Music, art bring respite from slum life

Rap outlet to resist violence that permeates the favelas

RIO DE JANEIRO - In a small and crudely painted green room called "the bunker", 18-year-old Lucas dos Santos da Cruz and his friends go over rhymes in their heads.

Soon they will be competing in freestyle rap battles on a poorly illuminated square in the "City of God", one of Rio de Janeiro's most violent slums. For the young men, rap is a way to express frustration with the violence that permeates their daily lives.