José Bezerra da Silva (February 23, 1927 – January 17, 2005) was a Brazilian samba musician of the partido alto style.
He moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1942, and in 1950, Rádio Clube do Brasil hired him as a session musician.
His music often deals with political and social issues, touching on gang violence, the drug trade, and the law.
Bezerra became known for recording sambas from unfamed and marginalized composers, which were often people living in difficulties and dealing with criminal environments, who wrote with sharp irony.
One of his greatest hits, which was rerecorded several times by various artists, is Malandragem Dá Um Tempo, whose chorus is I'm going to roll, but I won't light it now, an allusion to the efforts marijuana users make in order to avoid the law.