In the past, Geizon Carlos da Cruz Fernandes did not imagine that he would become a Xamã, an artist recognized for his art, both in music and, now, in dramaturgy. Fascinated by cinema, the boy who was always renting films at the video store near his house came to build a career that would yield a beautiful script for a feature film. When playing Damião, one of the highlights of “Renascer”, he reviews his story of struggle, after going through difficult times. Of humble origins, the singer and actor, who now lives in a mansion in Itanhangá, was raised by his grandmother in Sepetiba, in the West Zone of Rio.
- Repercussion: Shaman has fun with nude scene in ‘Renascer’: ‘The little aunts really like it’
- Prejudice: Zinha from ‘Renascer’, Samantha Jones suffers attacks because of her hair: ‘Cruel comments telling me to cut it’
Photos of Xamã, Damião from ‘Renascer’, in an exclusive rehearsal for Canal EXTRA
— My mother was unable to take care of me all day and work at the same time. I stayed with my grandmother, I never got attention from my father, but I did from my uncles. My mother was always very hardworking to make her life without depending on my grandmother — says the actor, aged 34, who still has no contact with his father.
Xamã’s turning point came at the age of 19, when he decided to leave the family home to try to make a living from music. When he started participating in the rhyme battles, he quit his job at a clothing store to work on Rio’s trains, selling candy and peanuts. But the intention was to show his work to passengers and thus gain views on YouTube.
— I romanticize this moment of transition as if it had been a quick thing, but I was pretty screwed for a while. I had told my mother that I was going to leave home to make music. She thought it was super cool, but I had nowhere to go or anything to eat. There was a time when I slept under a bus in Campo Grande so that no one would see me and tell my mother. When it rained, she slept inside the bus. I hid at the back of the bus so the pilot wouldn’t see me — she remembers.
The reality of trains was not easy. He saw prejudice in the eyes of passengers uncomfortable with his rhymes. But it was inside the carriages that he had his greatest learning:
— Prejudice exists, but the method I found to sell was rhyme. Anyone who wanted peanuts bought them. Those who didn’t want it, but liked the rhyme, bought it to help me. It was softening the person who was hardened by the desire to get home, often hungry… Everyone was there in tension. If something goes wrong, the train is worse than Twitter (laughs). There are still some guards who get involved when something goes wrong.
Before becoming a Shaman, he used the name Nightwolf (a character from Mortal Kombat (a series of video games), who, through ritualistic invocations, manifests the healing and divine faculties of a true shaman). It was renamed due to people having difficulty memorizing the old stage name.
With his work on trains, Xamã achieved the desired impact that increased the number of subscribers on his YouTube channel. Increasingly recognized for his rhymes, he began recording new content and clips. In a film script, it would certainly be like this: scene on the train, cut, Xamã appears in 2021 exploding with the hit “Malvadão 3”, the top 1 on Spotify in Brazil.
Known throughout the country, he recorded three albums and today has more than eight million followers on Instagram. In the meantime, he still tried to pursue a career in Law, but never graduated.
— My cousins had gone to college, the others in the family wanted to go to college. The first opportunity he had, I went there, but it didn’t work out very well. Studying something that we don’t love out of obligation is difficult — he points out.
Discovery of the Shaman actor
Consolidated in music, he now prioritizes interpretation. So much so that, in addition to the soap opera, he is in the cast of “Justiça 2”, a series scheduled to premiere on April 11th on Globoplay. Despite his joy in fulfilling his dream of becoming an actor, he has read comments that criticize him for taking up the profession.
— If you post anything on the internet, leave the house, put on some clothes… People will always complain. The trajectory I’ve had in music has left me very wary of criticism that hurt me years ago. No matter what I do, if I win an Oscar or a Grammy, there will always be someone to say bad things. There could be a thousand positive comments and two negative ones, if I take it personally, I’ll have a reason (to be down). I try not to read it. When I see that a post has a lot of likes, I conclude that it was really shit or that it was really good (laughs) — details Xamã, adding:
— I get all kinds of comments, like “Ah, they’re recycling people”, “it’s like ex-BBB”, “Ah, you don’t know such a thing”. I always have to prove something. We have to silence critics in a way that is respectful of what we do. The people who respect us the most are the ones who doubt us the most.
In “Renascer”, the carioca is considered a rustic heartthrob, as he deviates from the standards of prominent figures in soap operas. The label was given by Jackson Antunes, an actor who played Damião in the first version of the soap opera, shown in 1993, and who now plays Deocleciano in the plot.
— The faces that usually appeared on TV as standard are out of fashion. Today, people know that Brazil is made up of people who represent various bodies and types of beauty. In the past, we didn’t see people of other colors, so people start to think they’re ugly because they’re not represented there. I’ve always liked dressing up, I’ve always liked seeing myself in the mirror. I considered myself ugly, but I was good at talking (laughs). It’s an adaptation process. We understand the size of Brazil and its diversity — she says.
The notion of representation came into Xamã’s life more recently, when he decided to learn about the culture of his indigenous ancestors and delve into the connection with his ancestry.
— In Rio, it’s very difficult, since we don’t have villages. They broke everything and built buildings, the indigenous people went to the favela, to the streets. I never managed to make my rescue. The thing is to go to the village and get to know the culture. You have to participate, live together. This is a new awareness in my head. The coolest thing today is having indigenous people in non-stereotypical roles on TV — he highlights.
One of the points that caught Xamã’s attention in his research into indigenous culture was the religiosity of his people. Raised in a religiously diverse home, he does not consider himself belonging to one faith.
— In my family, each uncle has a religion. I believe in everything. I believe in God, in the orixás, in my indigenous ancestry… I think it’s much more than we can explain. I remember a moment of having no faith at all, of criticizing. But I’ve already had a spiritual test, I really believe in it, I’ve learned to respect all opinions. One day I was under a bus and today I get on a stage and sing in front of a bunch of people. This can only be spiritual — he says.
Special corner in the Shaman’s house
For the photo shoot in this Canal Extra report, Xamã chose to pose in his home sweet home. Living alone, accompanied by two dogs, Ragna (an American bully) and Amora (a Doberman), the artist always wanted to have a big house.
— I imagined a giant house, but my giant at that time was small (laughs). I worked so hard all these years that it became difficult to enjoy my singing. I have a studio here in the middle of the movie theater, it’s the place I frequent most. At the top, where there is a balcony and snooker, we review listening to a samba song. On weekends my family always comes. My daughters, their mothers, my mother… Everything is a reason to celebrate. Be it a birthday or a Fluminense game — says the tricolor.
Currently, Xamã’s biggest challenge is to balance his roles as an actor, singer and father to Akasha, aged 6, and Hanna, aged 2.
— Two is fine for now (laughs). Now I only do it again when I get married. I’m going to get married with a veil and garland (laughs). Today I don’t have time to pay attention to a relationship because of work. I already have two girlfriends, music and Globo, and they are very jealous (laughs) — jokes the singer, who, from time to time, sees his name publicized as an affair with some artist (the famous one at the time is Mell Muzzillo, Ritinha , her romantic partner in the soap opera.
Regardless of the rumors, Xamã says he maintains a good relationship with his daughters’ mothers:
— I have been the father I always thought I was, now more than before. Time with my daughters is what I cherish most. At the beginning of my career, there was a lot of traveling. Today, we are together all the time. Akasha does theater. In her plays, we can’t sit in the front row because she keeps looking at us and forgets the text, we have to stay hidden.
When raising two girls, Xamã worries about harassment and violence:
— My daughters keep their phones in their hands, they already know how to watch videos. So you have to stay tuned to what they are watching. Watching children develop is really cool, we learn to be better human beings. Other than that, I’m increasingly concerned about security. Rio is sinister.
Shaman used:
Armadillo @armadillorio
Balmain @balmain
Diesel @diesel_brasil
Guess @guess
Marcolin @marcolin_eyewear
Orient Watches @orientrelogios
Versace @versace
Zara @zara
Credits:
Text Thomaz Rocha
Edition Camilla Mota
Photos Vinícius Mochizuki @viniciusmochizuki
Photo Assistants Josias Vieira @josiasvieirareal and Rodrigo Rodrigues
Styling Paulo Zelenka @paulozelenka
Beauty Aline Zelenka @alinezelenka
