Funk Carioca

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Funk Carioca ("Funk from Rio" in Brazilian Portuguese), also known as Brazilian Funk (which also relates to a 1970's musical style), Favela Funk and, elsewhere in the world, Baile Funk, is a type of dance music from Rio de Janeiro, derived from and superficially similar to Miami Bass, with deep rapid beats and aggressive vocals. In Rio de Janeiro it is most often simply known as Funk, although it is very different musically from what Funk means in most other places — including the rest of Brazil.

Contents 1 Brazilian Funk 2 Contrasting Effectiveness of Funk to Other Forms of Hip-Hop 3 Sociopolitical Implications of Funk 4 Baile Funk 5 Musical origins of Funk Carioca 6 Instruments of Baile Funk 7 Lyrics 8 History of bailes in Rio 9 Funk "Proibidão" 10 Funk "Melody" 11 The Roles Of Women 12 Funk Carioca Worldwide 13 Artists influenced by Funk Carioca 14 References 15 See also 16 External links

[edit] Brazilian Funk

Despite the term being used abroad to refer to the "funk carioca" genre emerged from Rio's favelas, Brazilian Funk is used in Brazil solely with respect to Brazilian black music produced back in the 1970s. Samba-rock and soul artists such as Tim Maia, Erlon Chaves, Gerson King Combo, Jorge Benjor, Carlos Dafé and Trio Maria Fumaça were deeply influenced by the actual American Funk music by George Clinton, James Brown, Isaac Hayes and others, a fact that has contributed inside the favelas (slums) to wrongly extend the label "funk" to most American Black music.

“In Brazil, the term funk started to be used in the 1970’s to refer to modern black pop music from the United States (e.g. James Brown and the Jackson Five).”^[1] Huge sound systems, known as equipes, were put together in order to facilitate large dances put on for up to 10,000 people. Among the most prominent equipes of the 1970s was Soul Grand Prix.^[2] The success of Soul Grand Prix was in large part due to the leadership of DJ Don Filo and that it was one of Atlantic Brazil’s first releases.^[3] Soul Grand Prix was responsible for ushering in a new period in Rio Funk culture in 1975 known as “Black Rio”. The dances from this period used mixed media, as well as music and sports celebrities to introduce black culture to their audience.

During the early 80's Funk Carioca, choose new American Hip Hop Beats to Play by equipes s Djs(Afrikka Banbattaa"planet rock"single, and other Electrofunk/ghettotech/Miami Bass songs, and the"breakdance"scene), Famous DJ "Marlboro"and Furacão 2000 equipes, starts to play Eletrofunk records, and after that, call the M.C. (master of ceremony to sing raps within the beats) in the"Bailes"was the beginning of Local productions. The"Bailes"is the product of Brazil's favelas parties. It combines street smarts with popping dirty electro beats and the intensity of DIY techno topped with some crude lyrical rhymes resulting in an irresistible cocktail that grabs you by the hips and never lets go.^[4] It got its start in the early 70's in the Zona Sul, which is the principal show stage in Rio for pop music.^[5] Local DJs began engaging black U.S. music with Brazil's own black roots and this became very popular within Brazil that resulted in their very own Funk.

In the 1990’s, several funkeiros (funk aficionados) launched successful attempts of localizing funk as the genre extended its transnational, cosmopolitan identity further into the periphery (developing nations). In order to attract crowds and gain popularity, local artists elected to integrate their own rich musical traditions and culture. Localization, in this case, served to diversify funk as a musical genre, while strengthening and reinforcing certain aspects of local Brazilian culture.

Brazil is a nation composed of numerous cultures and ethnicities. This multi-cultural backdrop rationalizes the extent to which the term "funk" varies from city to city. “In Sao Paolo and the south more generally, funk essentially signifies hip-hop, whether it is imported or locally produced. In Rio and Belo Horizonte, funk is almost purely locally produced and more often than not includes two young, working-class funkeiros in combination with an inexpensive, preprogrammed beat box.”^[6] The magnitude of diversity of funk music within Brazil is monumental in understanding both the overwhelming forces of globalization and localization alike. While Brazilian funk clearly derives from black pop music from the U.S., it has evolved and culturally assimilated itself into a wide-ranging sector of Brazilian artistic expression.

A "Carioca" is a native to Rio de Janeiro. This Tupi-Guarani word from the 17th century was used to its inhabitants (in Tupi-Guarani: cari = white people; oca = house, or housing). It is used in Brazil to name Rio city dwellers or anything else coming from Rio.

Funk (and also rap) in Brazil is extremely popular with the youth culture all over the country. In the mid-1990s in Rio de Janeiro, hip-hop and funk parties were reported to have been used by drug lords as recruitment tools to find dealers.^[7] Funk and hip-hop in Brazil are used as an outlet for the youth to talk about the sociopolitical issues of their local, regional, and national societies; this was very much a countercurrent to the governments. Some of the drug-based funding and violence from surrounding impoverished conditions are semi-evident in Brazilian funk and hip-hop culture.^[8] Another thing that is evident in the funk music is that women are put on display and the Brazilian “booty” is considered a sex symbol.

[edit] Contrasting Effectiveness of Funk to Other Forms of Hip-Hop

In Brazil, a socioeconomic class structure exists. Gerard Behague in his article “Rap, Reggae, Rock or Samba: The local and the Global in Brazilian Popular music” published in the Latin American Music Review, argues that different forms of hip-hop target those of different economic backgrounds.^[9] Behague argues that Samba is a form of music that has transcended into all social classes. Behague implies that its ability to send messages to all people is the reason for Samba’s popularity. Behague gives the example of soccer winners celebrating World Cup victories with their own Samba composed on their behalf. Different classes related best to different versions of hip-hop. For instance, the urban youth related to the rock best. Also, more well-off members of society listened to rock more because it didn’t have the same societal-changing connotations as funk. In contrast, funk music appealed strongest to the lower classes of society. Funk was seen as an artistic way to convey ideals for social change. Funk spoke about poverty and the ill treatment of the poor by the state. Also, choice in hip-hop became associated with race. While middle-class whites listened to rock, poor blacks gave and listened to social messages through funk. For example Behague gives the example of funk rapper Pensador. Pensador challenged the corruption in governance by releasing a track wishing death for a head of state.^[10] In conclusion, different styles of hip-hop became associated with different classes of society. Furthermore, a further distinction of listening was made based on race. The article referenced describes how funk can be used to convey societal messages. The article discusses musical releases by different political parties and supporters.^[11]

[edit] Sociopolitical Implications of Funk

On October 18, 1992, a large "arrastao", or looting rampage, was conducted by hordes of African-Brazilian kids from the slums in the Northern suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Coincidentally, the main offenders were identified as funkeiros, youths from the slums of North and West Rio who frequented the "galeras," the dance clubs that play funk music. These poor suburban youths were highly criticized by the media, who contrasted them with the middle-class caras pintadas, who rallied for democratic causes by calling for the impeachment of corrupt then-President Fernando Collor and supporting the massacre of prisoners at the São Paulo House of Detention, better known as Carandiru, by the Military Police.

As it is for the African American Ghettos, so also for the Favela youth; "Physical Space", "Mobility", and the access to both, have been always a main struggling issue for those youth, where in the Favela, houses are built on top of each other over a "Hill". Houses are made sometimes from cardboard, and in most cases are lacking the basic human needs normally available in other areas in higher-class Brazil. The highly-crowded poor Favelas, in many cases, become a prison for the youth, who can't have any hold over their own independent space as individuals, since there isn't any space, alongside their economic conditions and poverty, which disables them from even stepping outside the Favela. Combined together, all factors that fall between those two capital needs - "space" and "mobility" - emerges the self-manifestation of the Favela youth through their music and the culture that surrounds it. "Being mobile, able to leave one's own neighborhood during collective exploratory expeditions of the city, is for these young people a mark of freedom."^[12] "the youth challenges the ownership by the "non-marginal" middle classes of the city's space, claiming it as their own. Through the non-traditional music such as funk and rap, they seek to establish new forms of identity."^[13]

It appears that poor, often black or mulatto, youths chose funk not because of its lyrics or transnational origins, but rather as a way of "opting out" of mainstream rock music chosen by their middle-class peers, music that tended to be nationalistic or citizen-oriented. Detested by society, these youths were often harassed and, in many cases, murdered by police in order to rid the middle-class of what they believed to be a parasite on the economy and on social development.^[14] There is considerably more social, political, and economic inequality in Brazil than in America, and because the economic system of distribution is worse in Brazil, the relative structural position of blacks in Brazil is also worse, despite more liberal attitudes toward racism.^[15] Consequently, impoverished youths, alienated by a social order that wished to discard them, sought funk as a means of resisting dominant cultural tendencies and participation in a government that has limited their access to social and material goods and services. Baile funks in Rio de Janeiro demonstrate the ever-present political, economic, and social turmoil in Brazil. This is especially witnessed in Rio where the city police have basically given control of the favelas to armed drug dealers. The number of young men involved in drug trafficking in Rio is between 20,000 and 100,000. Some favelas bring in $1 million a month in the drug industry, dealing mostly with cocaine. Rio’s several drug factions are the sponsors of the “baile funks” or “funk balls”. In particular, the Comando Vermelho or Red Command is known for their influence in the baile funk scene. The Red Command, along with other drug factions, subsidize the baile funks to show that they are interested in the community’s welfare.^[16] Very rarely are there bailes where you must pay to enter. For the most part, each favela is run by one of the three major criminal gangs in Rio that control the local drug trade.^[17] For the drug dealers, bailes are a profit-making endeavor. Each drug group typically has their own list of funk artists who perform in their own strictly specified territories.^[18] This economic and social domination of the drug dealers in Rio has created a parallel government characterized by the constant struggle between the police and gangs for power over the people of the favelas.

[edit] Baile Funk

Baile in Portuguese literally means "ball", as in "dance party", and "funk" is how locals label the musical genre (see below for origin of this label); therefore, "baile funk" means a "funk ball" or "funk party", and is used in Brazil exclusively to describe the parties where such music is played, and not the music itself. The mainstream Brazilian media often calls the music "Funk Carioca", meaning funk from Rio de Janeiro; alternately, it is simply referred to as "Funk", especially in Rio de Janeiro.

The baile itself is both heralded and criticized. While Alex Bellos, writer for the Blender calls it “a retro-minded hedonism borne of violence, drugs and poverty,”^[19] many believe funk, and indeed Proibidão as a subgenre, to be a necessary and real expression of life in the favelas. Most of the residents were from low socioeconomic class causing violence, and drugs trafficking in their neighborhoods. Due to the hardship the city faced, their music choice in the favelas was Funk. This music became a representation of the current problems residents faced in Rio. In 1980’s, DJ Marlboro, was one of the first DJs who released a funk album, which it became the new platform sound in the favelas. The sound innovation attracted thousands of youth to the bailes; funk has been the largest movement in the city.^{[20] [21]} In addition to giving an outlet to many young people to voice their feelings, funk carioca in Rio is seen as a way to make money, find friends and, maybe one day, to get out. Researcher and funk enthusiast Greg Scruggs adds that the baile is an important “social outlet for the community,”^[22] it provides a place for the community to come together and appreciate the music and the company and the culture that is unique to each favela.

Funk originated from a type of music called "Miami Bass", which was a large movement in the early eighties and took place on the beaches of Miami. It portrayed many images of the African American as well as Latin American culture through its music and video, and thus became very popular in Rio De Janeiro because of the similarity in heritage. Brazilians took a large liking to this popular music largely in part because of its similarity to the Surdo drum, which is used in the school of samba. Funk is seen as the music that joined the White youth and Black youth of Brazil and was able to bridge the gap between social structures through its infectious beats and entrancing nature.^[23] One of the most influential producers of Funk is DJ Marlboro, who is known for introducing Brazil to Miami Bass in the late 1980s. He has broadened the horizon for many other DJs in the field and is the pioneer for making Funk into the popular sensation that it is today.^[24]

Funk dance for the people of Rio de Janeiro includes not only the people on “the hill” but also the people on the asphalt. On the dance floor, race and class are ignored as the multiethnic people celebrate the excitement and energy of the funk music. DJs and MCs also are multiethnic and come together in groups to produce new funk music. Using a programmed beat box, DJs play songs that entice people to dance and socialize with one another. A DJ from Rio said the best thing about baile funk is that “everything is mixed” and “anything is possible”.^[25]

Recently, funk carioca parties have been attracting attention outside Brazil. Foreign compilers tend to use the term "Baile Funk" to represent the musical genre, which differs from the original Brazilian use of the term (the parties only). This may be due to English speakers seeing the word "baile" as an adjective to "funk", as English word order might suggest. This dissemination of baile funk to countries like England and Sweden demonstrates it’s wide appeal to the youth culture. Baile funk artists like Sany Pitbull and Duda do Borel recently traveled all over the world performing in various countries to diverse youth audiences.^[26]

Brazilian funk is a cultural movement and expression by the youth that is centered on the consumption of music. Funkeiros meet at dance halls in Rio in large public open spaces. In the 70's this funk was considered to characterize artists such as James Brown and the Jackson Five, in the 90's it was associated with popular black music like hip-hop and electronic funk.^{[27] [28]}

Since the 2000s, "bailes funk" or funk parties have taken place mostly in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and other cities. Because of this, in English, they are also sometimes known as "Favela Funk". "Favela Funk" has emerged onto the global music scene mostly due to the role of digital culture. In other words, internet-based platforms like myspace.com and "Orkut" (Google, inc.) have allowed impoverished funk artists from the favela to network with other artists and consumers who otherwise would have no channel of communication.^[29]

Over the past 30 years of its existence, Brazilian funk and bailes funk have experienced several waves of popularity. DJ Marlboro, one of the founders of funk carioca, states that he has seen “funk go through this fever 3 or 4 times.”^[30] In recent years, despite the continued controversy and criticism over these parties and this music, it seems that bailes funk has regained their dominance of the social/music scene in Rio and the surrounding favelas. Andrew Downie observes that “today, funk’s clientele includes millionaire soccer players and entertainment celebrities, middle-class kids and their mothers...funk here is being embraced by mainstream society.”^[31] A study by Jornal do Brasil, a Rio-based newspaper, found that there were 500 bailes a night on the weekends in Rio, with an average of 2,000 people at each. In a city of 13 million people, that is indeed an astounding number.^[32]

DJ Marlboro recorded the first Rio funk album in 1989 ^[33] When Rio’s first outdoor super parties began to establish during 1970s, baile funk balls became a part of Rio’s night life. DJ Marlboro new sound and mixture of American soul, disco, and funk in baile functions allowed it to gain popularity especially among younger groups who have different taste and styles of music. “Now there are at least a dozen DJ crews with enormous speaker systems putting on more than 100 bailes every weekend attracting estimated 100,000 people per week, funk is the largest youth movement in the country.” ^[34] The meaning of funk and its representation varies based on one’s socioeconomic status, for instance Rio and Salvador portray a certain relativity in self-definitions and self-representations in musical taste and with regard to color, position on the labor market and religious life.^[35] Funk among young does not receive enough credit or press attention for their positive attribute, but rather associated with gang violence crimes. DJ Marlboro commented funkeiros are not the source but rather victims of everyday violence. They go to the dance clubs in-order to seek and belong to a community that they are not familiar with or not know.^[36]

[edit] Musical origins of Funk Carioca

Brazilian record suppliers who went to the United States in the 1970s to buy what was called at the time "Black Music" for Brazilian DJs targeted stores that sold American Funk records. As they continued to support the same hotspots over time, though American music had evolved away from Funk into new genres such as Hip Hop, the word "funk" stuck in local usage^{[citation needed]}.

Miami was then a popular place to obtain records for Brazilian DJs, and therefore, Miami Bass was prominent in these imports^{[citation needed]}. DJ Nazz and Tony Minister were the main suppliers credited to bringing Miami Bass records to Brazil while still referring to them as American funk records^{[citation needed]}. Other local music producers began mimicking these importers in the late 1980s. The influence of Miami is also reflected in the prominence of freestyle-style synth melodies.

Even today, the funk carioca music played in clubs is dependent on a network of couriers used by DJs living in Rio. This is critical because the music these DJs play is not commercially available in Rio. These couriers periodically fly between New York and Miami to buy music. They return to Rio after short trips to resellers, who then provide DJs their music. Fierce competition exists between individual DJs in Rio, as each DJ wants his music to be the most popular and the most danceable.^[37]

Much like any kind of hip hop music, funk carioca relies heavily on samples and interpolations of other songs, as well as of pre-existent funk music. Much of the production occurs in small-scale studios in Rio, and achieve distribution through hand-burned CDs in the markets throughout Rio and all over Brazil, from São Paulo to the Amazônia region. One of the first funk carioca widespread hits was a remix of Tag Team's "Whoomp! (There It Is)" tune.

Besides Miami Bass-style beats, funk carioca also uses some traditional Afro-Brazilian rhythms. A West Coast Electro Bass track entitled 808 Volt (Beatapella Mix) by DJ Battery Brain was widely sampled, and became the common background for various funk carioca songs, recycled time and again with the inclusion of more percussive elements as the "tamborzão" beat style became popular.

In recent years, funk carioca has been characterized within the popular imagination has having simple beats derived from cheap technologies with vocalists who tend to shout as much as they sing.^[38] The greatest export of this particular aesthetic revolves around the trio known as Bonde Do Role, who are a popular act in international hipster circles thanks to support from producer Diplo and significant coverage within the music media such as Rolling Stone^[39].

The emergence of readily available digital music technologies in the early 90s changed the face the Funk Carioca movement in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Baile Funk can be traced to many different musical genres ranging from Brazilian samba to European techno. Although Baile Funk started using mixed vinyl tracks that mimicked the scratch, loop and break techniques made famous by Bronx artists like Afrika Bambaataa and Miami Bass legends 2livecrew, the movement is currently almost exclusively digital. Beat machines and automated loop technology have revolutionized the genre.^[40] The spread of Baile Funk from an exclusively Rio based subculture to an international musical phenomena can largely be accredited to the influx of personal computers and internet technology in Brazil. Brazil is the global leader in Internet growth. “In Brazil, Internet use jumped 130% between from 1997-1998, and the Internet now constitutes a major industry with almost 1,300 ISPs, and somewhere between 5 and 6 million users”.^[41] So, while Funk maintains its favela roots and perspective, it has gained significant global listenership and recognition. Technology has increased musical plagiary in an already sample based genre and furthered the disregard for copyrights or musical ownership. Most Baile Funk is mixed in home studios in the favelas and suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. This has resulted in a climate in which a new sample can become popular and spread through the dancehalls without officially crediting the artist. New digital technology combined with the social context and dancehall culture of the Baile Funk has resulted in one of the most piracy driven music industries in the world. This trend has led to the limited opportunities of album sales and relegates the standard of success to DJing at Friday or Saturday night dancehall events. Baile funk of Rio de Jeniero is a prime example of a new way in which music spreads in the modern, globalizing world. Catalyzed by the advance of music technologies, Baile Funk marks a new trend that allows music that originates in a low wealth community to spread globally. In an article titled The localization of Funk in Rio and Bahia, Livio Sansone notes “the stylistic mosaic varies when one can buy and store music or can only enjoy it live...” This, compounded by the lawlessness of the favelas, has caused almost complete disregard for music ownership or accreditation.

^[42]

[edit] Instruments of Baile Funk

Since its beginning Baile Funk has been heavy on Sampling. Whether it was sampling actual African American Funk tracks or just popular world music there is always a sample as the backbone of Funk Carioca. Sample Machines such as the MPC and the MC 808 have become the standard for the production of Baile Funk. Unlike other music genres such as rap, and R&B, in which such drum and sample machines are used solely as in studio music production equipment, Baile Funk DJs have transitioned these machines to be used as live instruments. Popular Baile Funk DJs are masters of producing live music using the sample machines and mixing it with live drum patterns at the weekend bailes in the favelas. ^[43][44].

[edit] Lyrics

Brazilian funk artists usually compose two different sets of similar lyrics for each of their songs, one gentler, more “appropriate” version, and another harsher, cruder lyrics set. The first version is the one broadcasted by local radio stations; the second is played in dance halls and parties.^[45] Recurrent lyric topics in funk carioca are explicit sexual positions, the funk party, the police force, and the life of slum dwellers in the favelas, as it is from those favelas that the genre of funk carioca first began to develop.^[46] Sexual innuendo, favela slang, and homage to the artist's own favela are usual in such lyrics. Another large part of the lyrics is the use of the world around them - mainly the poverty that has enveloped the area. This is usually denounced in the lyrics and the hope for a better life is carried through many of their messages.^[47] For example, the following is a translation of a Brazilian song about going to dancehalls and the problems of violence and crime after leaving:

But on the way home

It's impossible to catch a bus

And all of a sudden an arrestao

Hide your money, watch your chain...

I work my ass off all day

and on the weekend

I always run into problems^[48]

But, while they do talk about the violence and crime, the lyrics of funk carioca songs do not advocate sexual violence. Additionally, while funk carioca references sexuality frequently and obviously, it often uses euphemisms instead of bold statements.^[49]

Much like rap and hip hop culture is extremely popular yet sometimes feared in the United States because of its strong attitude, funk is sometimes viewed by some people in Brazil as an overly loud, aggressive, misogynist and sociopathic form of music, perhaps due to a lack of trustable information about the true meaning of the lyrics. There is often an element of curiosity about the slums from the Rio middle class. Funk is mainly produced by samplers.

[edit] History of bailes in Rio

The first mixed soul and disco parties in Rio, beginning in the 1970s, are regarded as the pre-history of baile funk in Brazil. They used to place at concert halls or nightclubs in central, middle-class Rio de Janeiro, and the audience was a mix of the stereotypical, contrasting "poor black and white rich" cariocas (Rio dwellers). These parties were first named "black music" or "soul music" parties, promoted by radio DJs. After some years, they migrated to the suburbs in the 1980s, and up to the favelas (slums) after 1998, transforming themselves during the process into the actual bailes funk.

A mythic party called "Baile da Pesada" at concert hall Canecão (in the district of Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro) starting in 1974 with DJs Big Boy and Ademir Lemos, is claimed to be the first one to be called "baile". The word, not usual in Brazil up until then, became then synonymous for those kind of parties. After two years of successful promotion (a vinyl record was even named after "Baile da Pesada" parties), the party was called off by the owners of Canecão. The reasons were unclear, but the accepted explanation at that time regarded the frightened mixed-class audience and the overcrowding of the venue with marketing practices such as cheap tickets and beer - instead of the whiskey-pouring, regular music concerts with seating audiences that constituted the usual events at Canecão. Also, DJ Big Boy, who played a central role in the organisation of the parties, died very young from a heart attack, and "Baile da Pesada" never resumed.

Similar parties, however, popped up instantly right after at the suburbs of the city (not the favelas). In two years, according to a DJ Marlboro's testimonial in his 2004 book, there were already 300 sound systems fully operating, transforming any type of available venue into a "concert hall".

In 1989, the first funk lyrics in Portuguese appeared in the remix album "Funk Brasil" (by record company Polygram), compiled and produced by Cidinho Cambalhota (shot dead during a robbery right before the release) and DJ Marlboro. It became a top seller and inaugurated the "pop" phase of the genre in Brazil, with Cidinho e Doca, Claudinho e Buchecha and other artists that started to become increasingly famous and make top money. Most of the funk carioca videoclips at that time shows helicopters and bling productions, hiphop style. Circa 1994, funk was already made "pop" throughout the country.

The "baile funk" parties continued to take place at suburban venues, but no longer unnoticed. The costs of producing such a party went progressively up, and top artists' stage presence in them became more rare, as some funk producers declared in the book "Batidão, uma história do funk". One of the new marketing strategies to attract people to the parties was to re-create the "gincanas" (group disputes over tasks) very popular on many a Brazilian TV show at that time.

In the 1990s, "hooligan-ish" violent behaviour in football matches became a strong social problem in Brazil. From 1995 to 1998, a phenomenon called "baile de corridor" (corridor balls) took place - in parties, the crowd would line up on opposite sides, called "Lado A" and "Lado B" (side An and side B) and fight in the corridor of space between them for 5 to 15min to the sound of the DJ. Nicknamed the "Corridor of Death" (these corridors were blamed for several deaths),^[50] security guards would stand by to keep the fighting controlled. According to Fight Life magazine (Sweden), a few of the actual "Vale Tudo" Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters started by that time at these balls. Another example of the danger of the "bailes" is the use of guns. Many of the people in attendance would be carrying firearms, and would actually shoot into the air to signal that they liked the music.

Adding to baile funk's increasingly violent image, on October 18, 1992, a riot conducted by uma negrada dos subúrbios da Zona Norte (dark kids from the slums in the northern suburbs of Rio) and put down by military police caused hysteria among the Brazilian middle class.^[51] The blame for the arrastão was promptly placed on the shoulders of the funkeiros - a blanket term for "dark kids from the slums" in the eyes of middle-class Brazil.

Due to the increasing violence in the "bailes" and this perception of funk as the music of gangs, looters, and drug-busters, funk carioca was no longer a pop hit, and in 2000, the Rio state assembly legislated against the bailes, prohibiting their existence except under the strictest of conditions, like obligatory metal detectors and military police presence. “They are demands that are not made for parties with any other type of music,” says Orlando Zaccone, head of the Rio police’s 19th Precinct. “And of course, the law demanded the impossible.”^[50]

As a result of this repression, instead of disappearing, the bailes moved deeper into the favelas (a direction they'd been moving in since 1998), where police control was less likely to reach. Consequently, the influence of the drug cartels on the parties skyrocketed.

The poor communities in the Rio slums mitigated the violence in the funk parties and hired back many funk carioca artists - but the hard rules of drug-trafficking and crime-controlled environments also were imposed to the audiences. The era of the "proibidão" funk had just started.

The drug cartels invest in the parties as a lucrative source of clients. It has been estimated that the drug cartels in Rio net over one million dollars per month from the favelas, using the parties as both a lure and place of business.^[50]

Some argue that this "proibidão" funk correlation to the drug cartels is problematic in that it bigs up the local drug gangs.^[52] It is estimated that between 20,000 to 100,000 young men are involved in drug trafficking. Yet the drug cartels would argue that they bankroll the bailes as a way of showing that they’re investing in their communities. Many in the community even feel that they are safer under the control of the drug traffickers than the local police, considering the levels of police brutality often witnessed in the favelas.^[50] Additionally, some have found that the violent, over-sexed, and over-drugged version of the baile is based more on media perceptions of the baile as an extension of the local drug cartel rather than a community gathering. Some who have written about these gatherings focus on the baile as an important community institution whose main purpose is to entertain the people of the lower socio-economic classes of the city, rather than simply a refuge for sex, drugs, and violence ^{[53] [54]}

[edit] Funk "Proibidão"

A sub-genre of Baile Funk in Brazil is called proibidão, which translates to "highly forbidden". Funk fans say it glorifies local favela drug dealers and contains heavy and explicitly sexual lyrics. While most if not all bailes in the favelas of Rio are sponsored by rival drug factions, proibidão represents a sub genre of funk that is heavily sponsored by various, competing drug factions, such as the Red Command, and is dedicated primarily to the glorification of these factions. Many songs list the names of faction leaders, or tell stories of a particular invasion or conflict between groups. In Alex Bellos’ article “Coke. Guns. Booty. Beats” MC Juca has stated that he often receives requests from drug soldiers to include their names in his lyrics. He views this as an effort to increase their profiles in order to attract loyalty as well as women. In the same article Juca is quoted saying “The best way to get a break is to sing something that pleases the traffickers...”^[55]

Proibidão is not surprisingly seen sometimes as an especially vicious kind of music in the eyes of the Brazilian police force. In February 2005, twelve Rio funk artists were investigated by the local police for crime praising (Rio newspapers made extensive coverage, specially O Dia), but no official criminal charges were made so far. To perform proibidão lyrics is now illegal and punishable by up to 6 months in jail. To work around this problem, MCs like Juca will perform the songs live at bailes, which are rarely raided by police, but will refrain from recording any version of the song which might be traced back to him.^[56]

Some MCs who perform proibidão have managed to find international as well as local success. Mr. Catra, an ex-drug dealer and fervent supporter of proibidão, has gone on European tours, performing in Berlin and Poland. However, it is unclear whether his affinity for proibidão has contributed to or hampered his success.^[57]

After 2004, funk lyrics with aggressive content towards the police force have started to be progressively replaced by more sexually explicit lyric content. Although more popular tunes shout about sexual offenses or excesses, lighter mock versions of well-known Brazilian pop songs can also be listened to in traditional radio stations in Brazil. Furthermore, due to the success of the music genre being spread about to other cities outside Rio, some Brazilian musicians such as Bonde do Rolê have made fun of the background beats and explicit funk lyrics.

[edit] Funk "Melody"

DJ Marlboro's radio show "Big Mix", broadcast since the 80s, has popularised a soft version of the underground baile funk songs. These soft versions formed a romantic sub-genre called melodic funk in Brazil, adding melodies and arrangements to the raw, beat-y funk tunes. Another artist famously known to explore and miix hip-hop and maracatu rhythm with techno beats, Chico Science. Before his death in 1997, he founded the rock band Nacao Zumbi (Zumbi Nation) Some would say their music inspired the reinvention of Brazil's traditional music scene toward a more funk/ hip-hop democractic scene in the late seventies and early eighties.^[58][59]

[edit] The Roles Of Women

In this particular genre of music, collectively referred to as part of the global hip-hop scene, women serve into two roles.

The first one, which is more obvious to a listener and more accepted into the culture of the music, is that of a sex symbol. With explicit lyrics that focus on the Brazilian obsession with sex,^[60] and accompanying dances that are strongly suggestive of different sexual practices, the scene is pervaded by the act, and particularly, the objectification of women and their roles in the duration.

The second role that women play in the Brazilian Funk scene is a more modern one that is becoming increasingly visible and pertinent. That is, women are rising to the top and they are taking over the world of Brazilian Funk.^[61] The most popular MC in the Funk Carioca scene is a woman by the name of Tati Quebra-Barraco. Because women like Tati, also known as 'funkeiras' ^[62] are becoming increasingly successful in the genre, their financial situations are creating a revolution in the original working-class scene that funk arose from, creating more freedom and opportunities, both economic and social, for themselves and other women that are to follow. Tati Quebra Barraco's appearance on a popular Brazilian soap opera, America, helped bring about her emergence as the top MC today in Brazil. In Andy Cumming's article about Tati Quebra Barraco he writes about the different funk shows that she will put on, "Tati is due to play two shows on the same night: one in an expensive country club for the offspring of the city’s privileged and another in a venue across town for the rest of us." In another article Tati Quebra Barraco tells Pedro Sanches of her moving from ghetto to ghetto and performing in front of vastly different crowds every night.

[edit] Funk Carioca Worldwide

Funk Carioca was only a regional phenomenon, until the international media have started to report its peculiar combination of music and social issues. The first articles (April 2000 issue of Mixmag magazine, and January 2001 issue of Spin magazine) were about the "Corridor Balls", or the life in a Rio favela, not really the music in itself, which was frequently described as an outlaw club scene with heavy American hip-hop influence.

In February 11, 2001, the first reference to the music itself was made by Neil Strauss in the New York Times newspaper, recognizing it as a distinct musical genre, and along with Kwaito music in South Africa, one of the first new genres of electronic, street dance music to have become important outside North America and Europe.

Some indie video-documentaries were made right after in Europe, especially in Germany and Sweden. Still, the focus was mainly on the social issues in the favelas. One of the most famous of these series of documentaries is Mr Catra the faithful(2005) by Danish filmmaker Andreas Johnsen, broadcasted by many European open and cable television channels.

Many Rio funk artists have also started to do gigs abroad in the 2000s. DJ Marlboro and Favela Chic Paris club were the pioneer travellers/producers. MC Tati Quebra-Barraco, MC Catra with DJ Sandrinho, Bonde do Tigrão, and Menor do Chapa are some of the first names to come up in the international scene.

The funk carioca production was until then limited to cater to the ghettos and the Brazilian pop market. DJ Marlboro,^[63] a major composer of funk carioca's tunes declared in 2006 in Brazilian "Isto É magazine" how astonished he was with all the sudden overseas interest in the music genre.

In 2001, for the first time, Baile funk tracks appeared on a Non-Brazilian label. They appeared on a compilation that was released by Parisian DJ and music producer Jèrôme Pigeon from Fla-Flu Records. The album was named Favela Chic by NAÏVE Records, containing 3 old-school funk carioca hits, including the song "Popozuda Rock n´Roll" by artist De Falla.

In 2003, the tune "Quem Que Caguetou (Follow Me Follow Me)" by Black Alien & Speed, which was not even a big hit in Brazil, was then used in a sports car advertisement in Europe, and it helped spread the word about baile funk. Berlin music journalist and DJ Daniel Haaksman released the seminal CD-compilations "Rio Baile Funk Favela Booty Beats" in 2004, and "More Favela Booty Beats 2006" through Essay Recordings Germany.^[64] He launched the international career of "Popozuda Rock n´Roll" artist Edu K,^[65] whose baile funk anthem was used in a soft drink TV advertisement in Germany. Haaksman continued to produce and distribute many new baile funk records, especially the EP series "Funk Mundial"^[66] and "Baile Funk Masters" on his label Man Recordings

The artist M.I.A. brought mainstream international popularity to Brazilian Funk with her single "Bucky Done Gun" released in 2005, and attention to a DJ called Diplo who worked as its producer. He had worked on M.I.A.'s 2004 mixtape Piracy Funds Terrorism which included "Bucky Done Gun." He made a 2004 bootleg mix CD "Favela On Blast" after finding Ivanna Bergese compiled remix-tapes of her performance act "Yours Truly."

In London, artists Tetine have also assembled an important pioneer compilation in 2004, "Slum Dunk Presents Funk Carioca mixed by Tetine", by Mr Bongo Records. In Italy, Irma Records released the 2005 compilation "Colors Music #4: Rio Funk". Many small European (notably Arcade Mode) and American (Flamin´Hotz, Nossa) labels released several compilations and EPs in bootleg formats.

In 2008 Berlin label Man Recordings released "Gringão", the debut album by German MC Gringo - the only non Brazilian MC performing in the bailes of Rio de Janeiro.

[edit] Artists influenced by Funk Carioca

• Black Alien & Speed
• Bonde das Impostoras (mix funk carioca with Electro and Indie Rock)
• Bonde do Role (gaining prominence in the US market, signed to Diplo's Mad Decent label)
• Comunidade Nin-Jitsu and Chernobyl
• Copyflex
• Diplo
• Daniel Haaksman
• Edu K - author of the baile funk hit "Popozuda Rock n´Roll", now solo artist
• Fernanda Abreu
• Joyce Muniz
• Kelis
• M.I.A.
• Munchi (mix funk and other genres)
• Solid Groove
• Tetine
• Voltair (Zero and Tchiky Al Dente)
• Tigarah

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Angola’s Kuduro

[edit] External links

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

General:

• BAILE FUNK.INFO General info about Baile Funk Djs, the history of Baile Funk, listen to new mixes and upload your own mixes, a general Baile Funk resource.

Blogs:

• A blog about funk carioca by DJ Rideon, including stories, inteviews, photos, videos and music of the funk artists and culture from Rio

Articles:

• "Booty & Bootlegs" article about favela music culture on Traverse Magazine by Drew Murphy. 2006
• "Ghetto Fabulous" Observer Music Monthly article on Baile Funk by Alex Bellos 2005
• XLR8R article about the history of Brazilian funk, written by Bruno Natal Ribeiro 2005
• "Samba, That's So Last Year" article by Alex Bellos at The Guardian 2004
• "In The Fight Club Of Rio" article on "corridor balls" at Free Radical by Canadian Nicole Veash 2000
• "Brazilian Punk" article and interview with "baile punk" artist Edu K by David Day on Boston Phoenix 2006
• Article with Baile Funk master Sany Pitbull by Sabrina Fidalgo at Musibrasil 2007

Music:

• CLEKCLEKBOOM.COM Site about Baile Funk and electronic music.. Free downloads and baile funk mix.
• European label that is specialised in releasing baile funk on vinyl
• Funk Total website with many mp3s *portuguese*
• "Favela on Blast" Baile Funk mix by Diplo (made available with Diplo's permission)
• Baile Funk mix by Tchiky Al Dente live on french Radio Nova (made available with Dj Sandrinho's permission)
• Baile Funk mix by Daniel Haaksman
• Reasonable mix by Atari (Reasoner podcast)
• Baile Burning mix by Atari (Reasoner podcast)

Videos:

• Report on French National Tv (Arte) about Dj SANDRINHO Do BOREL
• Sany Pitbull videos on Youtube by Carioca Funk Clube
• Washington Post video package on Latin American arts and culture, featuring a five-minute video on Mr. Catra and Edu-K
• "Tá Tudo Dominado" - documentary on funk carioca produced in 2007 by Roberto Maxwell. Contains interview with DJ Marlboro, Mr. Catra and Tati Quebra-barraco

Podcasts:

• Ghetto 808 podcast
• Mr Phipson's incredible podcast
• Global Hit interview with Tetine

In Portuguese:

• Download the original 1988 book "O Mundo Funk Carioca" written by brazilian anthropologist Hermano Vianna

In German:

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