LITTLE AFRICAS

From the 1930s onwards, composing, playing and singing samba ceased to be a transgression and became a profession. Although they were still far from being on a level playing field with the white singers and musicians who dominated the music scene, the artists raised in samba circles and terreiros became an ostensible presence in radio and recording studios, theaters and nightclubs, the press and the sheet music industry. Located in Praça Mauá, in the symbolic territory of Little Africa, Rádio Nacional played a decisive role in the mass popularization of samba and sambistas.