Sao Luis is an ethnically diverse island in the north of Brazil.

It’s also a place that moves to the beat of reggae music, which pervades so much of it that it’s been nicknamed the “Brazilian Jamaica.”

Theories differ as to how reggae first arrived to the island in the late 1970s. Was it because of the ships coming into the port with vinyl records from French Guyana, or did it come from amateur radio stations picking up signals from the Caribbean?

Nearly 50 years later, reggae has become such a central part of life that even City Hall has its own Reggae Strategic Planning committee.

Our Urban Voice is Brazil’s Reggae Movement, in the island of Sao Luis.