The music and the poverty of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are both world famous and inextricably linked. Many of Brazil's musicians are from Rio's most dilapidated slums (favelas), and poverty provides a backdrop to much of the country's music. The Inspiring New Sounds of Rio de Janeiro, the first release by the independent Verge Records label, makes this connection explicit, bringing together hip-hop, reggae, rock, reggaeton, and more traditional Brazilian influences like samba and bossa nova while delivering a strongly political and humanitarian message.

The album is a compilation by five artists on the Verge label, including three tracks by the group Movimento Na Rua ("Street Movement" in Portuguese), whose ranks include former gang members who are now outspoken critics of the drug trade. The song "Soldados Nunca Mais" ("Soldiers Never More") is a hard-rocking anthem about their conversion. * Music's power to change lives is one of the driving forces behind the album. Verge donates a portion of its profits to fund youth arts programs in the impoverished neighborhoods where the music came from and has partnered with the nonprofit Schools Without Borders to improve education for children in Rio de Janeiro. The two groups are also working together to build a local recording studio, so more albums like this can be made.

By Bennett Gordon