Funk carioca makes the elite in São Paulo uptight
The funk balls debut in São Paulo after 28 years, but the audience does not get in the mood for the beats
Tom Cardoso
20/02/2001
The official start was on Saturday, on a club in one of the most traditional regions in the city of São Paulo. The tickets cost RS$ 40 and a glass of water cost RS$ 3, which equals three tickets at any original ball in favelas in Rio. The contrast is just barely noticed. The men, dressed in pants-belt-shoes, tried hard to pull up a bad boy face, while the women in high heels, tried unsuccessfully to shake their hips. Some Japanese would do samba better than that. Embarrassing. A funk ball has never been so disfigured.
"The lyrics are so poor! Why don't they go home?", repeated one of the security guys, after having his ears chastised by songs like Tapinha, Cerol na Mão, Dança da Motinha, Tá Dominado and other funk carioca hits. The wannabe DJ and actor Alexandre Frota did his best to cheer up the crowd: "This is the official debut of the funk in São Paulo, let's party!" Yeah, right. Two days before, on Thursday, the group Furacão 2000 (the pioneering crew that invented the style almost three decades ago) had performed on the club Fabbrica 5, owned by a very famous TV host and aimed at the elite of São Paulo.
Not even the Funk Nurse (every summer, a new butt rises to stardom) saved the day. She shook her hips, invited the guys to go up the stage and simulate sexual acts with her. Some girly girls looked disgusted, while others ignored, but all of them were concerned with doind the right dance steps. At some point, one of the MCs tried to rock the crowd by singing excerpts from the soccer team Corinthians' anthem, but was mercilessly booed - most of the audience liked the team called São Paulo, a more accordingly elitist choice.
If around the suburbs of Rio the funk still carries a certain charm to it, mostly due to the public's identification with the lyrics and slangs, in São Paulo, the balls tend to get really boring and dull. That was proven on Sunday night, at the Furacão ball at Fabbrica 5. About 400 people (the venue can accomodate up to 5 thousand) showed up to check out Furacão's DJs and MCs. Bonde do Tigrão had played the matinee and did not perform at night - just like the rest of the troupe. The venue improvised with local DJs, who played the music from the Furacão CDs and nobody even noticed.
The salvation for the funk carioca in São Paulo could be in small venues, which manage to keep things going for longer periods and do not bet on momentary hype. That's the case with Brancaleone and Dolores Bar, which have had nights dedicated to funk way before the style would become trendy in São Paulo. At Dolores, rapper Big Richard has promised to save a couple of hours every night for the pancadão (a typically carioca name for the funk made in Rio, can be translated as big punch or big beat). Both clubs can be a good alternative for those who cannot stand the fake funk that is going on in the city, now.
To rapper Xis, who has had the super hit Us Mano As Mina remixed over and over without permission by DJs from Rio, the funk is only going to be established in São Paulo if the movement starts investing in the suburbs. "The playboys only go to the balls because it is the latest trend, now. They have no power to hold it as a movement", anticipates Xis. "And what we hear in São Paulo is not the same music that has been produced in the real funk balls in Rio. In São Paulo, we only have access to the commercial songs, tailored to the playboys".
"The lyrics are so poor! Why don't they go home?", repeated one of the security guys, after having his ears chastised by songs like Tapinha, Cerol na Mão, Dança da Motinha, Tá Dominado and other funk carioca hits. The wannabe DJ and actor Alexandre Frota did his best to cheer up the crowd: "This is the official debut of the funk in São Paulo, let's party!" Yeah, right. Two days before, on Thursday, the group Furacão 2000 (the pioneering crew that invented the style almost three decades ago) had performed on the club Fabbrica 5, owned by a very famous TV host and aimed at the elite of São Paulo.
Not even the Funk Nurse (every summer, a new butt rises to stardom) saved the day. She shook her hips, invited the guys to go up the stage and simulate sexual acts with her. Some girly girls looked disgusted, while others ignored, but all of them were concerned with doind the right dance steps. At some point, one of the MCs tried to rock the crowd by singing excerpts from the soccer team Corinthians' anthem, but was mercilessly booed - most of the audience liked the team called São Paulo, a more accordingly elitist choice.
If around the suburbs of Rio the funk still carries a certain charm to it, mostly due to the public's identification with the lyrics and slangs, in São Paulo, the balls tend to get really boring and dull. That was proven on Sunday night, at the Furacão ball at Fabbrica 5. About 400 people (the venue can accomodate up to 5 thousand) showed up to check out Furacão's DJs and MCs. Bonde do Tigrão had played the matinee and did not perform at night - just like the rest of the troupe. The venue improvised with local DJs, who played the music from the Furacão CDs and nobody even noticed.
The salvation for the funk carioca in São Paulo could be in small venues, which manage to keep things going for longer periods and do not bet on momentary hype. That's the case with Brancaleone and Dolores Bar, which have had nights dedicated to funk way before the style would become trendy in São Paulo. At Dolores, rapper Big Richard has promised to save a couple of hours every night for the pancadão (a typically carioca name for the funk made in Rio, can be translated as big punch or big beat). Both clubs can be a good alternative for those who cannot stand the fake funk that is going on in the city, now.
To rapper Xis, who has had the super hit Us Mano As Mina remixed over and over without permission by DJs from Rio, the funk is only going to be established in São Paulo if the movement starts investing in the suburbs. "The playboys only go to the balls because it is the latest trend, now. They have no power to hold it as a movement", anticipates Xis. "And what we hear in São Paulo is not the same music that has been produced in the real funk balls in Rio. In São Paulo, we only have access to the commercial songs, tailored to the playboys".
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