Criolo's new album No Ha Oralha ("Knot In The Ear") is one of the most successful Brazilian relases of 2011 and a remarkable break-through by an underground name to the mainstream spotlight. Completly self-penned, it was produced by Marcelo Cabral and celebrated Nacao Zumbi producer Daniel Ganjaman (of The Instituto Collective). The album opens with the afrobeat-insprired Bogaota, featuring Thiago Franca on tenor sax. Subirudoistiozin (Twogenstdead) tells the story of a double murder, and was the first track released as a single and atmospheric video. Noa Existe Amor en SP, his lament on the cruelty of the metropolis (how many lonely souls drift through a city of 20 million people) has become an instant classic. Rap rules on Grajauex while sweet samba shapes Linha de Frente. From the down-beat bolero-brega of O fregues de Mela-Noite to the spacey dub of Samba sambei and Lion Man and the Afro Brazilian funk grooves of Mario, the album takes the listener on a nocturnal trip through sprawling Sao Paulo. No Na Orelha is a hommage to that city a visceral place buzzing with vision and energy, capable of inspiring and destroying its citizen. And, certainly the only place capable of producing an artist like Criolo.