Valete
Portugal
The Portuguese-language political hip hop artist Keidje Torres Lima (Portugal), known by his artist name Valete, has enjoyed critical success in his home country of Portugal. Valete was born in Lisbon, but he has strong family roots in São Tomé. He began listening to rap music in 1991, later encountering artists like Nas, Krs-one and Racionais MC’s. His second album Serviço Público was named as one of the best Portuguese hip hop albums of 2006 by the critics. It was selected as the second-best national album by the listeners of the Hip hop radio show Suburbano on Coimbra’s university radio, RUC. He is considered to be the only political rapper in Portugal.