Brazilian artist Rafael Pondé publishes his eighth album Brazilian Reggae Experience Vol.1. As the title suggests, it is an experience that mixes his hometown music with the Jamaican one, bringing the rich Brazilian reggae heritage to a globalized and interconnected post-pandemic world. The variety of styles is the leitmotif and the sound of the album ranges between dub, psychedelia, rock, bossa nova, bass culture and traditional music from northeastern Brazil.

Rafael himself explains: “I started creating Brazilian Reggae Experience Vol.1 during the pandemic, at a time when we were all cooped up at home and, paradoxically, it is the most collaborative album of my career. I think it was a moment of reconnection for everyone and I contacted several friends to continue producing music in those difficult times”. This experience materializes with the collaborations of singers Rafael Cardoso, Luis Carlinhos, Izabella Rocha (Natiruts) and Pedro Pondé (Scambo), and sound engineers Allex ‘Very Ugly’ Andrade and Daniel ‘Mixruts’ Felix (Natiruts).

The project also includes the personal experiences of Rafael Pondé in recent years, such as a holistic therapy that helped him in his self-knowledge and evolution or the trip in a van that in 2022 took him from Washington DC to seek a new life and a new beginning in San Diego.

Brazilian Reggae Experience Vol.1 is available on digital platforms.