"The Brazilian Britpop reggae band Skank was formed in 1991 in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and eventually became one of the best selling Brazilian Britpop groups of all time.In 1983, guitarist and vocalist Samuel Rosa and keyboardist Henrique Portugal started their careers in the reggae band ""Pouso Alto."" When in 1991 two of the group's members, Dinho Mourao (drums) and his brother Alexandre (bass), were unable to make a performance in Sao Paulo, Rosa and Portugal called a few friends, bassist Lelo Zaneti and drummer Haroldo Ferretti, for the gig. The four guys played at the competition, where they eventually were matched up with Campeonato Paulista for the final performance. When audience members responded well to the group, they renamed themselves Skank (inspired by the Bob Marley song ""Easy Skanking""), and Zaneti and Ferretti became permanent members.After starting out in the local arena, the group self-released their debut album, Skank, in 1992. Paid for by themselves, the group members put a total of $10,000 into the project and came up with 3,000 copies of their record. In just a little over a month, the boys had sold almost half of the CDs, and Sony Music came calling. The boys signed to their Chaos label as the first Brazilian act ever to have a recording contract with them. Their debut album was re-released in 1993, eventually sold 250,000 and had Skank touring around Brazil.The boys continued on their journey, creating Calango the next year, followed by O Samba Pocone in 1996 and Siderado in 1998. In 2001, Skank recorded their first live album in Ouro Preto for MTV Brazil's ""MTV Ao Vivo"" series. The album, titled MTV Ao Vivo, sold 600,000 copies and saw the single ""Acima do Sol"" become a national hit."