Beto Jamaica

Origin

Salvador, BA

Also known as

Roberto Pereira dos Santos

Years Active

1994

Genres

pagode, axé, música popular brasileira, samba

Instruments

voz

Biography

Roberto Pereira dos Santos, better known as Beto Jamaica, was born in Salvador, Bahia, on January 22, 1965. The singer and songwriter began his musical journey performing in traditional Afro-Brazilian groups, such as Afoxé Zambi, Muzenza, and Ilê Aiyê, building a strong foundation in Bahian culture before achieving national stardom.

In 1994, inspired by the sambas de roda of the Bahian recôncavo, he founded the group Gera Samba alongside his friend Compadre Washington, a project that would later gain enormous projection upon being renamed É o Tchan!. At the helm of the band's vocals during the 1990s, Beto Jamaica scored numerous hits in Bahian pagode and participated in landmark albums such as É o Tchan do Brasil and É o Tchan no Hawaí, becoming a central figure of axé and pagode of the era.

After temporarily leaving the group in 2000 to pursue a solo career with the release of the album É de Remexer, É de Rebolar, he returned to É o Tchan! in 2010. More recently, in 2018, he expanded his artistic work by launching the project Movimento do Beto, in which he blends elements of Brazilian popular music with Bahian samba, featuring collaborations with artists such as Negão Jamaica and Jean Oliver.

Discography

• É de Remexer, É de Rebolar (2000)
• Beto & os Irmãos Jamaica – Ao Vivo (2001)
• Beto Jamaica & os Irmãos Jamaica Ao Vivo (2001)
• Sibulindo Ao Vivo (2002)
• Dos Reyes Frente a Frente (2007)
• Los Diferentes del Vallenato (2013)
• Paraíso de Amor (2018)