I understand the name I have,” he said in an interview with g1.
“I believe I will change at the right time. And I make that very clear because a lot of people say, 'No, nothing to do, just enter the United States.' No, it's about knowing the weight that the name carries and that I don't want to carry.
One of his first hits as bin Laden was “Bololo haha,” and the song grew out of an unexpected rhyme during one of his performances.
At that time, a montage by MC Branquinho with Passinho do Romano and the voice of Nego do Borel was popular.
“It was a point from the voice of Nego do Borel in the verse 'I want to hug the minors, hoho haha,'” MC Bin Laden said.
One night he went to a gig with MC Kauan and a boy in the audience had a different haircut: it said “bololo” on one side and “haha” on the other.
“The boy was in front and I started sending a rhyme that came out randomly: 'Because here we are laughing and getting faster.' The rhyme was for the child’s hair,” he says. “Out of nowhere, the dance started singing because Branquinho came from the neighborhood and the music was blaring. The song was 'hoho haha' and I chose 'bololo haha, bololo hahahaha'.”
The chorus was sung several times and went viral on social media even before the song was written. “Then one of the previews already had 100,000 views, then we made the video in the van and put it on the internet, another 100,000.” And he was called up for more shows.
“I thought: I have to go home, be alone and do this song because this will take me further. I made the song in 40 minutes, I gave my best in those 40 minutes and washed my soul.”
The title convinced important names in US electronic music, Diplo and Skillex.
MC Bin Laden comments: “It’s quiet, it’s cheap”
100 R$ from the businessman, 400 R$ from his pocket
But it was only with another song that Bin Laden burst the bubble and became a phenomenon. He was already uncomfortable with the profanityfilled songs he was making, and he wanted something different. My friend MC Gudan helped me make more fun tracks.
“I went to sleep, woke up, sat down and wrote 'It's quiet, it's cheap,'” he says. “The message would come from a minor who has turned around, turned his life around and is strong and calm and toasts those who disbelieve. The idea was very much anchored in that concept.”
But despite its success in other cities, it took a while for the music to catch on in São Paulo. The solution was to record a clip. “I had Ronaldo Fenômeno's Cascão cut, shaved one of my armpits and showed my stomach. I was embarrassed to go shirtless,” he says.
Bin Laden says the businessman gave him R$100 and he fueled up with another R$400 from his pocket to head to the north coast of São Paulo. “I bought champagne for R$30 and a cigar for R$15 and we recorded. At the end of the day there was no going back and we stayed at the house of a fan who recognized us.”
“The video started making the rounds and my girlfriend at the time said I should be ashamed because everyone was making clips bragging and I recorded a video mocking me and making fun of myself,” says he. “I asked for it to be taken off the air. I remember even getting into an argument that day because I didn’t have any investment in the clips.”
“But the boy showed me comments from people saying they had cancer in the hospital, others were depressed, sad and laughing at the video. Even Lucas Lucco said he was going through a sad moment so he watched it several times and really liked it.
Two weeks later the clip broke. The relationship is over.
After the euphoria of “It’s okay, it’s cheap,” Bin Laden experienced a low point in his career between 2018 and 2021. He was rejected by several artists to make music or, when the feat happened, he felt that his colleague did not make much effort to dedicate himself to the partnership or to publicize the work.
“I thought I was undervalued, I was in a bad mood because I cheated,” he said. There was depression, but also invitations abroad. He recorded with names like C. Tangana, popular in Spain at the time, and worked in Portugal and Italy.
“I didn’t understand what was happening to my career. There were a lot of people involved, things didn't go well. I was forced to go to the studio to meet my schedule,” he says. “I wanted to be out there more than here because I felt like I was more valued out there.”
“I realized that the problem was not with anyone, but with myself, who was not in the right frame of mind, neither for relationships nor for understanding the moment.”
“In music you have to stay active. I'm not the type to stir up controversy to stay on top. I’d rather stay for the music.”
When he returned to the country, he decided to reorganize. He examined the administration, the relationships with the people he worked with, and what had separated him from the funk and the artists.
“I thought about killing myself. I almost tried to take my own life. It was a difficult moment, not knowing how to deal with it: being in the room, thinking about taking my own life, and having to go out to do a show,” he says. “If the When people see you happy, they don’t know what you’re like inside.”
“I became closer to people who wanted me to be well, who put my foot down, who helped me recover and heal. I had to find myself deeper in the religion, understand the process and get out of the situation. I have developed a bond with religion, the gym and my family. I managed to stay calm.”
2 of 2 Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and MC Bin Laden Photo: Personal Archive Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and MC Bin Laden Photo: Personal Archive
Damon Albarn, lead singer of Blur and Gorillaz, had expressed his desire to record with him in an interview with people on social media mentioning Bin Laden.
Albarn discovered the funk singer's sound through British rapper Slowthai, who previously sang with Gorillaz and worked with the funk singer. Bin Laden and his team followed the boys' production without great expectations.
The meeting received a positive response, but bin Laden and the gang had to fly from São Paulo to Rio. “We had a show in São Paulo and there was no flight. We took the car and drove.”
At the meeting, which took place in May 2022, they recorded two songs for five hours. One of them, “Controllah”, came out in February of this year and has more of Damon's style, more “relaxed”. And bin Laden celebrated on social media.
“It’s a victory for radio, for the movement. An achievement from me with one of the biggest bands in the world. Funk is heard around the world.”
In addition to Gorillaz, Bin Laden is still hoping for a heroics with Charli XCX, with whom he exchanged messages on Instagram. With her, however, the proposal, when it comes to it, is different: Mandelão funk and a style more rooted in funk.