Rogério Tolomei TeixeiraDicionário Cravo Albin de Música Popular Brasileira (born September 2, 1956), known professionally as Rogério Skylab, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, lyricist, classical guitarist, author, blogger, record producer, actor and short-lived television presenter. Describing himself as a "corpse within MPB", his unique musical style which granted him a passionate cult following is characterized by minimalism, repetition and eclecticism, and his writings are permeated by grotesque, shocking and offensive imagery; acerbic allusions to popular culture; metafictional and transgressive devices; absurdist, surreal and oftentimes macabre scenarios; pessimism; foul language; nihilism; and scatological and black comedy – although he has repeatedly denied that his work is purposefully humorous.
Some of his most recognizable compositions are "Matador de Passarinho" (which brought him into nationwide fame in the underground scene), "Motosserra", "Funérea", "Naquela Noite", "Carrocinha de Cachorro-Quente", "Dedo, Língua, Cu e Boceta", "Eu Chupo o Meu Pau", "Fátima Bernardes Experiência" and "Chico Xavier & Roberto Carlos" (the latter two being notable for having been censored from their original releases). Also dedicating himself to literature, he made his debut in 2006 with the poetry collection Debaixo das Rodas de um Automóvel, which was followed by several other works of fiction and non-fiction alike.
Biography
Early life, Fora da Grei and Skylab I–IX (1956–2009) Rogério Skylab was born Rogério Tolomei Teixeira in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 2, 1956, to a lawyer father killed in a car crash and a housewife mother, and is of Italian and Portuguese descent. He has degrees in literature and philosophy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro,Bate-papo com Rogério Skylab | Bate-papo UOL and under pressure from his father he also began attending a law course, but never finished it.
Prior to his musical career, Skylab worked for 28 years as a public servant at a Banco do Brasil agency in Maracaju, Mato Grosso do Sul, sharing his time between Maracaju and his native Rio de Janeiro. Despite performing in music festivals around Brazil as early as 1983, and a brief stint as the vocalist of punk rock band Setembro Negro in the mid- to late 1980s,Entrevista / Skylab Skylab has claimed he wasn't originally interested on pursuing music professionally, but in 1991 he participated as a solo artist in a festival in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais; he won the first-place cash prize with the song "Samba do Skylab", from which he took his stage name, explaining that he considered himself "akin to a space station, picking up different transmissions here and there and fashioning them into a single whole". Rogério used the prize money to finance the recording of his debut album, , which was released the following year; it was very well received by the critics, and awarded him many appearances on Jô Soares' late-night talk shows Jô Soares Onze e Meia and Programa do Jô throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
In 1999 he released his second album, the first one in a series of ten self-titled albums, Skylab. It was produced by Robertinho do Recife and spawned which is arguably his most well known song, "Matador de Passarinho", but Skylab was slightly unsatisfied with the final result, saying that it had "too much keyboards" and that he was not too creatively involved with it. His third album, Skylab II, was his first live release; commenting about it, he has stated that "this is 100% Skylab. The other was 80% Robertinho". Skylab II counted with a guest appearance by Löis Lancaster, vocalist of avant-garde group Zumbi do Mato – Lancaster would return for Skylab's second live album, Skylab IX, which also had guest appearances by Maurício Pereira (of Os Mulheres Negras) and Marcelo Birck (of Graforreia Xilarmônica).Rogério Skylab – Skylab IX at Discogs Zé Felipe and Marlos Salustiano, respectively bassist and keyboardist for Zumbi do Mato, collaborated with Skylab on his 2007 album Skylab VII, which was nominated to the Prêmio Dynamite de Música Independente in the "Best Rock Album" category;Prêmio Dynamite da Música divulga classificados. A Notícia, September 9, 2008 two years later, Felipe and Skylab made a collaborative album, Rogério Skylab & Orquestra Zé Felipe, which was removed from circulation for reasons unknown in later years. In 2005, Skylab won the Prêmio Claro de Música Independente, in the "Best MPB Album" category, for Skylab V, and in 2008 he was one of several guest musicians that took part in a tribute album celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' White Album, for which he contributed with a cover of "Revolution 9".
Skylab X, "Trilogia dos Carnavais", Skylab & Tragtenberg and Skylab EP (2011–2018) After the release of Skylab X, Skylab put aside his experimental sound to work on the "Trilogia dos Carnavais" ("Trilogy of the Carnivals"), which focuses more on traditional Brazilian genres such as samba, bossa nova and MPB. The trilogy comprises the albums Abismo e Carnaval, Melancolia e Carnaval and Desterro e Carnaval (released in 2012, 2014 and 2015 respectively), and included the guest appearances of many musicians, such as Jorge Mautner, Jards Macalé, , Arrigo Barnabé, Fausto Fawcett and Michael Sullivan. Between 2016 and 2018 he collaborated with Lívio Tragtenberg on a further trilogy of albums aptly titled Skylab & Tragtenberg.
On November 15, 2017, he released the self-titled Skylab EP, which counted with guest appearances by São Paulo-based experimental/noise rock duo Farme&Hixizine and carioca electronica musician Cadu Tenório. Of its three tracks, only one ("Bocetinha de Cocô", a teaser for the then-unreleased final volume of the Skylab & Tragtenberg trilogy initially uploaded separately to YouTube as a single on November 5) was written by Skylab; the other two ("Let's Play That" and "Pra Dizer Adeus") are poems by Torquato Neto set to music by other artists, namely Jards Macalé and Edu Lobo, respectively.Tratore - SKYLAB (EP) - Rogério Skylab In 2020, Skylab and Tenório collaborated once more for the latter's album Monument for Nothing, with Skylab providing vocals and lyrics for the track "Entreportas".Monument for Nothing - Cadu Tenório
"Trilogia do Cu" and "Trilogia do Cosmos" (2018–2023)
On March 7, 2018, Skylab officially announced that he began work on a new studio album, entitled O Rei do Cu, released later that year on May 17. On a Facebook post he further elaborated that O Rei do Cu would be the first installment of a new trilogy, the "Trilogia do Cu" ("Trilogy of the Ass");Rogério Skylab – Facebook (March 7, 2018) the second installment, Nas Portas do Cu, came out on January 1, 2019, and the third, Crítica da Faculdade do Cu, on December 20, 2019.
On March 19, 2020, he uploaded to his official YouTube channel the single "À Sombra de um Horizonte" as a teaser for his album Cosmos, the first installment of a new trilogy entitled the "Trilogia do Cosmos"; it was announced on his Facebook page on August 19Rogério Skylab – Facebook (August 19, 2020) and released on October 2. The second installment, Os Cosmonautas, which was co-written alongside Lívio Tragtenberg, came out on December 24, 2020. On July 25, 2021, he uploaded the single "Cantos de Maldoror", a teaser for the final installment of the trilogy entitled Caos e Cosmos (itself a "trilogy within a trilogy", meant to be counted as a single release); a second single, "As Coisas que Ficaram por Dizer", was uploaded on August 16, and a third, "Será que Tem?", on September 1. The first volume of Caos e Cosmos was ultimately released on October 1, 2021. Volume 2 came out on August 5, 2022, preceded by a demo version of "A Gente Vai Ficar Surdo" uploaded as a single on July 15, which appears on the album as a bonus track. The concluding third volume, which is described as a concept album whose tracks "[receive] as titles names of streets and regions comprising a shameful history of Brazil" and, unlike all previous albums by Skylab, is entirely instrumental, came out on September 8, 2023, following the singles "Rua Barão de Mesquita", uploaded on February 3; "Alameda Casa Branca", uploaded on May 19; and "Vala de Perus", uploaded on July 28.
On February 6, 2022, he released Live, his first live album since 2016's Trilogia dos Carnavais: 25 Anos de Carreira ou de Lápide. It was recorded during a July 31, 2021 livestream he uploaded to his YouTube channel, celebrating the 30th anniversary of his professional musical career, and each track of it was taken from one of his respective albums, ranging from his debut Fora da Grei to his most recent release at the time, Os Cosmonautas. The recording of "Vampiro" was released as a teaser single on December 27, 2021.
On December 10, 2022, Skylab uploaded to YouTube the single "", a Nelson Cavaquinho cover, featuring , who played the guitar and contributed with the arrangements.
"Trilogia do Fim" and "Trilogia da Putrefação" (2024–present) In an April 2023 interview for the website Tenho Mais Discos que Amigos, Skylab has commented on a potential new trilogy of albums following the end of the then-ongoing "Trilogia do Cosmos", entitled "Trilogia do Fim" ("Trilogy of the End"), stating that "it'll probably be [his] final work before [he] can die"; volume 1, which was co-written and co-produced alongside Cadu Tenório, was officially announced on November 3, its first seven singles being released in monthly installments starting with "Minha Música" and finishing with "Rainha do Mar" on May 17, 2024. The complete album would be finally released on August 16, 2024. Volume 2, written in collaboration with (who had already worked with Skylab on some releases of the "Trilogia do Cosmos"), came out on August 30, and volume 3, a partnership with Löis Lancaster, came out on September 13. Notwithstanding his statement implying that he planned to end his discography with the "Trilogia do Fim", Skylab later backtracked on his decision, and announced a new studio album on February 15, 2025, with the release of the teaser single "Eu Vou te Dar". Later that same year, alongside Korzus vocalist , he took part in the single "Ratamahatta" (a Sepultura cover) by Santa Catarina-based alternative metal band Panaceia.
On May 23, he confirmed a new series, the "Trilogia da Putrefação" ("Trilogy of Putrefaction"), with its first volume being released on August 15. Volume 2, another collaboration with Cadu Tenório, was released on October 31, and volume 3, co-written alongside Löis Lancaster, came out on November 28 following the single "Todo Mundo Comendo Todo Mundo". Simultaneously alongside the "Trilogia da Putrefação", he has also announced a parallel series of compilations, containing both re-recorded versions of older songs and previously unreleased tracks; the first in the series, Mesa de Dissecação, was released on September 19. A second compilation, produced by DJ João Brasil and originally slated for November, was preceded by the single "Alguma Coisa Caiu" on July 30.
On June 24, 2026, Skylab announced he was working on new projects, among them a new album entitled Encosto and the live album Nas Encruzas, recorded at a show at the Teatro de Arena in Ribeirão Preto on June 14 of that year; on September 25, the recording of "O Meu Pau Fica Duro" was released as a teaser single.
Other projects