Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Baile Funk/Funk do Morro/Carioca Funk


So this crazy genre of Brasilian hip-hop has been one of my favorite discoveries here in Rio. It is the music of the favelas (slums) of Rio, where they have all night bailes, or dances, in these giant gymnasiums. The parties are supposed to be crazy (I've yet to find someone to take me and I'm a little nervous about going without an escort!)... you have to climb the giant morros (hills--practically mountains) on which the favelas perch to get to them and there are these crazy strict codes (really an extended courting ritual) for guys who want to ask a girl to dance. And you don't want to break them because dancing with someone else's girl can get you in serious trouble. Some of the songs have choreographed dances, your bunda (ass) being the major focus in all of them.
ANYWAYS: the music. The music is this weird mix of like Miami Bass and old school Afrika Bambaataa hip-hop which was lifted from its American context back in the nineties and imported to Brasil where it acquired some distinctly afro-brasilian rhythms and a strange breed of rap-shouting in Portuguese, thus giving birth to the wonder that is Carioca Funk. The stuff is super lo-fi, all recorded in like four-track studios in the very same slums.
The website Funky do Morro has some mp3's for download.
I'd recommend the first collection listed, As Melhores do La. It recycles the same beat a lot, but it's a killer one. Also there's a Diplo mix (he's really into the stuff and has released some collections in the U.S., including one called Favela Booty Beats--that's the pic) called Favela on Blast which is basically my favorite thing in the world. I think you can find it if you search elbo.ws (see my links). Anyways, I just thought I'd share my love for this crazy, urgent (to use a jim adjective) mess of a genre.

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