Athalyba e a Firma was formed in São Paulo in the early 1990s by rapper and lyricist Athalyba-Man, DJ Kri, and producer and DJ Grandmaster Duda. Before creating the group, Athalyba-Man—born Marco Antônio Carneiro in the city’s Bixiga district—had begun recording in 1988 with Região Abissal, one of the pioneering groups of Brazilian hip-hop. Following Região Abissal’s breakup, he appeared on the 1993 compilation Algo a Dizer, Vol. 1 and developed new material with DJ Kri and Grandmaster Duda. Signed to BMG-Ariola’s PluG imprint, Athalyba e a Firma released its sole self-titled album in 1994. Drawing on rap, funk, soul, samba, and the culture of São Paulo’s black-music dances, Athalyba e a Firma combined political commentary with songs about relationships, nightlife, and everyday urban life. Its best-known tracks included “Política,” whose verses were constructed around proparoxytone words, as well as “Feminina,” “Dinheiro,” “Não Parem o Scratch,” and “Fim de Tarde (Perdi Você),” a reinterpretation of a song recorded by Cláudia Telles. Videos were produced for “Política” and “Fim de Tarde,” with the former receiving a nomination in the rap category at the 1995 MTV Video Music Brasil awards. The group’s recording career ended soon afterward, and Athalyba-Man withdrew from the music industry during the second half of the 1990s. Although no further albums followed, “Política” remained an enduring Brazilian conscious-rap track and was revisited by 64 rappers in a collective performance project in 2017.