He was born in Candeal Pequeno, a neighborhood in the Brotas area of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, to Renato and Madalena.

In 1967 he was still a child when Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, two 25-year-old musicians from Bahia, started Tropicália, which would radically change Brazilian music.

In 1985, Luís Caldas recorded "Visão de Cíclope", composed by Carlinhos Brown, and it became one of the hottest songs on Salvador's radio stations.

Following this, he composed "Remexer", "O Côco" and "É Difícil" for other artists, and in 1989 he formed part of Caetano Veloso's band on the record Estrangeiro, penning a song, "Meia Lua Inteira", that was very successful in Brazil and outside the country.

Candeal is a town whose residents share deep roots in Candomblé, a religion African slaves brought to Brazil.

Organized by prolific producer Bill Laswell, Bahia Black brought together Brazilian musicians with American jazz players.

On the heels of Timbalada's success, in 1996 Brown released a solo album called Alfagamabetizado,[6] on which he sang, composed, and played the instruments.

Along with his music not being embraced by a crowd of mostly Guns N' Roses fans, Brown ordered to shut down the firehoses that sprayed the audience with water in the preceding performance by Pato Fu to alleviate the intense Rio de Janeiro heat, making the displeased concertgoers throw water bottles at him during the entire concert.

[8][9][10] He released Carlinhos Brown É Carlito Marrón in 2003 and collaborated with DJ Dero on the 2004 album Candyall Beat.

Carlinhos Brown remains active in the Salvador da Bahía community, founding the Pracatum Music School in the Candeal neighborhood in 1994 as a non-profit organization dedicated to education, cultural, and community development programs in the city, including a professional music school.

The album spawned two more hits in Brazil:, "Passe em Casa", co-written with Margareth Menezes, and "É Você".

In 2003, Tribalistas won the Best Album, Best DVD, and Best Song (for "Já Sei Namorar") awards from the Multishow of Brazilian Music.

[11] The proceeds of this school along with Timbalada went towards improving health reforms, urban development such as paving the streets that once had overflowing sewer water, and renovating unfinished housing projects.