Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats
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Various Artists Rio Baile Funk: Favela Booty Beats (Essay) The sound of this compilation of Brazilian slum-funk put together by a German DJ (Daniel Haaksman) may be familiar. You may have heard a London-via-Sri Lanka MC (M.I.A.) rapping over beats laid down by a Philadelphia-via-Florida DJ (Diplo) that were quite similar to the sound of this (released in Germany) CD, but such pan-global homage is nothing compared to the uncut action of what one writer called “the most dangerous underground music scene in the world.” Inspired by hip-hop, rooted in Afro-Latin rhythms, dressed up with hard-rock guitars, financed by drug dealers and accented by in-the-air gunfire, baile funk possesses all of the sweaty, sexy menace of early dancehall, replacing homophobia and misogyny with poverty and crime … and insanely upfront sexuality (check out De Falla’s “Popozuda Rock ‘n’ Roll,” the title of which roughly translates as “Big Fat Ass Rock ‘n’ Roll”). This mix CD goes a long way to capture that raw energy; full of red-line distortion, warped tempos and teeth-rattling bass, the humidity and intensity of the scene oozes out of your speakers in a madly infectious and eminently danceable form. This is essential stuff.
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2005.