A Big, Wide World of Music
The Inspiring New Sounds of Rio de Janeiro (Verge)
--- By Jon Pareles

What unites this collection is the socially conscious messages of the songs, which zero in on urban problems like poverty and crime. The music is a Brazilian miscellany — hip-hop, reggae, pop and funk — and it’s at its best when acts like A Filial or BNegão e os Selectores connect with samba and rural Brazilian roots.