Sindicato Argentino del Hip Hop is a hip hop group formed in Argentina. They currently consist of three members: Smoler, DJ Fabry and Huexo , and two producers, but they have had different numbers of members over time . Their style mainly consists of hip hop and funk. The group received a Latin Grammy award in 2001 for best hip hop/rap album.

History

Sindicato Argentino del Hip Hop, which stands for Argentine Hip Hop Syndicate, started as a group of old-school hip-hop culture fans in the early nineties in Moron, a city in the western outskirts of Buenos Aires. In 1996 when Buenos Aires underground hip-hop scene emerged with the first CD compilation of local artists, Sindicato was heading the scene. Back then it was a full live band with up to 10 musicians and two MC's: Smoler and Derek. They recorded two songs for that CD compilation called Nacion Hip Hop, produced by Zeta Bosio of Soda Stereo, one of them, "Del Barrio" became the only single out of that album and had a video on Latin MTV during 1997.

In 1998 the band added to new MC's: Huexo and Frost. Later on they got rid of the live instrumentation and Fabri, who used to be the drummer became the DJ. During 1999 they disappeared from the local scene, focusing on recording and developing their production skills. They came out with an underground cassette release distributed only in small quantities. The next year they signed a contract with Universal Records, becoming the first Argentine rap group ever to get signed to a major label. However a lot of people in the local scene saw it as a betrayal since they had to change their sound and make it more radio friendly to be able to sign that contract.

Un Paso A La Eternidad was their first official album and didn't make too much noise in Argentina until the album was awarded a Latin Grammy for the best rap in Spanish album of the year. That lead them to tour Latin America and the United States, where their album was released by Universal Latino in 2002.

Little after the first album came out, Derek left the group, leaving only three MC's: brothers Smoler and Huexo and Frost who was one of the original pioneers of Argentinean hip-hop scene, being active since the mid 80's. For a while, at the end of 2002, they lived in Miami, Florida where they met their new manager who would later take them to Puerto Rico, where they became more successful than in their homeland. In the meantime they recorded a song called "Piensalo" for a compilation published in Chile and Spain and in that song they insulted Argentine music journalist and former friend of the band Juan Data and newcomers Koxmoz. That was the start of a rap battle between Koxmoz (and it's side project Antipatikoz) and Sindicato Argentino del Hip Hop.

Their second album, Sangre Sudor & Furia was released first in Puerto Rico and they never officially played it in Argentina. A little after the album came out, Frost announced that he was starting his solo career and leaving Sindicato. Many though that was the end of the group.

Trivia

Smoler's original rappers name was Smaller.
Frost, formerly known as MC Villa, was one of the first three MC's to start rhyming in Spanish in Argentina along Mike Dee and Jazzy Mel.
Sindicato never answer to Koxmoz diss song "Al Toke" but Frost did on a freestyle recorded on video and broadcast on-line.
Juan Data, the victim of Sindicato's "Piensalo" used to be a guest rapper on almost all Sindicato's concerts during 1996/1997. He was also the first journalists to publish a story on them and he worked for Universal Records in California during the promotion of "Un Paso A La Eternidad".
Critics pointed out that Sindicato claim to be Argentine in their name but on their lyrics they use "tu" instead of "vos" which is the proper colloquial way of speaking in Argentina. It's discussed if that is a conscious strategy to appeal to an international audience more than the local one.
In 1998 Sindicato Argentino Del Hip Hop was the first rap artists in their country to make a song over a tango sample, the unreleased "Tiempo Perdido". After 2000 many hip-hop artists started sampling tango (the local equivalent to American jazz) and even their enemies Koxmoz became famous world-wide with an electronic-rap collaboration with French group Gotan Project.

Discography

Nacion Hip Hop -compilation- (BMG, 1997)
Un Paso a la Eterniadad (Universal Records, 2001)
Sangre, Sudor y Furia (Universal Records, 2005)

External links

Official SAHH's web site

Argentine-musicians

Other pages about Argentine musicians

-Adrian Dargelos -Adrian Iaies -Agustin Bardi -Alberto Caracciolo -Alberto Cortez -Alberto Ginastera -Alejandro Lerner -Alfredo Casero -Andres Calamaro -Anibal Troilo -Ariel Ramirez -Ariel Rot -Astor Piazzolla -Bajofondo Tango Club -Bernarda Fink -Bruno Sanfilippo -Buenos Aires 8 -Carlos Gardel -Carlos Guastavino -Carlos Lopez Puccio -Carlos Moscardini -Carlos Nunez Cortes -Carlos Rivero -Carlos di Sarli -Chango Spasiuk -Charly Garcia -Christian Basso -Daniel Rabinovich -Dino Saluzzi -Dominic Miller -Edmundo Rivero -Eduardo Arolas -Emilio Kauderer -Ernesto Acher -Facundo Cabral -Felipe Colombo -Fito Paez -Francisco Canaro -Francisco Lomuto -Gerardo Masana -Gilardo Gilardi -Guillermo Cazenave -Gustavo Cordera -Gustavo Santaolalla -Hector Del Curto -Hernan Cattaneo -Indio Solari -Javier Weyler -Jorge Calandrelli -Jorge Maronna -Jorge Martinez (musician) -Juan D'Arienzo -Juana Molina -Julio Salvador Sagreras -Kevin Johansen -King Africa -La Mona Jimenez -Leon Gieco -Liliana Herrero -Lito Vitale -Luca Prodan -Luis Alberto Spinetta -Manuel Alcon -Manuel Buzon -Marciano Cantero -Marcos Mundstock -Maria Cristina Kiehr -Miguel Abuelo -Miguel Calo -Miguel Mateos -Nacha Guevara -Oscar Milani -Oscar Moro -Pablo Ziegler -Palito Ortega -Pappo -Pedro Aznar -Raul Porchetto -Ricardo Iorio -Roberto Firpo -Roberto Pettinato -Rodolfo Biagi -Rodolfo Mederos -Samuel Castriota -Sandra Mihanovich -Sindicato Argentino del Hip Hop -Sixto Palavecino -Tanguito -Tweety Gonzalez -Uncle Castro

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Sindicato_Argentino_del_Hip_Hop