The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance announces that Gustavo Souza Marques, also known by his stage name Gusmão, will join the Department of Musicology as an assistant professor in the fall of 2024. Marques is an ethnomusicologist, multi-instrumentalist, and beatmaker.
“The department is delighted to welcome Professor Gustavo Souza Marques. He brings to SMTD multivalent expertise on the global cultures of hip-hop, which he has been tackling with commitment and imagination as a practitioner and a scholar for years,” said Gabriela Cruz, chair of musicology and associate professor of music. “His presence will add an important and unique new dimension to the robust department-wide conversation about the study and the pedagogy of popular music, and we are looking forward to the many changes his work and his collaboration will inspire. Welcome, Gustavo!”
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.
On the arts practice side, Gusmão recently produced the legendary Mexico City rapper MC Luka’s forthcoming album Japomex and singles including “Lupita Taco Shop, Vol. 2.” 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 (Bear Futurism), a concept he developed inspired by indigenous futurist use of the bear as an important totem and spirit animal and their respect for nature as a key element for a better future. The album combines Brazilian music genres such as samba and bossa nova with Caribbean styles such as raggamuffin and experimental American hip-hop.
“I’m very excited to join the University of Michigan Department of Musicology – a place known for its top-notch research, teaching, and performance environments,” shared Marques. “I am looking forward to supporting the existing courses but also developing new ones related to hip-hop music production, hip-hop culture and critical race theory, Latin American percussion ensembles, and musicological approaches to Black musics in the Americas. There are so many possibilities, and I’m really thrilled about it all.”
Prior to joining U-M, Marques served on the faculty at University College Cork, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. He received a BA in communication from Pontificia Universidade Católica, an ArtDp in percussion from Universidade de Música Popular Bituca, an MA in music and culture from Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, and a PhD in musicology from University College Cork, National University of Ireland.