Assistant Professor of Music
Gustavo Souza Marques, also known by his stage name Gusmão, is an ethnomusicologist, multi-instrumentalist, and instrumental hip hop music producer. His main research interests include postcolonialism, critical race theory, media studies, performance, and popular music – primarily hip hop – in the Americas.
Marques 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 initiative. His debut book, Tyler, The Creator: Hip Hop’s Revolution – Beyond Gangsta, examines Tyler’s work through critical race theory, media studies, performance and postcolonial lenses. It was released in February, 2026 with Bloomsbury’s series New Approaches to Sound, Music and Media.
For his master’s degree, Dr. Marques conducted a pioneering ethnomusicological study on the Duelo de MCs (MCs’ Duel) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. During this time, he was the drummer for the live hip hop band Julgamento and a freestyling rapper, a dual role that enriched his academic exploration of hip hop culture.
His current scholarly project explores magical realism in hip hop across the Americas. Since 2023, he has conducted fieldwork in the U.S., Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile (Santiago, Valparaíso, and Viña Del Mar). During his research, he also returned to his hometown to interview successful rapper FBC. Additionally, Professor Marques has been expanding his scholarship to extreme music by attending and interviewing an intimate noise, experimental, and drone show by João Kombi, vocalist and guitarist from the globally renowned grindcore duo Test from São Paulo, Brazil. In the future, Professor Marques has plans to teach Global Heavy Metal at SMTD as well.
In Winter 2025, Professor Marques initiated the formation of the Bridge Theory Collective (formerly Hip Hop Coalition) within SMTD. While no longer a formal member, Marques continues to lead events independently in conversation with public scholarship and diverse communities across the University of Michigan and beyond.
On the artistic front, he has been collaborating with Latin music bands and musicians on the Michigan music scene and produced the 2024 album Japomex by legendary Mexican rapper MC Luka, commissioned by the Japanese record store and label Street Life Records (DJ Santana). Gusmão continues to release various beat tapes, singles, mashups and remixes on his YouTube channel, showcasing a sound that blends diverse musical influences inspired by his international experience. You can find all his links at: linktr.ee/gustavotree
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).