Arthur Verocai – Arthur Verocai

The first and only solo album by the legendary Brazilian composer Arthur Verocai is probably the best-known Brazilian rarity on this list – and indeed anywhere. Arthur Verocai is almost certainly one of your favourite diggers’ favourite albums (assuming Madlib, J Dilla or Egon are among them). The track “Na Boca Do Sol” alone has been sampled by such diverse artists as Ludacris, MF Doom, Snoop Dogg and Curren$y (three times!). The coveted original album now costs thousands of euros (like pretty much anything that’s Brazilian and rare) and has been reissued several times. However, Mr Bongo’s 2016 reissue was the first to be produced using the original master tapes. And it’s not just Discogs commenters who agree that this is the definitive version of the classic. As producer House Shoes says in this absolutely must-see video from Vinyl Factory to mark the release: “Don’t Sleep!”