Brazilian samba singer Jose Bezerra da Silva passed away last week in Rio de Janeiro. Da Silva’s lyrics often focused on thug life and so became an inspiration to many Brazilian rappers. According to the Miami Herald (reg req), da Silva’s form of samba was called sambandido or bandit samba and, though he recorded 27 albums, he didn’t record his first full-length till he was 48. I imagine the response on that first record was pretty good since he had already been performing on radio and in nightclubs for 20 years.