Born Bernhard Hendrik Hermann Weber in the German city of Stuttgart, MC Gringo's biography is anything but typical for an MC and producer of the Brazilian Carioca Funk sound. With a background in radio journalism and music (playing in a teenage punk band with Basti Schwarz from Tiefschwarz), Weber travelled to Brazil in 2002, ending up in Rio de Janeiro in 2004. Fascinated by the language and culture he started rapping about Rio's tough street-life, struggling at first to make a living from his unusual vocation. MCing in bus lines, pirate radio stations and getting in line for short performances at parties he honed his skills and slowly gained acceptance as the 'alemão' (German) in Rio's competitive Baile Funk scene. His Debut album 'Gringão' appeared on Berlin's Man Recordings label, containing his hit 'Dança Do Gringo', and his follow up Single '1 Real' was remixed by UK's breakbeat heroes Stereo MCs.