Dazed faces backlash for featuring rapper Oruam on anniversary of journalist’s murder
05 de June de 2025
By Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The British magazine Dazed has been the target of criticism on social media over the past three days, following the release of the edition featuring rapper Mauro Davi dos Santos Nepomuceno, known as Oruam, on the cover. The publication, which described the artist as “The rising star of Brazilian rap,” was released this Monday, the 2nd, the same day marking 23 years since the murder of journalist Arcanjo Antonino ‘Tim’ Lopes do Nascimento.
Tim Lopes was killed while doing an investigative report in November 2002. The journalist was investigating sexual violence against minors and drug trafficking at parties known as “bailes funks” in the Complexo do Alemão, North Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The publication highlights that the rapper “is one of the main rising talents of Brazilian rap” and labels him as an “anti-hero” in an article that addresses his career, criticism, and legislative proposals known as the Anti-Oruam Law. The Bills (PLs) presented in Brazilian cities prohibit hiring artists who promote organized crime and drug use at events funded or promoted by the government.
In the image published by the magazine, the rapper appears with red-dyed hair and wears a dark blazer with no shirt underneath, revealing a gold chain and part of the tattoos on his neck and chest. With a serious expression and his face tilted downward, Oruam holds, at shoulder height, a structure made up of several old photographic cameras.
One of the comments made on social media criticized the use of the cameras, produced by artist Allan Weber, which coincide with the work tools of the murdered journalist. “He’s using a weapon made of cameras, which coincidentally was Tim Lopes’ work tool,” wrote a user.
Another user called the use of the rapper’s image on the magazine cover and the interview he gave to the publication “absurd.” “Barbarity has become fetish. Crime is applauded as if it were art. It’s an apology for crime turned into international aesthetics. What a shame,” wrote one of the profiles.
Recalling the Tim Lopes case
On June 2, 2002, Tim Lopes was dropped off in the North Zone community of Rio de Janeiro by the driver of the vehicle he worked for. The journalist was producing an investigative report on the sexual exploitation of minors at parties in Vila Cruzeiro, a community that is part of the Complexo do Alemão, a conflict-ridden region whose main leader was Marcinho VP, Oruam’s father.
On the same date, he was discovered, kidnapped by local traffickers, and taken to another community also belonging to the Complexo do Alemão. A report issued by the Legal Medical Institute (IML) at the time states that the journalist was tortured before being executed. The death was confirmed after a police team responsible for the investigation found the journalist’s remains alongside the micro camera of the media vehicle he worked for.
In 2001, the year before the crime, Tim had produced a report on open-air drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro’s communities. The series “Drug Market” was aired nationally in August of the same year and won the Esso Award for Television Journalism and the Líbero Badaró Award.