RSSBodytonic in Brazil
Welcome to the first in a series of musical explorations into the sounds sneaking their way into the mainstream from the global underground .
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Sometimes referred to as 'Global Ghettotech' or Po-Co House (post-colonial house), these genres usually originate in the poorest cities in the world and fuse traditional sounds with modern influences to create club music that captures the energy of the local party scene. Over the next few months we will look at some of these styles and the hype around them.
First stop, Brazil. Most of us are down with Brazilian music already, go to any major city and you can find a Samba class every other night of the week. Bossa Nova has been internationally popular since The Girl From Ipanema walked by back in 1962 and the fact that Nouvelle Vague can shift tonnes of the stuff nearly 50 years later is testament to the genre's appeal. Tropicalia too is still popular, think of Austin Power's opening credits in swinging London for a reminder. The influence of these styles is heard everywhere in club music, from drum and bass to house and as Mr. Ilan says, grime too.
Nowadays some more contemporary styles are finding their way into the crates and hard drives of DJs around the world and they ain't being watered down or merely sampled either. Baile Funk was the first true Global Ghettotech phenomenon and after a few years of growing popularity, Baile or Carioca Funk went truly mainstream last year with Bonde De Role achieving massive European success. The sound is considered the illegitimate child of Miami Bass and was fostered in the mid 80s when local DJs like DJ Marlboro dropped 2 Live Crew and Africa Bambatta in the Favela parties and the crowds went nuts. The seeds were sewn and over the next few years Baile Funk emerged cutting up samples and pairing them with rhymes about life in the favelas, often about drugs, nearly always about sex. Never glorifying the former but always the latter.
As you may have guessed, there ain't much money in the Favelas, so Baile Funk was and still is usually made on ancient cracked copies of acid that are shared around, giving it that lo-fi, raw sound. They still manage to capture the energy of the parties though, where tales of girls getting pregnant just by dancing are not uncommon.
The sound was given a boost when Diplo (who was mentored on all things Favela by Marlboro) used Deize Tigrona's baile funk track Injeção for MIA's Bucky Done Gun in 2005. He had already recorded a mixtape of Baile tracks titled Favela on Blast the year previous and went on to sign Bonde De Role to his Mad Decent label. Probably more responsible then any for the globalisation of the sound though, is German journalist, DJ and record label boss Daniel Hacksmann who released a compilation in 2004 titled Rio Baile Funk Favela Booty Beats after hearing a mixtape a friend brought back from Rio. Not long after, he founded Man Recordings and helped Brazilian Funk big wigs like DJ Sandhrino, Sany Pitbull and Edu-K reach global audiences with his Baile Funk Masters series. He also hooked Brazilian MCs up with producers like Scottie B, Crookers and Jesse Rose for the Funk Mundial series, helping the scenes local stars reach worldwide audiences and earn a few quid on the way.
So the funk has gone truly global, what's next? In Brazil, other sounds like like Axé and Forro are popular but both have been around for a while and stayed quite regional and they certainly lack the punch to cut it globally. As for the funk, non-Brazilian artists like German MC Gringo and Japan's Tigarah are bringing their own twist to things so no doubt more people will adapt it to their local style and by the time it comes to writing next month's article I'll be researching Konichi-Funk from Tokyo or how about some Baile Baile from Crumlin.
Lingo for a Gringo:
Baile - Party
Favela – slums in the hills around Rio.
Carioca - person who lives in a Favela
Bunda - ass
Daquele jeito - an expression meaning "that's the way you do it".
Popozuda – a girl with a big ass
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Comments
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conzo @ 15 Oct 2008 11:50bundabaile is mine
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Eg in a cup! @ 15 Oct 2008 12:42
Nice read Chewy but I just want to point out that the Favela is a shanty that exists all over Brasil and also that a Carioca is anyone from Rio not just the Favela.
I wish I was a Carioca!
Obrigado!
eg
anyone ever been to Warung in Brazil ?
Good read Chew-bags.
yeah deadly suff ... enjoyed reading it, fair play Chewy. What are the best blogs out there for the latest Baile Funk tunes?
Tudo bom! ;-)
re: Tom
I'm no expert but I suppose Mad Decent would have a lot
also the Zombie Disco Squad guys put some up on their blog
Steve, I wish you were a popozuda.
Thanks though, you are right, although they started in Rio the word can now mean any slum in the country.
For blogs and stuff, check out Daniel Hacksmann's Man Records. Everyone cites Diplo as 'bringing the funk worldwisde' but Hacksmann's label was a much bigger step for the sound.
http://manrecordings.blogspot.com/
Loads of great info and links on here
http://riobailefunk.blogspot.com/
Anyone who wants to see some proper Baile DJing should check out Sandrhino in Sth William as part of DEAF on the 24th
http://www.myspace.com/sandrinhodjrio
One of the masters!
Thanks for the nice comments
x
whoah - didn't know Sandrhino gonna be here - BIG!
nice words Chew
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Popozuda is my new favourite word