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Gustavo Souza Marques

Assistant Professor of Music

Department:  Musicology,
Teaching Focus:  Hip-hop in the Americas, Latin American Music, Musicology,

[email protected]
704 Burton Memorial Tower

Bio

Gustavo Souza Marques, also known by his stage name Gusmão is an ethnomusicologist, drummer, and beatmaker. Marques’ main research interests are postcolonialism, critical race theory, media studies, performance and popular music (mainly hip-hop) in the Americas.

Marques most recently served as a postdoctoral fellow with the ERC CIPHER Hip Hop Interpellation project at University College Cork, National University of Ireland, where he was the Latin American and circum-Caribbean specialist for the global hip hop knowledge mapping project. His book, Beyond Gangsta: Tyler’s Reimagining of Hip Hop, examines the musical work of Tyler, the Creator through the lenses of critical race theory, postcolonialism, media studies, and performance studies. It is under contract with Bloomsbury as part of the series New Approaches to Sound, Music, and Media.

In his masters, Dr. Marques developed a pioneering ethnomusicological study on the Duelo de MCs (MCs Duel); the biggest street hip-hop battle to happen in Brazil which is held in his hometown Belo Horizonte city. At that time, Gusmão was the drummer for live hip-hop band Julgamento but also joining Duelo as a freestyling rapper, enriching his research on rap music and hip-hop culture as a scholar. Now Dr. Marques is focused on teaching, expanding his views on hip-hop in the Americas and continuing his career as a beatmaker which he started in 2018 with his debut beat tape “A Cor da Casca” (The Color of the Shell).

On the arts practice side, Gusmão produced the legendary Mexico City rapper MC Luka’s album Japomex (2024) which features other renowned Mexican rappers such as Sociedad Cafe. Gusmão also produced singles for MC Luka including “Lupita Taco Shop, Vol. 2.” (2024). His next scholarly project lies at the intersections between magical realism, ecomusicology, and transmodernism in hip-hop across the Americas.

Gusmão is also producing his new beat tape Urso Futurismo. The album combines Brazilian music genres such as samba and bossa nova with Caribbean styles such as raggamuffin and experimental American hip-hop. The album will be released between late 2024 and early 2025 on his YouTube channel Manuvah Records.

Education

  • BA Social Communication (Journalism), Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais, 2009
  • ArtDp Universidade de Música Popular Bituca (Music: Drums), 2010
  • MA Music and Culture, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), 2013
  • PhD Music (Ethnomusicology), University College Cork (UCC, Ireland), 2021
  • Postdoc CIPHER Hip Hop Interpellation project, University College Cork (UCC, Ireland), 2024

Selected Publications

Selected Discography

Gusmão - The Dorothy Ashby Beat Tape (2024)

Dorothy Ashby goes hip-hop in this beat tape produced by Gusmão.

MF DOOM x Black Sabbath - Madvillainy remix (2021)

DOOM Sabbath is a avant-garde project in which MF DOOM and Madlib’s album Madvillainy is remixed with Black Sabbath’s instrumentals. Remixed by music scholar and producer Gustavo Souza Marques (Gusmão).

Gusashi - South Samurai (2021)

“South Samurai” is Gusashi’s debut beat tape – a side project developed by Gustavo Souza Marques (Gusmão) – characterized by an unique hip-hop production sampling traditional Japanese music and Afro-Brazilian sounds.

Gusmão feat Abu, Shabe - Estamos Vivos (2019)

Rap single produced for Brazilian rappers Abu and Shabe approaching the political and social tensions existent in Brazil during the rise of the extreme right-wing in the country.

Gusmão - MNDCHNG (2019)

MNDCHNG is Gusmão’s fourth record and second beat tape, this time with the unique concept of being a 6-minute-6-track album.

Tyler, The Creator feat. MC Fioti - Bum Bum Tamale mashup/remix (2017)

Remix or mashup produced by Gusmão putting together Tyler, The Creator’s tune “Tamale” with baile funk artist MC Fioti with his hit “Bum Bum Tam Tam”.

Updated on: 10/21/2024
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