Funk made in Rio is end-of-the-century explosion
The style from the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro stirrs the town, collecting admirers and detractors
Silvia D e Silvio Essinger
18/01/2001
It is written on the Furacão 2000 site that former president Castelo Branco heard the music coming from one of the first balls promoted by the team, which at the time was called Som2000/Guarani 2000 and allegedly said: "This ain't Som 2000, or Guarani. This is a furacão (hurricane). 28 years later, the musical style that emerged then, with its raw beats, yelled words and lack of melody seems more and more polemic. The success of the song Raimunda, also known as Popozuda (big butt girl) has inspired a new wave of questioning upon a genre that is already embedded in the cultural lifestyle of the town and has amassed passionate fans all over the territory.
In 2000, plenty of hits crossed the border of the suburban balls. Tapinha, Johnatan II, Dança da Motinha and Tchu Tchuca, from the album Tornado Muito Nervoso (Very Nervous Tornado)
, by Furacão 2000, were sung everywhere: from clubs in the richest parts of town to Xuxa's TV show for children. As they noticed the phenomenon, label Som Livre released the album Explosão , with tracks by artists encouraged by Furacão, like the former innmate Sapão (Eu Sei Cantar), middle-classers like DJ Saddam (Calça da Gang) and even rock bands like DeFalla (Popozuda Rock'n'Roll), who put out a full album, Miami Rock 2000 , inspired by the potent beat from Rio. Singer Fernanda Abreu also embraced the style in 2000 with the track Baile da Pesada , featured in her latest album, Entidade Urbana.
Besides Furacão, other teams share the responsibility to provide (frequently the only form of) leisure to the populations in the poorest areas, promoting weekly balls in different parts of town that gather thousands of souls. The most famed are Pipo's, Espião Shock de Mostro and New Funk. Similarly to the hip hop culture, which transforms the lives of many youngsters through the equation music-plus-message, also the funk made in Rio gives a new perspective to adolescents which are opressed by social and economic distress, when they have the possibility to express themselves and exercize artistic creativity. It is hard, though, to make an impartial and proportional comparison between the message passed on by the two styles.
"Sex Machine/I do it like an animal"
The mass of funk followers is out to have fun. Therefore, the lyrics go basically about sex/sexuality, clothes, communities, soccer and the balls - subjects that are present in the daily lives of the economically disadvantaged in Rio de Janeiro. The musical translation to the lifestyle of the people who produce and consume such cultural manifestation is: a powerful electronic beat, a high-pitch, cheap synth sound (optional) and and off-key vocals (a man or a woman's), screaming stuff like "calça da gang/toda mulher quer/200reais/pra deixar a bunda em pé" (gang pants/every girl wants/200 bucks/to lift their butts).
Currently, pioneering DJs like Marlboro and Jacaré, and newcomers like Saddam are willing to work the music and the contents, producing beats, lyrics and melodies in a more thoughtful manner, elaborating the arrangements and passing on positive messages. Nonetheless, violence is still part of it and unfortunately, this is what the media explores - even abroad. In 2000, the "fight clubs" were the subjects of extensive reports on the British magazine MixMag and on the American magazine Spin.
The first songs to cross the social border faced by the funk were the catchy Ah! Eu Tô Maluco! and Uh! Tererê!. It was a quick travel from the favelas to the condos. With shows on the radio and on the TV, the funk ball teams also fomented the appearance of a small industry. Records (sold at newsstands for affordable prices), clothing and music hardware stores are part of the implementation of funk products in the market.
With the introduction of the Popozuda into the homes of the upper classes, once again the faceless mass gets to be noticed, instigating heated discussions on education and culture, stimulating musicians like Edu K (DeFalla) to review the style and helping get Verônica Costa, the Blonde Mother, wife of the owner of Furacão 2000 Rômulo Costa, into the city council of Rio de Janeiro.
In 2000, plenty of hits crossed the border of the suburban balls. Tapinha, Johnatan II, Dança da Motinha and Tchu Tchuca, from the album Tornado Muito Nervoso (Very Nervous Tornado)
, by Furacão 2000, were sung everywhere: from clubs in the richest parts of town to Xuxa's TV show for children. As they noticed the phenomenon, label Som Livre released the album Explosão , with tracks by artists encouraged by Furacão, like the former innmate Sapão (Eu Sei Cantar), middle-classers like DJ Saddam (Calça da Gang) and even rock bands like DeFalla (Popozuda Rock'n'Roll), who put out a full album, Miami Rock 2000 , inspired by the potent beat from Rio. Singer Fernanda Abreu also embraced the style in 2000 with the track Baile da Pesada , featured in her latest album, Entidade Urbana. Besides Furacão, other teams share the responsibility to provide (frequently the only form of) leisure to the populations in the poorest areas, promoting weekly balls in different parts of town that gather thousands of souls. The most famed are Pipo's, Espião Shock de Mostro and New Funk. Similarly to the hip hop culture, which transforms the lives of many youngsters through the equation music-plus-message, also the funk made in Rio gives a new perspective to adolescents which are opressed by social and economic distress, when they have the possibility to express themselves and exercize artistic creativity. It is hard, though, to make an impartial and proportional comparison between the message passed on by the two styles.
"Sex Machine/I do it like an animal"
The mass of funk followers is out to have fun. Therefore, the lyrics go basically about sex/sexuality, clothes, communities, soccer and the balls - subjects that are present in the daily lives of the economically disadvantaged in Rio de Janeiro. The musical translation to the lifestyle of the people who produce and consume such cultural manifestation is: a powerful electronic beat, a high-pitch, cheap synth sound (optional) and and off-key vocals (a man or a woman's), screaming stuff like "calça da gang/toda mulher quer/200reais/pra deixar a bunda em pé" (gang pants/every girl wants/200 bucks/to lift their butts).
Currently, pioneering DJs like Marlboro and Jacaré, and newcomers like Saddam are willing to work the music and the contents, producing beats, lyrics and melodies in a more thoughtful manner, elaborating the arrangements and passing on positive messages. Nonetheless, violence is still part of it and unfortunately, this is what the media explores - even abroad. In 2000, the "fight clubs" were the subjects of extensive reports on the British magazine MixMag and on the American magazine Spin.
The first songs to cross the social border faced by the funk were the catchy Ah! Eu Tô Maluco! and Uh! Tererê!. It was a quick travel from the favelas to the condos. With shows on the radio and on the TV, the funk ball teams also fomented the appearance of a small industry. Records (sold at newsstands for affordable prices), clothing and music hardware stores are part of the implementation of funk products in the market.
With the introduction of the Popozuda into the homes of the upper classes, once again the faceless mass gets to be noticed, instigating heated discussions on education and culture, stimulating musicians like Edu K (DeFalla) to review the style and helping get Verônica Costa, the Blonde Mother, wife of the owner of Furacão 2000 Rômulo Costa, into the city council of Rio de Janeiro.